GARDENING FOR LITTLE GIRLS 
Dahlias and Cannas, however, grow from a 
TUBER, which is an underground knob on the 
stem, quite a little like a sweet potato, and which 
sends out the shoots that make new plants. 
The crocus and the gladiolus both spring from a 
CORM, which differs from the bulb in that it is 
solid (not in layers), and from the tuber in that 
it is not like a potato in shape but oval. 
The iris, though, grows from a RHIZOMH, a 
thickened root running along the ground (often 
half exposed), which throws up the new plants as 
it spreads. 
The bulb and tuber families are treated very 
much alike. Some of each are left in the ground 
year after year, like the daffodils and the lilies, 
while others, like the cannas and dahlias, have 
to be dug up, allowed to dry a little in the open air, 
and then stored in a cool, dark place for the winter. 
The rhizomes do not have to be ‘‘lifted,’’ but are 
increased generally by root division—cutting off 
a piece of the root soon after flowering, and plant- 
ing where it will get a good start before next sea- 
son’s time to bloom. 
Some people today would follow Mohammed’s 
advice: ‘‘He that hath two cakes of bread, let him 
sell one of them—for bread is only food for the 
body, but the narcissus is food for the soul;’’ 
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