OCTOBIB 25, 1917. 



1 he rionsts Review 



21 





n BXTLBS UNDER OLASS. 



Planting Suggestions. 



Growers are now receiving the Dutch 

 bulbs that arrived several weeks ago 

 and are busy planting them. There were 

 notes on tulips, hyacinths and narcissi 

 in the issue of October 18, and herewith 

 are some suggestions as to the culture of 

 the miscellaneous bulbs so as to bring 

 them along to have the flowers ready for 

 market at the time when they are most 

 in demand. 



Gladiolus Nanus. 



The small early-flowering gladioli are 

 invaluable for cutting and may be had 

 over quite a long season. They are of 

 special value for Memorial day. Peach 

 Blossom and Blushing Bride are the 

 two most popular market sorts. Col- 

 villei The Bride, pure white, is splendid 

 for bouquets and funeral work. Ma- 

 thilde, white, tinged with lavender, a 

 later bloomer, is also fine. 



Spanish Irises. 



Grown in benches or in flats contain- 

 ing five to six inches of soil, the Span- 

 ish irises have proved to be valuable 

 forcing bulbs for florists. These irises, 

 sweet-scented, orchid-like and aristo- 

 cratic, come in a fine range of colors. 

 The bulbs need cool treatment, and with 

 the gladoli do not need covering 

 with soil, sand or coal ashes, as they 

 start to grow quickly. A small list of 

 good varieties is: King of Whites, or 

 Blanche Fleur, pure white; Cajanus, 

 yellow; Midley, pale blue; Louise, 

 porcelain blue and yellow. 



Banunculi. 



Popular colors are obtainable in 

 ranunculi, including crimson, yellow, 

 dark maroon, white, scarlet and pink. 

 Plant eight to ten bulbs in 6-inch or 7- 

 inch pans, or grow them in a bench, dot- 

 ted between your single violets, or in a 

 portion of bench by themselves, giving 

 them a porous compost containing 

 plenty of sand. They must have a cold 

 house. 



Anemones. 



The anemones and ranunculi have a 

 charm all their own and appeal es- 

 pecially to critical flower buyers who 

 want something different from the or- 

 dinary routine of tulips and daffodils. 

 Half a dozen anemone roots sufiice for 

 a 6-inch pot, but they may also be 

 grown in flats or benches. Another 

 method is to plant them in coldframes, 

 and I have had superb flowers grown 

 in this way. The St. Brigid anemones 

 give a wide range of colors, especially 

 in the blue, scarlet and purple. Anem- 

 one fulgens, with dazzling scarlet 

 flowers, with a black center, is popular 

 in Europe and should be more largely 

 forced here. A. coronaria The Bride 



is a handsome, single, pure white va- 

 riety. Treatment of anemones should 

 be similar to that of ranunculi. 



Ixias, Sparaxis, Tritonias, Babianas. 



Ixias, sparaxis, tritonias and babi- 

 anas are interesting and charming spring 

 bulbous flowers, all of which succeed 

 well in small pans in a cold greenhouse. 

 They may also be grown in benches, 

 but pans aYe safer, as the plants are 

 then less liable to damp off. , Ixia 

 crateroides major, scarlet, and I. rosea 

 plena mult;flora, soft rose, are splendid, 

 but a mixed assortment looks well. 

 Mixed sparaxis and babianas are also 

 the best to plant. Tritonia crocata, 

 coming in shades of orange and scarlet, 

 and T. aurea, golden yellow, are beau- 

 tiful, carrying stalks eighteen to twen- 

 ty-four inches in height in early spring. 



Small Early-Flowering Bulbs. 



In the class with small early-flower- 

 ing bulbs may be placed crocuses, snow- 

 drops, Scilla sibirica and chionodoxas. 

 These are rarely seen on the market, but 

 are often grown in small receptacles 

 for retail trade. A nice way to utilize 

 them is in mixed arrangements of 

 flowering bulbs for table centerpieces, 

 some tulips, narcissi or daffodils being 

 planted somewhat thinly and a mixture 

 of the small bulbs being used below 

 them. Such centerpieces are refresh- 

 ing and appeal to anyone after a long 

 season of mums, carnations and roses. 



Bulbs are unusually late in arriving 

 and should be unpacked and spread out 

 at once after being received, and got 

 into the soil with as little delay as 

 possible. It will not be possible to 

 force any Dutch stock for Christmas 

 and all may be expected to bloom a lit- 

 tle later than usual. 



PLANTING OUTDOOR BULBS. 



Preparing the Beds. 



Dutch bulbs were late in arriving 

 and a smaller number than usual may 

 be available for bedding out. The last 

 half of October and the first half of 

 November is a suitable season for the 

 planting of the majority of hardy bulbs. 

 They succeed best in beds which have 

 had a coating of well-decomposed 

 manure. If you grow mushrooms the 

 spent manure from old beds will be 

 ideal for them. Do not, on any account, 

 use fresh barnyard manure, which is 

 harmful to all bulbs. 



Tulips. 



Tulips are the leading bulbs for bed- 

 ding. A few really fine varieties for 

 this purpose are: Chrysolora, Ophir 

 d'Or and Mon Tresor, yellow; Joost 

 van Vondel and Pottebakker, white; 

 Prince of Austria and Thomas Moore, 

 orange; Keizerskroon, red and yellow; 



Rose Luisante, deep rose; Pink Beauty, 

 rose pink; Queen of the Netherlands, 

 satiny pink; Scarlet Pottebakker; 

 Dusart, deep crimson. Any of the fore- 

 going make a good bed by themselves, 

 which is really the most effective way 

 to use tulips in beds. Circular beds can 

 be quartered and two colors used. For 

 this purpose, Joost van Vondel, white, 

 and Scarlet Pottebakker; Prince of 

 Austria and White Pottebakker; Chry- 

 solora and White Joost van Vondel; 

 Dusart and Mon Tresor; Cottage Maid 

 and Ophir d'Or are suggested as good 

 combinations. All the Darwins-make 

 splendid bedders. Mixed beds look well 

 and the following sorts are fine when 

 solid beds of one color are preferred: 

 Clara Butt, clear pink-shaded salmon; 

 Gretchen, silvery pink; Pride of Haar- 

 lem, carmine rose; Glow, vermilion scar- 

 let; King Harold, blood red; Rev. H. 

 Ewbank, heliotrope; White Queen, 

 nearly pure white; The Sultan, black 

 maroon. The following cottage tulips 

 are splendid bedders: Inglescombe 

 Yellow, golden yellow; White Swan, 

 pure white; Golden Crown, yellow edged 

 red; Gesneriana lutea, golden yellow; 

 Gesneriana major, brilliant scarlet; 

 Leghorn Bonnet, primrose yellow, and 

 retroflexa, deep yellow. 



Narcissi. 



Narcissi are not much used for bed- 

 ding. The following I have found to 

 make effective solid beds: Sir Watkin, 

 Empress, Victoria, Glory of Leiden, 

 Emperor and Golden Spur. All the 

 short trumpet narcissi are fine natural- 

 ized in grass land, preferably where 

 they can have a little shade. Some of 

 the large trumpet sorts like Emperor, 

 Glory of Leiden, Empress and Princeps 

 do well in grass, but Henry Irving, 

 Golden Spur and Silver Spur are not 

 successes. 



Bulbs for Edgings. 



The small bulbs like chionodoxas, frit- 

 illarias, snowdrops, crocuses, scillas 

 and puschkinias make nice edgings for 

 beds. They all do well in grass land, 

 where they are effective in early spring. 

 If the soil is at all favorable these bulbs 

 will increase satisfactorily. They 

 should be planted where the grass is not 

 cut until the middle of June. 



Galesburg, 111. — Last spring Messrs. 

 H. F. Drury and I. L. Pillsbury gave 

 away about 1,500 mum plants to the 

 school children and the merchants of 

 Galesburg have furnished premiums. 

 These plants are to be on exhibition at 

 the Armory, November 6 and 7, at the 

 fall flower show of the Illinois State 

 Florists' Association. The Armory is a 

 new frame building and will be elabo- 

 rately decorated with flags and greens 

 for the occasion. 



