1906 
OcTOBER, 
Van Sion narcissus three months after potting and 
after a week's exposure to light 
The first flower 
opened on March 7th 
In full bloom three weeks later. 
either outdoors with a thick covering of litter 
or inacellar. The bulbs require five weeks 
or longer to make roots and as they cannot do 
this in frozen ground, precautions are taken 
against freezing. When the pots are crowded 
with roots, they are ready to be brought from 
the cellar. For the first few days after re- 
moyal place them in a moist atmosphere 
and a cool temperature. Tulips enjoy free 
watering but not overwatering, and their 
flowers are sensitive to direct sunlight striking 
them through the glass. 
Well rooted early Duc Van Thol tulips 
make very satisfactory pot plants, as do many 
of the other early sorts. Some of the early 
single sorts can be raised in water, like hya- 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
cinths, if perfect bulbs are chosen. A good 
tulip bulb can be told by the reddish color 
of the skin, which is the result of its being 
grown in a proper sandy soil. 
THE ESSENTIAL DETAILS 
The same general directions for potting and 
after care are equally applicable to the other 
bulbs commonly grown in the house. Other 
points are these: Avoid fresh manure; if 
well-rotted cow manure is not to be had, use 
bone meal in the proportion of one part to 
fifty of soil. Manure water added when the 
plants are in bud will greatly improve the 
flowers. Always take the strongest bulbs for 
house bloom. ‘They lose vitality if kept long 
out of the ground, so the best way is to pot 
them all at the same time, and let the suc- 
cession depend on bringing them to the light 
at different times. Single bulbs, in small 
pots are apt to suffer from varying tempera- 
tures and different degrees of moisture; so 
the best way is to plant several of a kind ina 
large pot. The Cyclopedia of American 
Horticulture gives the following guide for 
temperatures as the best suited for the differ- 
ent stages of growth: 
DOP TOLLED soascoowabodonbaces 40 degrees 
For stems and foliage......... GOI se 
or bestlowerseeenn aie eeerie Com 
For quick development........ JON me 
To determine whether the roots have filled 
the pots turn out the ball of earth. Of 
course this cannot be done if the earth is dry, 
but if the soil is kept moist enough not to dry 
out and yet not wet enough to mold, it will be 
an easy matter to keep track of the root 
growth. It takes four or five days in subdued 
light for the foliage to turn from white to 
green. To prevent the opening of the flowers 
before the stems have reached the right 
length, the pots can be kept from the full sun- 
light still longer. For this intermediate stage 
we have constructed a home-made bulb table, 
with three shelves, one a little above the level 
of the floor, one on the same height as the 
window sill and one between. When the 
foliage has turned green the bulbs are brought 
to the light and warmth of a sunny window on 
the top shelf, the lower shelves meanwhile 
accommodating several relays of later bulbs. 
Hot dry air is likely to blast the tender buds, 
and draughts and dust must be avoided. 
Narcissus buds may be cut when only par- 
tially open, as they will come to perfection if 
placed in water. 
BULBS FOR THE CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS 
For Christmas flowers we have made use 
of three of the polyanthus narcissus tribe, the 
Chinese sacred lily, Double Roman and the 
large flowering Paper White, so popular 
with the florists. On three successive years 
the sacred lily opened its first flowers Christ- 
mas week, when started between the first 
and middle of November. In each case they 
were in full flower on New Year’s Day. 
For full bloom at Christmas, start the bulbs 
the third week in October. We potted some 
on October 12th which reached their height 
of bloom exactly two months later, on De- 
cember 12th, too early for Christmas decora- 
tion. 
129 
Double Roman narcissus is like the Chi- 
nese lily in appearance, except that the 
flowers are double. It needs starting earlier. 
Some that we potted on September 30th and. 
brought to the light the middle of November, 
were in bloom a few days before Christmas. 
On the other hand one started November rst 
was too late for the holidays, as the flower 
bud was only an inch high at Christmas time. 
The Paper White narcissus has somewhat the 
shape of the sacred lily, but both cup and 
petals are pure white and the flower larger. 
There are sometimes ten flowers to a stem. 
Ours was in bloom for Christmas; it was 
potted Sept. 30th and brought to the light the 
middle of November. 
Some other bulbs which may be grown to 
secure flowers during this same period but 
which need different treatment are freesias 
and oxalis. ‘To secure the best flowers the 
bulbs should be planted in late August or 
early September but the freesia does not 
deteriorate so rapidly as the other bulbs so 
that in the window garden one can secure a 
good succession of them by successive plant- 
ings until February 1st. If all the bulbs are 
planted in September put the pots out of 
doors until frost threatens when they must 
be brought into a cool but light place and 
stored until wanted for forcing. 
Crocus bulbs after being eight weeKs in the cellar. 
Potted October 31st, in flower February 7th 
Forty 
The crocuses lasted in bloom for two months. 
flowers from a dozen corms 
