CHAPTER VI 

 BULB CULTURE 



CHARACTERISTICS OF BULBS. A bulb is a large dormant bud, and is 

 a condensed plant when dormant. Bulbs can develop only flowers 

 which were formed within them before they were ripened. The 

 dormant period of a bulb occurs in order to carry it over the dry or 

 cold season. 



A good bulb must be fully developed, in good soil, and under good 

 conditions. It must be kept from heating, sweating, or rotting in 

 transit, and must not be kept out of the ground so long as to dry 

 out to an injurious extent. When buying bulbs always take into 

 consideration that cheap bulbs are invariably poor bulbs and that 

 size alone does not count, but adds to the probability that the bulb is 

 mature. Plump, solid bulbs give the best blooms, and if to this is 

 added size, the bulb is ideal. 



There are two groups of bulbs: those which should be planted 

 in the fall to produce flowers in the spring, such as tulips, narcissi, 

 and crocuses, and those which should be planted in the spring to pro- 

 duce flowers in the summer and early fall, such as gladioli. (In 

 botanical science in the case of the gladiolus the term is "corm" rather 

 than "bulb.") 



TIME FOR PLANTING BULBS. Nothing is gained by planting spring- 

 flowering bulbs, such as tulips, narcissi, crocuses, hyacinths, squills, 

 and Spanish irises, before September or October. The reason for 

 planting, then, is that they keep better in the ground, and as they start 

 to root in the fall they begin growth earlier in the spring. It is hardly 

 possible to plant bulbs of this group early enough in the spring to secure 

 any flowers the same season. These bulbs should be planted not 

 earlier than six weeks before the hard frosts. Narcissi may be planted 

 earlier, and it is preferable to plant crocuses early. Crocuses are 

 usually planted in the lawn. An early bloom is desirable; therefore 

 early September planting permits root growth in the fall and the 



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