126 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



November, 1914 



is better to spade a couple of inches of well 

 rotted manure into the soil and then to lay 

 out the soil as before for planting. 



If the soil is very porous, or has a tend- 

 ency to bake it is well to use a mulch of 

 well rotted manure an inch or so deep put 

 on top before the bulbs come through. It 

 prevents packing on the one hand and 

 drying out on the other. 



Commercial fertilizers can be used to good 

 advantage on all bulbs, yet the well rotted 

 manure is better. When I wish the very 

 finest tulips for cutting I use nitrate of 

 soda at the rate of 200 to 400 pounds to the 

 acre. This means from j to 1 pound for 

 every 100 square feet. The nitrate is 

 dissolved in water to form a saturated so- 

 lution and when diluted with double the 

 quantity of water, making f strength, is 

 sprinkled on the beds at the period when 

 the buds are developing. It is well to fol- 

 low up with a sprinkling of clear water as 

 the nitrate sometimes burns the leaves a 

 little. It is wonderful how quickly the 

 plants respond. 



I like to use lime on bulb beds when 

 planting as it insures sweet soil. Air 

 slaked lime at the rate of five pounds to 

 the 100 square feet will both sweeten and 

 mellow the soil and daffodils in particular 

 will be helped by it. 



Bulbs demand a continuance of the same 

 care after flowering as during and before. 

 The bulb which is to give results the suc- 

 ceeding season makes most of its growth, 

 or at least stores most of its starchy matter 

 after it has flowered. The bed must be 

 watered just the same until 

 the leaves be- 

 gin to turn 

 yellow. Then 

 water can be 

 withheld and 

 before the 

 leaves are 

 dry the bulbs 

 can be dug if 

 necessary. Never 

 cut off the leaves 

 before they ripen 

 unless you care 

 nothing for the 

 future. In this 

 connection it is well to 

 call attention to the 

 manner of cutting 

 flowers. 



It does not hurt a 

 hyacinth or a daffodil to 

 cut the flower as low as 

 you choose. There are 

 no leaves on the flower- 

 ing stem. But with the 

 leafy stem of the tulip, 

 the bulbous irises, and 

 the gladiolus it is differ- 

 ent. The long stems 

 which are so much de- 

 sired nowadays are apt 

 ixia and Sparaxis to be had at the ex- 



thrive wonderfully pe nse of the bulb. All 



in California and f hese bulbg gim , 



have a remarkable v 



range of colors must have ample f ohage 



to ripen the bulb. If some leaves are not 

 left the bulb will be dwarfed. At the very 

 least the two lower leaves should be left on 

 tulips and more are much better. It is 

 hard to cut the bulbous irises without 

 getting too many leaves, and the same, is 

 true of gladiolus. Perhaps with cheap 

 bulbs like Spanish irises and the Bride 

 type of gladiolus the better way is to en- 

 joy the flowers and get new bulbs. 



The care of the ripened bulbs is not a 

 thing to generalize on, and much must be 

 left to experience. I would not lift daffo- 

 dils at all until they crowd. As a rule the 

 third season is about right. If daffodils 

 of the Poeticus type are not too thick I 

 would not reset even then, as they resent 

 any disturbance. 



If there is any reason for so doing daffo- 

 dils can be dug and after being dried off 

 can be stored in any shady place until fall. 

 It is just as well to dig and reset at once in 

 the summer. My observation is that late 

 tulips give better flowers the second year if 

 left in the ground. It is not best to depend 

 upon early single tulips for the second year. 

 They might be fairly good but new bulbs 

 are safer. If the bulb bed can be dried off 

 after flowering it is just as well to leave the 

 bulbs in the ground unless the ground needs 

 to be worked or fertilized. 



Hyacinths of first size are seldom good 

 for much the second year. Get new bulbs 

 for your show places and plant the old bulbs 

 in some back place where the smaller flowers 

 can be used for what they are worth; and, 

 by the way, I would not buy first size hy- 

 acinths for outdoor planting. The best 

 second sized bulbs are excellent and very 

 fine flowers can be had from the "bedding" 

 sizes, which are really third size named sorts. 



Much could be said as to the arrangement 

 of bulb beds to give the best effects but that 

 is a subject by itself, and I will confine 

 myself to a series of dont's. 



1. Don't plant any bulbous plants close 

 to walks in the central parts of your garden. 

 Their flowering season is brief and the 

 ripening plants anything but decorative. 



2. Don't scatter any bulbous plants in 

 long lines but plant in close groups with 

 the bulbs from 4 to 6 inches apart each way. 

 They are far more effective and more easily 

 marked and cared for. 



3. Don't tiiink that you are going to se- 

 cure a good effect with a few bulbs of each 

 of many sorts. Better buy fewer sorts 

 and mass. 



Before passing on to bulb varieties I 

 must mention a strictly Western problem 

 and that is the pocket gopher. This busy, 

 hungry, burrowing rodent might be de- 

 scribed as a burrowing rat, and we Cali- 

 fornians have all paid tribute to him. We 

 all know his fondness for bulbs and roots 

 and we all know his shrewdness in escaping 

 traps, poison, and all devices for his hurt. 



You simply must have him out of the 

 way before you plant your tulips, iris, and 

 gladiolus. He cares little for hyacinths 

 and will not touch a daffodil. 



A study of gopher habits and gopher ex- 

 termination is too long for this article. 



The pocket gopher, a pe- 

 culiarly Western problem, 

 hard to fight 



They can be trap- 

 ped with some few 

 traps if you have 

 a knowledge of 

 their habits. 

 Poisoning them in 

 a garden is diffi- 

 cult. A gopher 

 gun has been in- 

 vented which is 

 effective. A bel- 

 lows fitted to a 

 canister in which 

 bisulphide of carbon gas is formed, and 

 which is forced into their runs works 

 well in level gardens where the soil is heavy 

 or when it is wet even although light. 

 First catch your gopher ! 



A very good protection for a bulb bed 

 can be made with an underground fence. 

 Dig a trench thirty inches deep around the 

 bed. Drive stout stakes down flush with 

 the ground or better projecting 6 inches 

 above. Stand f-inch chicken netting thirty- 

 six inches high in the trench and tack to 

 the stakes. Then fill in dirt on both sides. 

 This is a good protection and will last for 

 years. 



Anemones and ranunculus do well in all 

 Northern California. In the bay and 

 coast region they will thrive in full sun while 

 in the interior light shades are needed; and 

 in all cases the best results will be had in 

 rich mellow soils. They can be planted as 

 late as March. 



Chionodoxas do very well in light soils 

 and light shades. Snowdrops (Galanthus) 

 thrive where chionodoxas would. 



Crocus does very well in loose soils yet is 

 usually a disappointment and the trouble 

 is not in the climate. The bulbs carry 

 poorly and during the long trip from Hol- 

 land almost always heat to some degree. 

 The losses are enough to make the dealer 

 sick and even bulbs which seem good may 

 have suffered somewhat. 



Freesias simply luxuriate in light or 

 sandy soils along the entire coast belt from 

 Santa Rosa south. They are not quite 

 hardy enough in the cooler mountain sec- 

 tions. 



Hellebores are especially adapted to 

 shady places in Northern California. They 

 could hardly be better. 



Ixia and Sparaxis do wonderfully well 

 throughout California. They thrive with 

 little care year after year. It is advis- 

 able to secure good named varieties of 

 these. 



Montbretias do so well that they run 

 wild in most sections of California. 



Ornithogalums thrive in any garden soil 

 with little care; scillas are quite easy; and 

 grape hyacinth will colonize readily. 



It is not necessary to dwell at length on 

 the best varieties of tulips, hyacinths, daffo- 

 dils, etc. A list made out for Eastern or 

 European gardens will apply as well here. 

 Stay with the good medium priced standard 

 sorts and you will make no mistakes except 

 that in early single tulips it is better to 

 take the sorts that are normally long 

 stemmed. 



