September, 1907 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



75 



three years. There is a curious feature about 

 it. Seeds are often produced freely but we 

 Tarely, if ever, notice them because they are 

 formed at the surface of the ground. These 

 seeds germinate readily in the spring while 

 fresh. Sow them in seed pans that have 

 been exposed to freezing before the natural 

 germinating time. 



Another important point — examine the 

 corms carefully as soon as you receive them 

 and reject all bruised, imperfect, diseased, 

 weak or doubtful ones, as they are suscep- 

 tible to disease. Every July, dig up the 

 corms and examine them in the same way, 

 until they show by the perfection of the new 

 bulbs that all are healthy and happy. Then 

 you can let them stay in the garden as long 

 as you choose, but in four or five years they 

 will come too near the surface or crowd so 

 much as to deteriorate. 



If you punch a lot of holes in your lawn 

 and fill them with earth, you will make it 

 look unsightly for a fortnight or so. To 

 avoid this use a dibble, by means of which 

 you can pierce the sod, bend it aside, plant 

 your bulb and then let the sod come back into 

 place. A stamp of the foot will conceal the 

 cut, and there will be no little spots of earth 

 visible. Of course, you must choose your 

 time. Wait till the fall rains have made 

 the earth soft. Aching knees and soiled 

 clothes can be avoided by sitting on a box 

 or stool about a foot high. 



People who plant a thousand or more at a 

 time sometimes use a crowbar, or get an 

 English bulb planter, which costs about 

 $4.50. This is much used in naturalizing 

 daffodils, and a few American seedsmen 

 and implement dealers keep it. It lifts a 

 neat core of sod and replaces it with another 

 of the same size. 



Five species beside those named above 

 are supposed to bloom from October to 

 December. These are Crocus cancellatus, 

 ■Cilicicus, Damascenns, hermoneus and longi- 

 fiorus (or odorns). These are the only ones 

 I know of that are offered cheaply by the 

 thousand. By the time this article is 

 published, the Readers' Service Department 

 will probably know whether other kinds 

 can be secured in America. 



I am sorry to say that there is no reliable 

 yellow autumn-blooming crocus, but there 

 is a fair equivalent of it in Sternbergia lutea. 

 If you were to examine a good colored plate 

 of this you could not tell it from a crocus. 

 However, it belongs to the amaryllis family 

 instead of the iris family, has six stamens 

 instead of three, a true bulb instead of 

 a corm, and the leaves appear at the same 

 time as the flowers. First-class bulbs some- 

 times measure an inch and a half in diameter 

 and produce four flowers. Such bulbs should 

 be planted six inches deep, whereas two or 

 three is enough for crocuses. They cost 

 about $12 a thousand. The flower is said 

 to be easily spoiled by heavy frosts in late 

 autumn and the bulb is said to prefer a 

 limestone soil. Mr. J. N. Gerard advises 

 a rather heavy soil and dry, sunny position 

 where the bulbs will have a chance to ripen 

 thoroughly. 



The plant which everybody calls " autumn 



crocus" is Colchicum auliunnale, a lovely 

 old garden favorite which has larger and 

 earlier flowers than any of the true autumn 

 crocuses. The blossoms are often four 

 inches across, while two inches might be a 

 fair average for crocuses. These colchicums 

 glorify many an old garden in the month of 

 September, particularly the famous ones of 

 Salem, Mass., where I have seen thousands 

 of them that have multiplied undisturbed 

 for years. 



Doubtless the main reason why Colchicum 

 autumnale is commoner than the autumn 

 crocuses is that it blooms early enough to 

 escape being spoiled by heavy frosts. On 

 the other hand, it is not as suitable for 

 naturalizing in lawns, because lawns have 

 to be mowed in September. It is commonly 

 grown as an edging plant in gardens, but 

 I do not know of any reason why it could 

 not be naturalized with charming effect in 

 orchards, meadows, on steep banks or 

 wherever the grass is not cut except at haying 

 time. I have never seen colchicums quoted 

 by the thousand. They cost about $3.50 

 a hundred. 



I would strongly urge every reader of The 

 Garden Magazine who has a shrubbery 

 border to plant a hundred colchicums this 

 fall among his shrubs, planting them here 

 and there in groups of a dozen or so. If 

 you do this in late August you will be aston- 

 ished and delighted to see these flowers 

 coming out of the bare earth by the middle 

 of September at a time when no ordinary 

 shrubs are in bloom. But since the flowers 

 have no foliage of their own at this time, the 

 most refined way is to cover these bulbs 

 with a carpet of moss pink {Phlox subidata) 

 or any other shallow-rooted perennial plant 

 that blossoms at a different season. Thus 

 you will get three crops of flowers from every 

 sixteen square feet of ground — your shrub, 

 your phlox and your colchicums; and the 

 ground is covered with greenery all the 

 season between the flowering times. 



More colchicums are offered this fall than 

 ever before in America. There are about 

 a dozen species and varieties worth trying, 

 and The Garden Magazine hopes to give 

 a full account of them next fall from Amer- 

 ican experience. 



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These &re spring crocuses, but this is exactly the effect you can get from September to Thanhsgiving by 

 scattering & thousand bulbs of autumn crocuses in your lawn in August 



