The Easiest Way to Have Flowers All Winter-By Henry Maxwell, 



ANY BEGINNER CAN HAVE FLOWERS INDOORS FROM THANKSGIVING TO EASTER BY 

 GETTING A DOLLAR'S WORTH OF BULBS NOW AND FOLLOWING THESE DIRECTIONS 



Connec- 

 ticut 



The wrong way. Result of bringing bulbs into 

 warmth and light too soon — no stems, weaK leaves, 

 small flowers. See picture opposite 



THERE are three main ways in which 

 you can have flowers indoors in 

 winter without a greenhouse. One is to 

 raise them from seeds. Another is to buy 

 plants or save them from the garden. But, 

 on the whole, the cheapest and most satis- 

 factory plan for the million is to grow bulbs. 

 Here is a dollar collection of bulbs that 

 gave one amateur flowers every day without 

 a break from Christmas to Easter. 



Chinese lilies bloomed from Dec. 23rd to Jan. 12th 



Double Roman narcissus " Jan. 13th " Jan. 25th 



Grand Soleil d'Or narcissus " Jan. 22nd " Feb. 13th 



Crocus " Feb. 7th to March 12th 



Van Sion narcissus " March 7th to March 25th 



Princess Marianne tulip " March 23rd to April 9th 



There is nothing wonderful or unique 

 about this list. You can make a hundred 

 combinations as good or better by simply 

 remembering this: Before Christmas the 



quickest and easiest to bloom are Roman 

 hyacinths, Chinese sacred lily and Paper 

 White narcissus. After Christmas the things 

 to tie to are daffodils, hyacinths and tulips. 



The secret of bulb culture is to get a 

 wonderful development of roots before the 

 tops start into growth. Hence, the sooner 

 you get your bulbs and the longer you keep 

 them at work developing roots the quicker 

 you get your flowers after bringing the plants 

 into warmth and the larger and better 

 colored are the flowers. 



All the cultural skill in the world will not 

 enable you to add a single flower to the total 

 number. That is all settled in the bulb 

 when you buy it, as you can readily see by 

 cutting any bulb in two. All the flowers 

 are there in miniature wrapped up in the 

 heart of the bulb. The moral of that is as 

 plain as day. To have first-class flowers 

 buy first-class bulbs. Roughly speaking, the 

 bigger the bulb, the more flowers. Pay the 

 price. Have something you can take pride 

 in. Grow flowers fit for the exhibition hall. 

 Don't let it be said any longer that Americans 

 aren't willing to pay a fair price for the best 

 there is. 



The most popular Dutch bulbs for winter 

 bloom, and justly so, are tulips, hyacinths 

 and narcissi. The most important Cape 

 bulbs are freesias, oxalis and ixias. The 

 former must be kept dark until a good root 

 growth is made; the latter must not. 



The best way to keep your Dutch bulbs 

 dark and cool is to bury them in a trench in 

 the garden. Get them as soon as you can, 

 pot them and cover them a foot deep with 

 ashes or soil until Christmas. Then bring 

 them into the cellar and fetch up a batch 

 every fortnight or so to the warmth and 

 light. The only tulips you can force for 

 Christmas are the Due Van Thol varieties 

 but you must get the bulbs right off, for they 

 must have six weeks in the dark and at least 

 five weeks in the light before they bloom. 



Put the bulbs that you want to flower 

 efore Christmas at one end of the trench 



The right way. The secret of bulb culture is to 

 get a big root growth before tops start. Keep tulips 

 bacK until January 



where they are buried so that you can get 

 at them easily. 



When ready to bring them indoors choose 

 a day when the temperature of the air is 

 above the freezing point. The first batch 

 can be brought into one of the cool rooms 

 of the house and gradually become accus- 

 tomed to the light and warmth. Don't 

 bring them directly into a hot living room 

 and direct sunlight. Grow bulbs as cool as 

 you can and you will have larger flowers and 

 better colors. 



Meanwhile you must have a place to store 

 the other bulbs after taking them out of the 

 ground and before forcing them. It is often 

 said that a cool, dark, damp cellar is just 

 right for them, but who wants a damp cellar ? 



The first thing in potting a bulb is to 

 provide drainage. Don't cover hole 

 tightly 



Then put in the soil — equal parts 

 of loam, leaf mold anrf sand— and a 

 K-inch layer of sand 



138 



Cover most bulbs an inch, but leave 

 a third of the hyacinth bulb above 

 surface 



Bury all Dutch bulbs outdoors or 

 Keep dark and cool until roots develop 

 this much 



