118 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



October, 1905 



147. One of the cheapest and easiest ways of filling a bit of woods with flowers is to plant the Star of Bethlehem. It grows in clumps about six inches high, with 

 as many as twenty green and white flowers in a flattish cluster. The bulbs cost about $6 a thousand, or you can find them running wild from an old garden 



except daffodils, prefer a rather sandy soil. 

 On cold, wet soils a coating of sand should be 

 spaded into the bed. 



DEPTHS AND DISTANCES 



Plant hyacinths, tulips and daffodils five 

 to six inches apart. The poet's narcissus 

 and some others that have comparatively 

 small bulbs, and also the irises, need only to 

 be four inches apart. Snowdrops, crocuses, 

 scillas and other small bulbs may be set two 

 and one-half to three inches apart. 



Hyacinths, tulips and daffodils of the or- 

 dinary kinds are covered four inches, but the 

 narcissi with the largest bulbs (such as 

 Emperor, Horsfieldii and Sir Watkin) thrive 

 better when planted an inch deeper. Plant 

 Spanish and English iris three inches deep. 

 Crocus, snowdrop, chionodoxa, scilla, win- 

 ter aconite and other small bulbs require 

 two and one-half inches of soil over them. 



After the ground is firmly frozen in early 

 winter give the bulb bed a winter protection 

 of leaves and straw manure or some other 

 light material, which can be kept from blow- 

 ing away by laying on it a few evergreen 



boughs. This mulch is to prevent successive 

 freezing and thawing, therefore do not place 

 it on the beds before they are frozen. More- 

 over, if you do, field mice may nest there and 

 eat the bulbs. If the bed is kept warm' the 

 bulbs make a premature growth, and many 

 tops are broken when uncovering time comes. 

 The protecting material should be removed 

 in springtime, just as soon as the frost is out 

 of the ground. Beds of bulbs in masses, 

 which are left over from year to year, should 

 have a coating of manure each fall. 



TULIPS 



Tulips are cheaper than hyacinths, last 

 much longer in flower, and have more brilliant 

 colors than any other bulbs. I think the 

 single varieties are far superior to the doubles. 

 A bed planted with one solid color is generally 

 considered more effective than a mixed bed. 

 If you have a circular bed and want a little 

 more striking color effect, halve or quarter it 

 with different varieties, but see that the colors 

 do not clash. For instance, scarlet and pink 

 do not harmonize; nor crimson and yellow. 

 Mixed tulips of all shades sometimes make a 



gay and pretty picture, but mixed hyacinths 

 are an abomination. 



Tulips are very effective in round clumps, 

 near the edge of shrubberies or in sinuous 

 bands of uneven width. If you have a hun- 

 dred bulbs to plant, it is better to make two 

 effective clumps, however, than ten small 

 ones. Tulips are sometimes planted in 

 grass, but they and hyacinths, however, are 

 entirely out of place in such a location, being 

 too stiff and heavy. For naturalizing, the 

 wood tulip and wood hyacinth are appropri- 

 ate (Tulipa sylvestris and Scilla Hispanica, 

 known to the dealers as Scilla campanitlata). 



The following are a few of the very best 

 varieties of bedding tulips (for colors see the 

 bulb catalogues): Prince of Austria; White, 

 Scarlet and Yellow Pottebakker; Joost van 

 Von del; Proserpine; Chrysolora; Cottage 

 Maid; Keizerskroon ; Ophir d'Or; Duchess 

 of Parma and Wouverman. Yellow Prince, 

 Prince of Austria and Due de Berlin are 

 deliciously fragrant. A few good doubles 

 are: La Candeur, Murillo, Imperator rub- 

 rorum, Couronne d'Or, Tournesol. 



If very early blooms are wanted, the dwarf 



