COMPANION CROPS 



one day's sun the various bulbs and the forget- 

 me-nots made a most ravishing effect with their 

 clear tones of blue, lavender, and lemon-yellow. ■ 



I never tire of singing the praises of Tulipa 

 retroflexa; it is among my great favorites in tulips. 

 And this leads to the mention of that tulip, to me, 

 the best of all for color, known under three names 

 — Hobbema, Le Reve, and Sara Bernhardt. No 

 other tulip has the wonderful and unique color of 

 this. If you possess a room with walls in deli- 

 cate creamy tones, furnished with a little old ma- 

 hogany, and are happy enough to be able on some 

 fine May morning to place there two or three 

 bowls full of this tulip, you will understand my 

 enthusiasm. The color may be described as one 

 of those warm yet faded rose-pinks of old tapestry 

 or other antique stuff; a color to make an artist's 

 heart leap up. This is far from the subject, but 

 these digressions must occasionally be excused. 



In small note-books — tiny calendars sent each 

 year by a seed-house to its customers, and in 

 which it is my habit to set down on each Sunday 

 the names of plants in flower — I find the follow- 

 ing were blooming on a day in May: Tulipa retro- 

 flexa, early forget-me-not, Muscari botryoides, var. 

 Heavenly Blue; Scilla campanulata, var. Excel- 



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