SEPTEMBER: SECOND WEEK 229 



and longest display of flowers, and this is only accomplished 

 by making your own collection for planting an informal bed 

 or border, or by naturalizing them, or, better still, by using 

 both methods. 



Figuring Out the Number of Bulbs Needed 



To select and plan for a long season of bloom, first meas- 

 ure your bed or border and see how many bulbs of the re- 

 quired variety it will take to fill it. Hyacinths and the late 

 flowering tulips should be set six to ten inches apart each 

 way; the smaller earher flowering tulips and Dutch Roman 

 or miniature hyacinths a little closer, say five to eight inches. 

 The various narcissi should be put from six to twelve inches 

 apart, depending on variety and size of bulb, for full effect 

 the first season. The narcissi, however, multiply very 

 rapidly. From a few dozen bulbs you can, in the course of 

 three or four years, get enough to make further plantings or 

 to fill in a good deal of space, if, in the first place, they are 

 set rather far apart. 



Naturalizing is simply getting as natural an effect as 

 possible. The simplest way is to get a sufficient number of 

 the bulbs of the flowers you want, scatter them thinly broad- 

 cast, and plant where they fall. For this purpose, of course, 

 only plants are used which are perfectly hardy and will 

 increase themselves from year to year; therefore, perfectly 

 satisfactory results can be had by using bulbs that are not 

 all of the first size. For instance, if you get a third of the 

 quantity in first size bulbs and the rest in smaller, you will 

 have a good show the first year after planting and plenty 

 of other bulbs coming on for succeeding years. 



Having then determined the number of bulbs you will 

 require, there remains the problem of selecting those which 

 wiU give the best satisfaction. 



Early and Late Tulips 



I mention the tulips first, for they are at this time prob- 

 ably the most popular of all the spring flowering bulbs. 



