TULIPA 



THE BULB BOOK 



TULIPA 



group differs a good deal in height 

 and colour, better effects, as a rule, 

 are obtained by planting one or at 

 most two varieties in the same bed. 

 If all kinds are mixed together, the 

 result will be disappointing in formal 

 beds. In the mixed flower-border, 

 however, there is no reason why 

 mixtures should not be planted in 

 vacant spaces, and thus avoid the 

 formality of geometrical beds. 



As a rule, warm, open situations 

 sheltered from bleak winds are best 

 for outdoor Tulips. They do not like 

 being under low-growing evergreen 

 trees or bushes, or under walls, or in 

 deep shade. They are children of the 

 vernal sun, and will display their 

 brilliant colours under its rays to the 

 best advantage. 



In conjunction with Tulips, such 

 spring - flowering plants as Poly- 

 anthuses, Forget - me - Nots, Wall- 

 flowers, Pansies, and Violas, Prim- 

 roses, Mossy Saxifrages, Silene 

 compacta, Double White Arabis, 

 Yellow Alyssum, and Aubrietias — 

 commonly known as Purple Kock 

 Cress — may be planted in autumn 

 over the Tulips and between the 

 rows. In this way a beautiful effect 

 of colour with one combination or 

 another may be secured in spring. 

 The only thing to bear in mind is not 

 to have two nearly similar colours in 

 the same bed. Thus Yellow Alyssum 

 would not look so well under yellow 

 Tulips as it would under red, white, 

 or purple ones, and so on with the 

 other plants mentioned. 



In the early summer, when the 

 Tulip leaves have withered, the 

 bulbs may be lifted, cleaned, and 

 stored in a cool, open, airy place until 

 planting - time again comes round. 

 The best or first size bulbs should be 

 kept separate from the offsets of 

 second size ones, and the stiU smaller 

 offsets or spawn should be kept also 



distinct from the others. It is not 

 essential to lift Tulips in this way, 

 but it is generally better to do so. 



•Fig. 331.— Tulip, section of bulh showing (o) 

 flower-stem which has absorbed old bulb; 

 and (b) the new bulbs forming as a result 

 of the aerial leaf-action. 



It may perhaps be well to mention 

 that the bulbs taken out of the 

 ground in spring or early summer, 

 are not the ones that were planted 

 the previous autumn. They are 

 quite new, and the fact that they 

 develop so well in British gardens, 

 notwithstanding our peculiar winters, 

 is another argument in favour of 

 their cultivation. The sketch (Fig. 

 331) shows how the flower -stem 

 absorbs the bulb that is planted, 

 while new bulbs for the following 

 season are developed during the 

 growing season. 



Garden Tulips may be divided into 

 groups as follows : — 



I. — Early and Bedding Tulips. 



This popular group has been 

 derived chiefly from T. suaveolens, 



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