BULBS 



BULBS 



191 



do this, then it is not advisable to use manure at all, for 

 the bulbs are liable to come in contact with it and 

 become diseased. Bone meal alone is then the safest 

 fertilizer to use, and it should be applied lavishly. Most 

 bulbs like rich food if properly applied. Although the 

 embryo flowers were formed within the bulb the season 



289. The Easter lily throws out feeding roots both 

 below and above the bulb. 



before, yet their size, luxuriance and brilliancy this 

 season depend largely upon the nutrition the roots 

 receive. Liberal applications of manure water, when 

 the bulbs are in bud, often produce excellent results. 



The proper depth to plant bulbs varies according to 

 the kinds. It is a common fault to plant them too near 

 the surface. Some kinds, notably the Californian Hum- 

 boldtii and Washingtonianum lilies, do best when 10 to 

 12 inches deep ; hyacinths, tulips, narcissus, and simi- 

 lar large bulbs from 4 to 6 inches deep ; smaller bulbs 

 somewhat shallower. Hardy bulbs root during the fall 

 and early winter, and if planted too near the surface the 

 freezing, thawing and heaving of the upper crust of 

 soil in mild winters often causes the bulbs to break 

 from their roots, and, in consequence, only inferior 

 flowers are produced. When good, cold weather has set 

 in and a light crust has been frozen on the soil, then 

 cover the bed with leaves, straw, marsh hay or reeds to 

 a depth of from 4 to 6 inches. This protects not only 

 from severe freezing, but from equally injurious unsea- 

 sonable thaws. Do not put the covering on too early, 

 for it might warm the soil so that the bulbs would com- 

 mence to grow and afterward be injured from freezing. 

 Gradually remove the covering in the spring. 



The general run of bulbous plants thrive in a loamy 

 soil, inclining to sand. This soil attracts moisture, 

 allows free drainage, and admits air. If the soil is cold 

 and stiff, a liberal admixture of leaf -mold and sand, with 

 the addition of manure applied as above described, will 

 be beneficial. The texture of the soil should be such 

 that stagnant water will not remain around the bulbs, 

 as it tends to rot them, particularly when dormant. An 

 excess of humus is, therefore, to be guarded against 

 for most bulbs. While the majority of bulbous plants 

 thrive under the soil conditions advised above, yet there 

 are many notable exceptions. Happy should be the man 

 on whose grounds can be found a variety of soils and 

 exposures, shade and sun. A small wooded valley or 

 ravine, with a brook flowing through it into an open, 

 moist meadow, affords conditions suitable for growing 

 to perfection the greatest variety of bulbous and other 



plants, many of which cannot be enjoyed in the average 

 monotonous garden. 



The sooner bulbs can be put in the ground after they 

 are ripe the better for the bulbs ; for, no matter how 

 long they will keep, they do not improve when out 

 of the ground, but tend to dry out and lose vitality. 

 There are, however, many reasons why bulbs cannot be 

 planted as soon as ripe ; and when they are to be kept 

 for certain purposes, they should be stored as advised 

 below. Hardy spring-flowering bulbs should be planted 

 in the open ground in the fall, not earlier than six weeks 

 before regular frosty and freezing nights are expected. 

 Plant as much later as necessary, providing the bulbs 

 are keeping sound, but it is not advisable to plant them 

 earlier. Cool weather is necessary to deter top growth, 

 which is very liabl to start after four to six weeks of 

 root development ; and young, succulent top growth is 

 apt to be injured by the succeeding freezing. In Maine, 

 Ontario, Wisconsin, and other northern parts (about 45 

 degrees north latitude), such hardy bulbs as hyacinths, 

 tulips, narcissus, etc., may be planted in September. In 

 New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, etc. (about 40 degrees), 

 plant about the middle of October. In the latitude of Rich- 

 mond, Louisville, St. Louis, etc., the middle of Novem- 

 ber is early enough. In the latitude of Raleigh, Nash- 

 ville, and south, do not plant until middle of December; 

 and for the latter section let the selection of bulbs run 

 to late-flowering varieties, such as Bizarre, Darwin and 

 late double tulips, late hyacinths, late narcissus, etc., 

 for they are not so likely to be caught by the occasional 

 freezing weather in January and February. In this 

 southern latitude, however, very early-flowering bulbs, 

 such as Roman hyacinths, Due van Thol tulips, Paper 

 White narcissus, etc., if planted in September, are 

 usually through blooming before freezing weather be- 

 gins. South of the freezing belt, hardy spring-flowering 

 bulbs are not very successful, as a rule, there being no 

 sufficiently cool weather to deter top growth and force 

 root action first, without which the flowers and foliage 

 will not develop beyond such sustenance as the bulb 

 can supply ; and this sustenance is usually exhausted by 

 the time the flower-spikes are half grown. But there are 

 many half-hardy and tender bulbs that are more easily 

 grown and flowered in the South than in the North. 



The treatment of bulbs after flowering is important 

 when the bulbs are to be used again, for it must never 

 be forgotten that the flowers and resources for the next 

 season are garnered within the bulb after blooming, 

 through the agency of the roots and foliage. Imper- 

 fectly developed and matured foliage this year means 

 poor flowers or none at all next year ; so it is best to 

 leave the bulbs alone until the leaves have died down. 

 When summer bedding plants are to be substituted, it 

 is sometimes necessary to remove bulbs before ripe. In 

 such cases, the bulbs should be carefully taken up with 

 a spade. Disturb the roots as little as possible, and do 

 not cut or crush the leaves. Heel-in the plants in a 

 shallow trench in some half-shady out-of-the-way place 

 until ripe. 



SUMMER- AND AUTUMN-FLOWERING GARDEN BULBS 

 FOR SPRING PLANTING. This class (Tender) includes 

 some of our showiest garden flowers, which are almost 

 indispensable. They are of the easiest possible culture. 

 Planted in the spring, after danger from frost is over, 

 in a sunny position in good, rich, loamy soil, they will 

 flower with great certainty the same season. After flow- 

 ering and ripening of the foliage, they should be taken 

 up and stored for the winter as advised below, under 

 "Keeping Dormant Bulbs," until wanted the next spring. 

 Among the more important species of this class of bulbs 

 are the undermentioned (those marked F must be kept 

 in a semi-dormant condition in a coldframe or green- 

 house): Agapanthus (F), alstroemeria (F), amorpho- 

 phallus,anomatheca (F),antholyza (F), tuberous begonia, 

 bessera, colocasia (caladium), cooperia, crinum, cypella, 

 gladiolus, galtonia(Hyacinthus candicans), boussingaul- 

 tia (madeira vine), montbretia, nemastylis, border ox- 

 alis, ornithogalum (F), pancratium, richardia (calla), 

 schizostylis (F), sprekelia, tigridia, tuberose, watsonia, 

 zephyranthes. 



BULBS FOR FLOWERING IN THE HOUSE AND GREEN- 

 HOUSE. There is no class of plants that gives more 

 satisfaction for this purpose, with so little skill, than 



