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November, 1914 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



125 



the reason, too, why even with late tulips 

 success is not always what it should be. 



We simply cannot have the massings of 

 tulips and hyacinths in open lawns or 

 borders which are featured in all Eastern and 

 European catalogues. Many of us have 

 tried it and to our sorrow. I remember my 

 own first experience in the shape of a round 

 bed of tulips in a design in the open sun. 

 February brought a few warm days and my 

 poor tulips flowered with no stems at all 

 and my hyacinths 

 little better — yet I 

 plant fine masses of 

 tulips now and grow 

 them taller and finer 

 than in the East, 

 but ! 



Daffodils do not 

 force so easily and 

 do well in the sun, 

 as do irises and 

 gladiolus, yet even 

 with them it is bet- 

 ter to adapt plant- 

 ings to meet the 

 climatic conditions 

 outlined above. 



Not every year 

 brings warm spring 

 weather and occas- 

 ional successes may 

 lead some growers 

 to overlook this 

 point yet it is fool- 

 ish to risk failure in 

 this way. 



The judicious use 

 of shades and water 

 is the remedy and in 

 every garden there 

 is some good posi- 

 tion for the bulb 

 beds. Remembering 

 that the sun is in 

 about the same posi- 

 tion in October as in 

 April, study the 

 shadows in your 

 garden. 



An excellent posi- 

 tion is on the east 

 side of a building 

 or of a tree or wall. 

 The afternoon sun is 

 always hottest and 

 if the sun is cut off 

 from two to five it 

 is usually enough. 



A still better shade is one that shifts from 

 time to time during the day, never allowing 

 the bed to get very hot. A line of trees 

 may give an admirable position, or several 

 buildings may answer the same purpose. 



The eastern or northeastern side of a 

 clump of bamboos is another fine place and 

 palm shades are good. The finest show of 

 tulips in the West is along a driveway 

 bordered on each side by great date palms. 

 They allow the sun to come under them and 

 the shifting shade has insured wonderful 

 flowers year after year. 



If cut flowers are desired still better re- 



sults are to be had by artificial shades such 

 as a lath protection or even the use of bam- 

 boo sprays set upright on the sunny side of 

 the beds; and I use (with very great success) 

 limbs of bushes three to five feet high set 

 on the south side of cut flower beds. They 

 give a filtered light even better than laths 

 and insure very long stems. They are put 

 on just as the buds begin to develop well. 



The next method of insuring a long grow- 

 ing season and of retarding the flowering 



An ideally sheltered spot for growing bulbs in sections where the winter does not get really cold. Planting in the 



open must be avoided 



season when weather tends to force them 

 too fast is by the liberal use of water. As 

 a rule our winter rains are amply sufficient 

 but if they are delayed an occasional winter 

 watering will help. As soon as the buds 

 begin to develop the beds should be liber- 

 ally watered. Let this be especially liberal 

 for daffodils, Spanish and English irises; 

 and abundant for tulips and hyacinths. 

 Do not waterlog your soil, yet never let it 

 get the least dry at flowering time. 



In a private letter the Dutch grower who 

 stands first in Holland advised the liberal 

 watering of Darwin tulips at the flowering 



time and if this is true in Holland it is 

 doubly true in California. 



Passing on to the third essential we have 

 the same conditions as to soil and manure 

 to meet as elsewhere. 



Fine flowers cannot be grown in poor soil 

 or soil that is not well drained. First see 

 that the bulb bed is well drained. A tile 

 drain or a layer of gravel or broken bricks 

 under the bed will insure this although as 

 a rule it is unnecessary. It is not advisable 

 to raise the bed 

 higher than the 

 walk. 



Fine flowers can 

 be grown in almost 

 any soil not alkali 

 or water soaked. 

 Sand, loam, adobe, 

 rocky soils or allu- 

 vium alike give 

 good results if other 

 conditions are com- 

 plied with. 



To be sure if one 

 can give each sort 

 just what they best 

 like better results 

 can be secured ; 

 tulips, hyacinths, 

 crocus and gladio- 

 lus like a sandy loam 

 best, while Spanish 

 and English irises 

 and daffodils like a 

 heavy clay. 



Still, given a well 

 enriched garden soil 

 of any class with 

 good drainage in 

 winter and water 

 when needed and 

 the results will be 

 excellent. 



The best manure 

 to use excepting for 

 daffodils is a well 

 rotted cow manure. 

 Any well rotted man- 

 ure will do. The 

 best manner of ap- 

 plication varies with 

 conditions. 



If the soil is work- 

 able there is no bet- 

 ter method than 

 that used in Hol- 

 land. The Dutch 

 take the soil out of 

 the bed to a depth of about seven inches 

 and then put a layer of manure an inch or 

 two deep in the bottom. Soil is then put 

 in to bring the bed up to the planting level. 

 The bulbs are set and then covered. If the 

 beds are long this is done in sections. Lf 

 your beds are in well-kept grounds have 

 burlap cloths to lay the soil on. I have 

 great success with this method and it has 

 one advantage in the fact that the man- 

 ure need not be well rotted. In fact 

 I often use fresh manure when other is 

 not convenient. 



If the soil is heavy and not workable it 



