A Succession of Flowers in Winter and Spring 

 by the Lse of Spring Flowering Bulbs 



Grant Smith. 



The following pages set forth plans which have been tried 

 and proven by the writer and his students whereby the schools 

 may have a succession of blooming plants with relatively and 

 actually a small expenditure of money, time and trouble. The 

 facts concerned are not profound, neither are the methods of 

 bulb culture difficult; but it is safe to say that the majority of 

 teachers have not yet learned how very easy it is to have a con- 

 tinuous succession of blossoms, not alone in rooms into which 

 the sunlight enters but also in rooms receiving only north light. 

 There are some important general facts, the understanding of 

 which will make the management of bulbs intelligent : 



1. Spring flowering bulbs are always listed in the autumn 

 catalogues of the dealers (but the summer and autumn flowering 

 bulbs are listed in the spring catalogues). The dealers who ad- 

 vertise in the papers and magazines devoted to homes and gar- 

 dens are very willing to send catalogues gratis, on request. Be- 

 cause many of the spring flowering bulbs are made to bloom in- 

 doors bv some system of "forcing." they are sometimes called 

 winter bulbs. 



i. Spring flowering bulbs are not propagated extensively in 

 America for profit (as is the case with the other sorts), but are 

 practically all imported from Europe, especially from Holland. 

 Shipments are made in summer, and the bulbs begin to appear on 

 the counters of the retail dealers the latter part of August, though 

 they may be ordered from Xew York earlier. Naturally, the 

 earlier varieties are put on sale first. 



3. It is very important to remember that the sooner the bulbs 

 are purchased and either planted or put where they will not de- 

 teriorate the better the blooms will be. This is particularly true 

 of freesias and the Chinese sacred lily (a kind of narcissus). 

 Cool, dry air is needed for most bulbs, and it is a good plan to 

 put all. except those which are to be planted promptly, into a box 

 of dry sand set in the basement. Miss June Rowe. a Chicago 

 teacher, informed the writer that she stores bulbs successfullv 

 in the schoolroom closet by putting them into pasteboard cracker 

 boxes which are lined with paraffin paper. Kept in some such 

 way the bulbs are not reached by currents of drv air and neither 

 do they mold. It is seldom worth while to buy members of the 



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