OCTOBEi; 29, 1908. 



The Weekly Florists' Review* 



BEDDING TULIPS. 



Best Varieties and Their Culture. 



Tulips can be bedded out from the 

 beginning of October until Christmas. 

 Of course, the latest planted bulbs can- 

 not be expected to give as good results 

 us the earlier ones, much of their 

 strength being frittered away in paper 

 bags or boxes. As a general rule, from 

 the middle of October until the middle of 

 November is the favorite planting time 

 in the northern states. 



Although there is no apparent increase 

 in the trade in forced Dutch bulbous 

 stock, there has been an immense im- 

 petus given to the outdoor culture of 

 this class of plants. This is not sur- 

 prising, for no flowers are so universally 

 popular as these harbingers of spring, 

 and I expect to see an enormous in- 

 crease in their culture in the next decade. 



About every retail tlorist has the filling 

 of a number of beds with bulbs, and 

 of these tuli])s occupy first place in pub- 

 lic esiGoni. In many cases rainbow or 

 other mixtures are used with good re- 

 sults, ^lixcd beds an> in good taste, 

 much more so tlian the fantastic color 

 combinations soinotinies atteini)ted in 

 some of the put)Iic parks aiul gardens. 

 Personally, I ])ret'('r l)e(ls of separate 

 colors to those halved, ((luirterod or otiier- 

 wise divide<l in ribbon attire, but the 

 latter present a gay appearance and 

 seem to take the eyes of the multitude. 



Solid Beds. 



Solid beds f»f any reliable bedding 

 tulips are etfective, the following being 

 specially fine: .loost van Vondel, the 

 finest white bc<lding tnlip: White I'ot- 

 tebakker, Wliitc 8\van, Keizerskroon, 

 Chrysolora, (){ihir d'Or, Tlioinas Moore, 

 Pink Beauty, i'roserpiiie. Sir Thomas 

 Lipton. Couleur de Cardinal, Dusart and 

 Eoyal Standard. Queen of the Nether- 

 lands, the most beautiful ot all ])ink 

 tulips, still remains rather too liigh 

 priceil to conu' within the range of numy 

 purses. 



I noticed last year a beautiful circular 

 bed of White Swan \\itli a broad cross 

 of Couleur de ('ardiiial, red. AiH)ther 

 circiUar bed of Chrysolora, with a cross 

 of X'ermilion Hiilliant. was striking. 

 The following combinations are all in 

 g0(jd taste, if bedde<l together ami 

 flower at the same time: White Potte- 

 bakker and Chrysolora; Prince of Au- 

 stria, President Liiu'oln and Chrysolora; 

 White .Toost van N'ondel and C^ueen of 

 the Netherlands; Keizerskroon bordered 

 with La Keine (Queen Victoria); Chrys- 

 olora and Dusart; Dudu^ss de I'arina and 

 Fabiola; Ophir d'Or, Wouwerman and 

 Cottage IMaiil. 



Tulips Mixed With Other Bulbs. 



Not infrequently lieds are jilanted witii 

 both hyacinths and tulips, to allow of a 

 longer season of bloom. As a rule, the 

 two flowi'rs <lo not agree well a'sthet 



ically, but if the hyacinth spikes are re- 

 moved before the tulips are open, the 

 arrangement is all right. Sometimes, 

 however, the two bloom simultaneously, 

 with rather distressing results. Narcissi 

 arc also sometimes mixed through tulip 

 and hyacinth beds. This is not in good 

 taste. The narcissi should be by them- 

 selves. For a groundwork among bulbs, 

 myosotis, daisies and violas are com- 

 monly used, these being planted, of 

 course, in the spring and making a nice 

 show when the bulb season has waned. 



How seldom do we see the magnificent 

 late Darwin and Cottage tulips used in 

 bedding! These in beauty and grace far 

 surpass the early flowering bedding sec- 

 tion already referred to, and it is really 

 surprising that more of them are not 

 used in the parks and public gardens, for 

 the cost of many of the most beautiful 

 ones Js low. The Cottage section has 

 mostly originated in the cottage gardens 

 in Great Britain and Ireland during the 

 last half century. They are splendid for 

 planting along shrui)beries and succeed 

 well left from year to year. All are tall 

 growing and carry large flowers. For 



pure white; Pride of Haarlem, rose, 

 shaded scarlet; Gretchen, soft pink; 

 Flambeau, bright scarlet; King Harold, 

 red, shaded maroon; CJIory, cherry re<l; 

 Margaret, soft blush pink; and Dorothy, 

 heliotrope, shaded white. 



The following Cottage and other spe- 

 cies of tulips are all late flowering and 

 comprise some of the most beautiful va- 

 rieties in commerce: Cesneriana major, 

 crimson scarlet; Cesneriana lutea, the 

 finest goklen yellow late tulip; Golden 

 (,'rown, yellow, edged orange red; 

 I'icotee, white, margined cerise; Isabella, 

 syn. Shandon Bells, rose, flaked white; 

 Bouton d'Or, deep yellow; Didieri, 

 crimson vermilion; Inglescombe Scarlet, 

 ))right vermilion; and Vitellina, pale 

 primrose. Ail an; moderate in price. 



Tulips will grow in abnost any good 

 soil to which has been added some well 

 decomposed barnyard manure. Fresh 

 manure should never be used. Care 

 should always be taken to well pulverize 

 the soil, and an average covering over 

 the to|)s of the l)ulbs, four indies thick, 

 is about right. Winter jirotectioii in the 

 form of leaves or strawy numure should 



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Fotosa ( Darwin) in Foreground, Picotee in Background. 



cutting they are spleiulid and in some 

 seasons iuak(> big prices for Memorial 

 day. Every florist who does any business 

 at that holiday — and who does not .' — 

 should plant at least a few hundreds of 

 these late tulips. 



Darwin and Cottage Varieties. 



Of the Darwins. good mixturt^s jiro 

 iluce pleasing eflV^cts. The following 

 named sorts can also he strongly vecoin- 

 mended: (Mara Butt, pale Mise-|iink: 

 Farncomlx^ Sauclers. ciieiry leij; Loiil 

 Duui-au. scarlet; White t.)Mei>n. nearlv 



not be given until thi' grmind has become 

 well frozen. Tlu^ bulbs are perfectly 

 liarily. but the uuilching prevents the con- 

 tinual fieezing and tiiawing, which will 

 heave out manv of the bull)s. 



NOTES ON NARCISSI. 



The Increasing Variety of Colors. 



Tht> twii most popidar spring flowering 

 linllio'is plants in Auu-rica ;ire the tulip 

 Au>\ tile nareissns. Tin' former is at 

 lUfsent somewhat in the ascendant, and 



