104 LITTLE GARDENS 
THE FLOWERS OF SPRING 
Daffodils.—There are Daffodils and Daffodils—some may be 
bought for 2s. 6d. per 1,000, others cost guineas a bulb. The last ten 
years have witnessed a wonderful advance among Daffodils ; many 
new and distinct sorts have been raised, and it has been necessary to 
found at least one new class. Between the two extreme kinds of 
Daffodil just mentioned there are many dozens of beautiful sorts to 
be purchased at quite a moderate cost, and in springtime nothing 
gives so great a charm to the garden as a few clumps and masses of 
Daffodils. One should always endeavour to plant them in little or 
big groups, according to the space at command, avoiding the practice 
of planting in lines or dotting the bulbs here and there. Daffodils 
(like most other plants) thrive best in a deep loamy soil, neither 
unduly heavy nor light. Soil that contains a large percentage of 
gravel or clay does not grow Daffodils so well. The best months for 
planting are September and October, but one should remember that 
the earlier they are planted the more successful they are likely to be. 
Therefore September should have the preference. Some exhibitors 
plant their bulbs at the earliest possible moment—in July—and get 
the finest blooms of all; others defer the work until December, only 
to be disappointed when flowering time comes round. 
When and How to Plant.—Daffodils cannot be planted in the 
little garden in July, it is true, but there should be no difficulty 
in getting them in by the end of September or early in October. 
On land that is light rather than heavy, the bulbs may be put in 
4 inches deep: if the soil is somewhat heavy 3 inches will be deep 
enough. Datfodils in the mixed flower border are somewhat of a 
nuisance, because one scarcely knows what to do with them after 
the blooms are over. If they are allowed to remain the foliage is 
very unsightly, especially when it begins to die down, yet to cut it off 
is simply to ruin the bulbs. The only other thing to do is to lift the 
bulbs, and this, I think, is the more satisfactory, although it entails 
greater labour. I would advise lifting the bulbs when the foliage 
turns yellow, laying them in a shallow trench, and covering 
with soil ; they may even be laid on a path and covered with ashes. 
But let them be in the sunshine, not in the shade, so that they may 
have every opportunity of maturing thoroughly. When the foliage 
has died down the bulbs may be lifted and cleaned, and stored in 
bags until planting time. Before they are replanted one should 
grade them, putting in the flower beds only those that are likely to 
bloom, planting the others in a reserve border; if there are no 
available means of “ growing them on,” then I am afraid they must be 
discarded. One often hears complaints that after the first season 
Daffodils never bloom so well again in a little garden. 
Why Daffodils do not Flower.—If the bulbs are taken up 
annually and treated as described, this disappointment is avoided 
almost entirely. The absence of flowers is due to poverty of soil, 
the fact that the bulbs do not ripen thoroughly, and as they become 
