GENERAL RULES OF CULTURE. 29 



any great depth : had the winter been " open," all the bulbs 

 ■vvonld have perished. As a general rule, the bulbs should 

 be planted in October, that the roots may make a good 

 growth before the cold weather sets in. 



The mode of planting must vary according to various 

 tastes ; but generally the bulbs should be so grouped as 

 to give the most effect when in blossom. Thus snow- 

 drops, crocus, erythroniums, Persian iris, and other small 

 bulbs, should never be planted singly, but always in clumps, 

 the larger the better ; the single bulbs about an inch apart 

 every way, or in triple lines as an edging to a bed. 

 Hyacinths, narcissus, and other large bulbs, may be planted 

 singly or in lines, but are far more effective planted in 

 threes ; that is, one at each point of a triangle, each bulb 

 about nine inches from the others. A combination of colors 

 may often thus be very prettily contrived. 



The bulbs should never be mixed. Let each kind be 

 planted in masses by itself, if the full effect of each be 

 desired. We have often seen a mixture of crocus and 

 snowdrops by which the snowdrops were entirely lost, 

 their simple beauty being wholly neutralized by the more 

 gaudy colors of the crocus. Hyacinths and narcissus do 

 not accord well together, nor do jonquils and frittelarias 



