THE CULTURE 



OF 



FLOWERING BULBS 



INTRODUCTORY REMARKS 



OUR popular flowering bulbs are obtained from many lands ; they 

 are exceedingly diversified in character, and they bloom at dif- 

 ferent periods of the year. Each variety has a value of its own, and 

 answers to some special requirement in its proper season under glass 

 or in the open ground. In the darkest winter days we prize the glow 

 of Tulips and Hyacinths for brightening our homes. And bleak days 

 are not all past when Aconites and Snowdrops sparkle in beds and 

 borders. The Anemones follow in March, and during the length- 

 ening days of spring there are sumptuous beds of Hyacinths and 

 Tulips. When high summer begins to decline we have stately 

 groups of Gladiolus and many beautiful Lilies in the shrubbery 

 borders. 



Not least among the merits of Dutch Bulbs is the ease with which 

 they can be forced into flower at a period of the year when bright 

 blossoms are particularly precious, and they are equally available for 

 the grandest conservatory or the humblest cottage window. They 

 are attractive separately in pots or vases, or they can be arranged in 

 splendid banks and groups for the highest decorative purposes. 

 Bulbs endure treatment that would be fatal to other flowers. They 

 can be grown in small pots or be almost packed together in boxes or 

 seed-pans ; and when near perfection they can be shaken out, have 

 the roots washed for glasses, ferneries, and small aquaria ; or they 

 can be replanted close together in sand and covered with green moss. 



