148 BULBS AND THEIR CULTIVATION. 



to the warm house or the hot house, to bring them into 

 flower. It is most essential that the bulbs should be well 

 rooted before they are placed in heat ; otherwise they will 

 only throw stunted or deformed flowers. To obtain a 

 long succession of flowers, only a few should be intro- 

 duced into heat at a time, some being left in the cold 

 frame, and others placed in the cool house. As the bulbs 

 come into flower remove them to a cooler house; then 

 their flowers will last a longer period in perfection. Keep 

 the plants not too far from the glass, in order to avoid 

 an attenuated growth. After flowering, bulbs of narcissi, 

 hyacinths, and tulips should be gradually hardened and 

 planted out in the garden, fresh bulbs being procured 

 annually for forcing. See also note on " Retarded Bulbs " 

 on p. 190. 



CHAPTER VI. 



BULBS IN FRAMES. 



SOME of the more choice and tender bulbs that fail to thrive 

 outdoors may be grown in cold frames, as the Calochorti, 

 for instance. Here the grower is able to afford them the 

 slight protection they require from frost and excessive 

 rains during the flowering and ripening period. Ixias, 

 sparaxises, babianas, besseras, bravoas, brodiaeas, many 

 of the fritillarias, gelasines, habranthuses, irises, Milla 

 biflora, Tecophilaea cyanocrocus, and zephyranthes are 

 genera which may, in cold districts, be grown in prepared 

 beds of the composts advised for each on pp. 48 to 76, in 

 cold, sunny frames. 



