AUTUMN WORK IN GARDEN 



weather. Moisture, moreover, is more likely to be 

 supplied to them at this season than after spring 

 planting, which in this country is often followed by a 

 protracted summer drought. But when the location 

 of a seaside garden is very bleak and exposed, autumn 

 planting frequently gives way in a measure to that of 

 the spring, as the cold comes so early that it would be 

 difficult for plants to establish themselves well in the 

 soil before the winter. Again the climate must be 

 gaged and the result applied as a modification of 

 all set rules and theories concerning plant cultivation. 



The autumn is the recognized time for the general 

 planting of bulbs, those identified with other seasons 

 being few in comparison to the many varieties that are 

 set in the ground at this time. Snowdrops, crocuses, 

 squills, jonquils, hyacinths, tulips, and the large com- 

 pany of so-called bulbs planted in the autumn show 

 little to the material eye of the color and fragrance they 

 hold within their dull exteriors. Yet if planted when 

 the leaves begin to change and the autumn haze is in 

 the air, they work steadily toward sending forth their 

 fantastic beauty in answer to the call of spring in the 

 early, spotless days. 



Growers and importers of bulbs invariably urge 

 their patrons to order them early, and to plant them 

 early; that is, in late September, an especially excellent 

 time when gardens are near the sea. But a bulb 

 should not be dug before it has stored a sufficient 

 supply of food to enable it to produce its leaf and flower 

 the next season; and this fact must necessarily control 

 its time of planting. All bulbs are not ripe enough 



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