BULBS 265 



but the bluebell of England is Scilla fe stalls, known to bulb 

 dealers as Scilla nutans. It ought to be called "wood hyacinth," 

 for that exactly expresses its appearance, since it has none of the 

 gross stiffness of the Dutch hyacinth. This charming flower 

 stands about two feet high in deep shade and bears about ten 

 flowers on a stem. There are pink and white varieties which are 

 as tender and pure as the most refined Roman hyacinths. All 

 three of them are naturalized with exquisite effect along a wood- 

 land walk at the Higginson place, South Manchester, Mass. The 

 bulbs cost about fifteen dollars a thousand. 



But we must not merely copy English effects, and our best 

 way of developing an American style of woodland gardening is to 

 concentrate on bloodroot, fawn lily (or adder's tongue) and Tril- 

 lium grandiflorum, which ought to be planted by the thousand 

 on every country estate where these precious flowers do not 

 already carpet the forest floor in great and glorious masses. 



MEADOW EFFECTS WITH BULBS 



English meadows in May are as thickly sown with stars as the 

 heavens at night, for every country gentleman plants many 

 thousand bulbs of the poet's narcissus, a fragrant, six-pointed 

 flower which the English call "pheasant's eye," from the red- 

 rimmed saucer in the centre of the flower. This is the cheapest of 

 all bulbs for naturalizing, costing only five dollars a thousand, or 

 half a cent a bulb. 



In a meadow we find very different conditions from the shade 

 and loose undergrowth of woods. Here we have full sunshine and 

 a turf that is generally too deep and close for crocuses and other 

 small bulbs. Therefore, with the exception of narcissi, we find a 

 different set of bulbs from those that thrive in woods. 



