OCTOBEB 24, 1912. 



The Florists' Review 



15 



DUTCH BULBS OUTDOORS. 



Their Increasing Popularity. 



While it is perhaps doubtful whether 

 there has been any great increase in 

 the numbers of Dutch bulbs imported 

 for forcing purposes during the last 

 few years, there is no question at all 

 that the increase of these for outdoor 

 planting has been great and there is 

 every probability that this growth will 

 continue, for the love of hardy flowers, 

 while much stronger than it was, is 

 ■till practically in its infancy, and 

 none of the hardy brigade are so popu- 

 lar as those which come to cheer us 

 after the long and often dreary winter. 



It is safe to say that no florist who 

 does a retail trade can dispense with 

 what are commonly termed Dutch bulbs, 

 either for forcing purposes, outdoor 

 planting, or both. The more bulbs a 

 country florist plants tastefully about 

 his own home, the better will the call 

 be from his customers. It is noteworthy 

 that the florists who keep a nice front 

 lawn and have one or more beds or 

 borders suitably planted with a well 

 assorted selection of bulbs, hardy per- 

 ennials or tender bedding plants, are 

 always better patronized than the more 

 careless and shiftless growers, who con- 

 tinue to present for their customers' 

 admiration a miscellaneous assortment 

 of packing cases, old piping, scrap iron 

 and the various other incidentals of a 

 sale place which should always be rele- 

 gated to the rear and given as incon- 

 spicuous a location as possible. 



Hardy Bulbs for Cutting. 



It pays to grow an assortment of 

 hardy bulbs for cutting, entirely apart 

 from such as may be used for bedding. 

 These follow the indoor crop and can 

 hardly be dispensed with. A large as- 

 sortment of these is neither necessary 

 nor desirable. Here is a boiled down 

 list of some which are sure to sell: In 

 narcissi. Emperor, Victoria, Golden 

 Spur, N. poeticus ornatus, N. poeticus, 

 Leedsii, Mrs. Langtry, Sir Watkin ana 

 Barrii conspicuus; in early tulips, such 

 sorts as White Pottebakker, Chrysolora, 

 Pink Beauty, Rose Grisdelin, Murillo, 

 Couronne d'Or, Joost van Vondel, 

 white, and Keizerskroon ; in late tulips, 

 Picotee, Bouton d'Or, Gesneriana ma- 

 jor, Gesneriana lutea. Golden Crown 

 and any of the Darwins. In more 

 northerly sections, where these late tu- 

 lips naturally bloom near Memorial 

 day, few flowers pay better. I have 

 in mind one grower who had a batch of 

 6,000 of these last May. He kept them 

 mulched quite late with seaweed and 

 they flowered just right. He had no 

 trouble in selling all of them at 6 cents 

 «ach at retail. 



Hyacinths for cutting are hardly 

 worth growing outdoors, but Spanish 

 iris should never be overlooked. They 



are invaluable, as they have such long 

 stems and graceful foliage. Blanche Su- 

 perbe, Louise, Chrysolora and Thunder- 

 bolt are good, and, to immediately follow 

 them, try a planting of Iris Anglica, or 

 English iris, another fine subject for 

 cutting. Some people imagine that 

 irises are tender. They are just as 

 hardy as tulips and narcissi and, if left 

 undisturbed, will bloom for years, even 

 when cut down quite hard. 



Bulbs for Bedding. 



When it comes to bulbs for bedding, 

 tulips are the bulbs par excellence, and 

 every year sees more and more of them 

 planted. A well assorted mixture is 

 often used and looks well, but beds of 

 one solid color make the most pleasing 



The Editor ia pleased 

 when a Reader 

 jtresents Us Ideas 

 on any subject treated In 



iVB'w 



As experience Is the beet 

 teacher, so do we 

 learn fastest by an 

 ezchange of experiences. 

 Many valuable points 

 are brouKbt out 

 by discussion. 



Good penmanship, spellintr and 

 ffTsmmar, though desirable, are not 

 necessary. Write as you would talk 

 when doing your best. 



WB SHALL BS GLAD 

 TO HKAR FROM TOU 



and at the same time the most impos- 

 ing show. Circular or oval beds may 

 be quartered. Square beds, if not 

 wanted of one shade, are better planted 

 in lines several deep, or in blocks. 

 Care should be taken to select varieties 

 of uniform height which bloom togeth- 

 er. By far the finest of all white bed- 

 ding tulips is White Joost van Vondel. 

 Flamingo and Rose Grisdelin, pink; 

 Yellow Prince and Ophir d'Or, yellow; 

 Belle Alliance, scarlet, and Striped 

 Joost van Vondel, rose flaked white, 

 are of uniform height and bloom to- 

 gether. 



White Pottebakker is another beau- 

 tiful white tulip, several inches taller 

 than Joost van Vondel. To go with 

 it, of equal height, plant such sorts as 



Yellow Pottebakker and Golden Queen, 

 both splendid yellows; Queen of the 

 Netherlands, pink; Thomas Moore, 

 orange; Proserpine, carmine rose; Kei- 

 zerskroon, scarlet bordered yellow. 

 These are the tallest of the first-class 

 early tulips. 



Of medium height, taller than the 

 Joost van Vondel class, are: Mon 

 Tresor and Ophir d'Or, golden yellow; 

 Pink Beauty, one of the grandest tulips 

 in commerce; Prince of Austria, orange 

 red; Vermilion Brilliant, scarlet, and 

 Queen Victoria, white. The white, 

 pink and yellow shades harmonize well 

 together, but it is not good taste to 

 mix the scarlet, deep orange, crimson 

 and deep rose shades with them. Keep 

 these by themselves. The softer colors 

 are what people like the best. A cir- 

 cular bed, quartered and planted, say 

 with White Joost van Vondel and Belle 

 Alliance, will not be nearly so satisfy- 

 ing to the average flower lover as one 

 in which White Joost van Vondel is 

 associated with a delicate pink like 

 Rose Grisdelin or Cottage Maid. 



Late Tulips for Bedding. 



In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred 

 the late tulips are ignored for bedding. 

 People have been so much in the habit 

 of planting the early sorts that they 

 have overlooked the most magnificent 

 of all tulips. These are taller growing 

 and of much greater vigor than the 

 earlies and make a much grander show 

 when in flower. There are many mod- 

 erate priced varieties and I would 

 strongly urge their extended use as 

 bedders. When once customers have 

 seen them they are bound to want more 

 the following year. Another good point 

 about them is that if they are used in 

 mixed borders, where the bulbs need 

 not be disturbed, they will increase in 

 numbers and flower better the second 

 and third seasons. 



The following list of inexpensive late 

 tulips contains a wide range of colors 

 and cannot fail to give satisfaction. 

 Among the May-flowering cottage tu- 

 lips, good yellows are: Gesneriana 

 lutea, Golden Crown, T. retroflexa, 

 Bouton d'Or and Leghorn Bonnet. 

 Among whites La Candeur is good; in 

 scarlets, Gesneriana spathulata and In- 

 glescombe Scarlet; in pink, Inglescombe 

 Pink. Added to these should be T. 

 vitellina, delicate sulphur; Picotee, 

 white penciled and edged cerise, and 

 Isabella, rose flaked white. 



A few varieties of Darwins can hard- 

 ly be omitted from any collection of 

 tulips. These are the most robust grow- 

 ing of all the tulip family and are 

 superb both for cutting and for mass- 

 ing in beds. Splendid sorts are: 

 Gretchen, soft pink; Clara Butt, salmon 

 pink; Wedding Veil, silvery gray; 

 Glow, vermilion scarlet; King Harold, 

 blood red; Mme. Krelage, rose, and 

 Loveliness, satiny rose. 



