House-grown Daffodils for Christmas-By a. m. Kirby, 



A WINTER SUPPLY OF FLOWERS WITHOUT A GREENHOUSE FROM PLANTING BULBS IN POTS 

 IN AUGUST AND BURYING OUTDOORS UNTIL ROOTED— SIMPLE RULES THAT MEAN SUCCESS 



New 

 York 



TT IS an easy matter to have daffodil flowers 

 *■ for Christmas by planting the bulbs 

 in August, and they need occupy no space 

 in the window garden, or conservatory, excep- 

 ting while in bud and blooming. For the 

 earliest blooms, some of the earlier flowering 

 varieties of the Tazetta group, particularly 

 Paper White and Double Roman are grown, 

 and they may be had in flower even earlier 

 than Christmas. 



Successful winter flowering is dependent 

 on these four factors: 



i. Early planting. Procure the bulbs as 

 early as possible and pot them at once. 



2. Allow plenty of time, outdoors, to root 

 thoroughly, about twelve weeks for hardy 

 varieties, six weeks for Tazetta varieties. 



3. Slow growth when first brought into 

 the house, by giving ventilation and keeping 

 the room or house cool: 50 until budded, 

 then 6o° to 65 for flowering. 



4. Plenty of water when the buds are 

 developing and when in flower. 



The ideal potting soil for daffodils is pre- 

 pared six months or more before using, from 

 sod taken from rich loam. Make a compost 

 of the following proportions: 50 per cent, sod, 

 25 per cent, well-rotted cow-manure, 25 per 

 cent, leaf mold. Compost this by turning 

 the pile three or four times during the season 

 to get all the ingredients thoroughly mixed. 

 Before using, add about four quarts of sand 

 and two quarts of fine bone meal to each 

 bushel of the mold. If it is not convenient 

 to prepare the soil as directed, buy prepared 

 potting soil from a florist rather than to rely 

 on the ordinary garden soil. 



Too much insistence cannot be put on this: 

 get your bulbs as early as possible and 

 pot at once. 



A general order for daffodil bulbs sent to 

 the bulb dealer will not be filled until he can 

 complete the order and so ship all the lot 

 at one time — that is, after the arrival of the 

 Dutch, English, Irish and Guernsey bulbs, 

 which means about the middle of September. 

 Be emphatic, therefore, in giving instructions 

 to ship the bulbs "as they come in." The 



purchaser then receives early in August, 

 the South of France and Asia Minor bulbs 

 including Paper White, Double Roman, 

 and two or three others of the older 

 Tazetta varieties, as well as three or four 



The Paper While narcissus is one of Ihe easiest 

 daffodils to force for Christmas 



Daffodils in flats which have been buried outdoors 

 and are ready for storing inside or for forcing 



varieties of the old standard trumpet sorts — 

 probably Spurius major, Golden Spur, and 

 Emperor. Be very chary about accepting 

 any Double Van Sion from these sections as 

 they are apt to produce flowers with some 

 or much green in them. It is just possible 

 that the bulb dealer will also have a shipment 

 in July or early in August of a few sorts of 

 home grown bulbs from Virginia, probably 

 Golden Spur, Emperor, Empress, Barri 

 conspicuus, poeticus and ornatus. 



The object of getting the bulbs potted 

 early is to give them plenty of time to make 

 roots — three months is none too long — for 

 without good roots, good flowers cannot 

 be produced even from the best bulbs. 



I prefer to use 5- and 6-inch pots with 

 several bulbs in each. This not only gives 

 better and more pleasing results, but is 

 easier to manage. One daffodil may be 

 grown and flowered successfully in a 4-inch 

 pot, but it requires more watching and care 

 than several grown in a 6-inch pot. 



In the case of small bulbing varieties, such 

 as the bulbocodium, triandrus and cyclamin- 

 eus groups, a dozen or more bulbs may well 

 be grown in a 5- or 6-inch pot. On the other 

 hand, the big bulbing polyanthus varieties 

 can only go one bulb to a pot of the same 

 size. The great majority of the trumpet 

 and crown daffodils can be planted three 

 to five bulbs to a 6-inch pot. Plant only 

 one variety in a pot; different varieties of 

 different heights and not flowering simul- 

 taneously give an unsatisfactory result. 



The pots to be used must be washed clean, 

 20 



if old ones; if they are new, soak them 

 thoroughly in water so that the pots them- 

 selves will not dry out the soil after potting. 

 Before putting in the soil, provide for good 

 drainage by placing two or three pieces of 

 broken pots (crocks) over the hole in the 

 bottom, to prevent it from getting stopped 

 up. Cover this drainage with a small layer 

 of sphagnum moss, cocoanut fibre refuse, 

 or old fibrous roots that have been shaken 

 out of sod; then fill in with soil until, when 

 it is shaken down and bulb set on it, the top 

 of the bulb is almost up to the top of the pot. 



Place the requisite number of bulbs in 

 position, and fill in with soil to within half 

 an inch of the top (this much space being 

 needed for watering). A little of the neck 

 of each bulb will remain exposed, excepting 

 in the case of the very small pea-like bulbs 

 of miniature varieties, which must be covered 

 with soil to a depth of about half an inch. 

 If earthen pans are used, the procedure will 

 be the same as for pots. Eight-inch pans 

 make ideal receptacles and look better than 

 pots. Shallow boxes (flats) may be used 

 when flowers are to be grown in quantity 

 for cutting. 



The great secret of success in flowering 

 bulbs is to make them develop roots before 

 top growth starts. The object of burying 

 potted bulbs out of doors is to induce them 

 to do this by keeping the lower portion 

 warmer than the top. Failure to do this is 

 responsible for most of the disappointments 

 in flowering bulbs under artificial conditions. 

 Without roots the flower can only develop 

 so far as the stored up nutriment in the bulb 

 will sustain it; and, as this is generally 

 exhausted before the flower is half-grown, 

 nutrition supplied by the roots becomes 

 essential. It is easy to understand, therefore, 

 that growth ceases if no roots are at work 

 and the stunted plant becomes a monument 

 to incompetent treatment. 



There are various ways of burying the 

 potted bulbs; my method and the one that 

 I think most nearly fulfils the requirements 

 of nature is to dig a trench a foot deep in some 

 location sheltered from the north and west 



Van Sion, the common yellow daffodil, forced for 

 early winter flowers 



