Gardening for Amateurs 



643 



the remaining two with red Hyacinths. 

 Plant the bulbs 6 inches apart in September 

 or October, covering them with 2 inches of 

 soil. A covering of leaf -mould or fibre is 

 beneficial and prevents dirt splashing on the 

 foliage and flowers during heavy rains. The 

 most suitable soil for Hyacinths is a rather 

 .sandy loam enriched with leaf-mould and 



may be removed when lifting in July, but 

 very little propagation is attempted in this 

 country. To maintain one's stock of Hya- 

 cinths it is necessary to purchase a few bulbs 

 each year. Thousands of Hyacinth bulbs 

 are imported annually from Holland to supply 

 the demands of growers in this country. 

 Hyacinth spikes are so heavily laden with 



Modern varieties of Gladiolus. 



decayed manure, though they will be found 

 to give satisfaction for two or three years in 

 ordinary garden soil. 



The Hyacinth is one of the very few bulbs 

 that it seems impossible to establish and 

 increase successfully in our gardens. Under 

 favourable conditions the bulbs flower for 

 several years, but each year they get 

 weaker, and in most instances finally dis- 

 appear. The bulbs produce offsets which 



flowers, it is necessary to support each one 

 when about half -grown with a stake. As the 

 beds where Hyacinths are grown are re- 

 quired for summer bedding plants, it is 

 usual to lift the bulbs before the foliage has 

 died down completely, carefully preserving 

 all the roots possible and placing them in a 

 shallow trench on a spare piece of ground 

 to complete the ripening ; the roots must, of 

 course, be covered. In July the bulbs are 



