336 LECTURE ON SPRING FLOWERS. 



tenanted in the early months of the year might have a 

 garden of gay spring flowers exclusively, or one in which 

 they were largely combined with evergreens green, 

 variegated, and berry-bearing. Such a garden should 

 partake of the romantic and picturesque wood and water, 

 rock and dell rather than of the trim and formal. I would 

 gather the Primroses, Violets, and other hedge and wayside 

 flowers, and intermix them with such exotics as flower in 

 spring, and are found suitable to our climate out of doors. 

 There may be reasons, however, why it is not desirable to 

 give up a portion of the garden for the exclusive use of 

 spring flowers. Be it so. There is still no reason why 

 spring flowers should not be abundantly cultivated. They 

 may be planted in the ordinary beds of the flower garden, 

 and removed when the season arrives at which it is 

 customary to plant out Pelargoniums, Verbenas, and other 

 summer and autumn-flowering plants. Or they may be 

 planted in front of the evergreen beds or borders which 

 exist in most flower gardens, and thus the general garden 

 will be made gay and interesting in spring as well as during 

 the other seasons of the year. 



For the sake of convenience in the discussion of this 

 subject, as well as to assist the memory in the recollection 

 of details, I propose to arrange " Spring Flowers " under 

 two heads : first, Hardy Spring Floiuers, or such as bloom 

 naturally out of doors in the months of February, March, 

 April, and May ; and secondly, Greenhouse and Hothouse 

 Spring Flowers, or such as bloom naturally at the same 

 season, but require the protection of glass. 



Of flowers which bloom naturally out of doors in spring, 

 bulbous plants form a very important class. Of these, the 

 Crocus, Snowdrop, Snowflake, Scilla, Hyacinth, Tulip, and 

 Narcissus take the highest rank. Their culture is simple. 

 They may be planted in beds or borders in the garden out 

 of doors late in autumn, and prefer a rich loamy soil. 

 They should be set so far beneath the ground, say from 4 

 to 6 inches, as to be beyond the reach of the winter's frost, 



