BULBS AND TUBERS FOR OUT-DOOR CULTURE. 71 



because they never winter-kill. Ttie}' bloom at different seasons, 

 so that there is a succession of bloom all through the early sum- 

 mer months. The whole family is very showy and especially 

 adapted to large gardens. The foliage is bright and attractive 

 and perfectly free from insects. P. tenuifoUa has tuberous roots, 

 and the foliage is entirelj^ different from that of other pajonies — 

 being, as the name indicates, ver}' finely divided. The blooms are 

 small, and of a clear bright red not unlike that of a rose, which it 

 closely resembles also in form. 



Gladioli are by far the most valuable of all the summer bloom- 

 ing bulbs. They are easy to grow, easy to keep, and exceedingly 

 valuable for cut flowers. If a spike is cut when there is only one 

 flower out, it will keep on blooming in water at least a week, and 

 at a season, too, when most flowers would be entirely faded in two 

 days at the most. I would not plant gladioli in beds for show ; 

 but planted in groups, with low or medium low growing plants, 

 they are very ornamental. The foliage must be allowed to grow 

 in order to mature the bulb, or corm, which is forming at the top 

 of the old one; and when grown, as advised, with other plants 

 the ripening foliage is partially concealed and is not unsightly ; 

 whereas a whole bed of gladioli alone, with the blooms cut off, is 

 anvthing but attractive. 



Water is an essential requisite in the cultivation of gladioli. 

 When the ground becomes dry, water well, so that the roots be- 

 neath the bulb will be thoroughly wet. Sprinkling when the ground 

 is dr}' is worse than no water at all. It is far better to stir the 

 earth around the roots than to supply water to the plants merely 

 on the surface. To water a dry bed or border thoroughly requires 

 a great deal of patience, but no one ought to attempt to cultivate 

 flowers unless blessed with a large stock of that useful commodity'. 



If you wish your spikes to grow straight be sure and stake them 

 early. A crooked spike of flowers, of an}' kind, is unsightly. If 

 one wants a bed for cutting, it is just as satisfactory and ver}^ 

 much cheaper to buy a hundred or two of first quality mixed bulbs ; 

 but if not many are wanted (as comparatively few have room for 

 a bed made entirely of one kind of flowers) by all means get 

 named varieties. If you look over some reliable dealer's lists of 

 named varieties, for three or four successive years, you will find 

 that each year a few new varieties are introduced at from four to 

 six dollars each. The year after they are put out, you will observe 



