Round the Year in the Garden 



removing the offsets or small bulbs and grading them 

 into their various sizes ; those which are likely to bloom 

 next year should be kept together. The bulbs are cleaned, 

 dried and stored in paper bags until early autumn, when 

 they may be replanted. The offsets ought to be put on a 

 reserve border, there to remain until they reach flowering 

 size. It is not necessary, of course, to disturb Daffodils, 

 for they increase in size and beauty year after year : early- 

 flowering Tulips and Hyacinths are not so good in succeed- 

 ing years, though they continue to flower and are quite 

 useful for planting in shrubbery borders and in odd 

 corners where quality of bloom is not the chief con- 

 sideration. 



When it is found necessary to lift spring-flowering 

 bulbs before the leaves have died they should be taken 

 up with as little damage to the roots as possible and be 

 replanted in a shallow trench on a reserve plot, there 

 to remain until the foliage has faded. 



Autumn Crocuses. When the autumn Crocuses 

 and Meadow Saffrons were in bloom at Hampton 

 Court in September a local newspaper announced that 

 Crocuses were flowering for the second time that year, 

 and no doubt the curious went to see them ! Those 

 who plant roots now of some of the charming autumn 

 kinds that are available will be under no such mis- 

 apprehension when the blossoms show through the 

 soil in September and October. The bulbs of autumn 

 Crocuses and Colchicums, or Meadow Saffrons, may be 

 planted in corners in the rock garden, on a grassy 

 bank, or in sheltered spots wherever an opportunity 

 offers. They are especially welcome, coming, as they 

 do, when other flowers are fading. They are indifferent 

 to soil, except that which is unusually heavy and ill 

 drained, and should be planted about 3 inches deep. 

 When putting them in the rock garden it is wise to 

 place them where the flowers will be protected from 

 soil splashed up by rain, as, for example, among or near 



244 



