264 BULBS 



I am not mistaken, crocuses are running wild at Professor 

 Sargent's home in Brookline, Mass. 



The grand effects in English woods come in April with the 

 daffodils, ending with the poet's narcissus in May. The most 

 artistic result is secured, not by merely scattering the bulbs as we 

 commonly do, but by arranging a dense mass, with small outlying 

 colonies in the direction of the prevailing wind, so that the latter 

 seem to owe their origin to seeds borne on the breeze from the 

 large group. (See plate 87.) We often make the mistake of 

 planting bulbs in solid blocks, like a nursery, or in immense areas 

 of equal density. Also, and it pains me to write these words, we 

 often set them out in straight lines or patterns. 



Another reason why English woodlands are so exquisite in 

 daffodil time is that owners are content with the cheapest va- 

 rieties. Our rich men are often carried away by their enthusiasm 

 and plant costly varieties simply because they can afford them. 

 Also, they have a way of dumping into woods large flowered 

 varieties after forcing. But no one can make daffodils with red 

 cups or five-inch flowers look wild in the woods, or big florists' 

 varieties with very broad petals and perfectly fluted trumpets. 

 These spectacular flowers show the handiwork of man and therefore 

 belong in the garden, not the woods. There are twenty-six 

 varieties costing one and two cents a bulb that are more appro- 

 priate than those costing four or five. 



The next great flower show in English woods is that of blue- 

 bells in May. (See plate 24.) I saw acres of bluebells carpet- 

 ing the ground so thickly that it was impossible to avoid stepping 

 on them. When we Americans speak of "bluebells" we mean the 

 harebell (Campanula rotundifolia), a fibrous-rooted plant that 

 blooms more or less all summer. That is the bluebell of Scotland, 



