Bulbs for April Planting— By Thomas McAdam, 



New 

 Jersey 



A "ROUND-UP" OF THE "HALF-HARDY" BULBS FOR SUMMER AND AUTUMN BLOOM IN THE GARDEN, WHICH MAY 

 BE PLANTED BEFORE DANGER OF FROST IS PAST-SOME FLOWERS WORTH TRYING IN THE WINDOW GARDEN 



MOST of the hardy bulbs are planted in 

 autumn and bloom in spring. The 

 spring-planted bulbs bloom in summer, are 

 taken up in fall and kept in the cellar over 

 winter. The half-hardy kinds, i. e., those 

 which may be planted before the danger of 



Gladiolus, the most important spring-planted bulb. 

 Best grown in vegetable garden for cut flowers 



frost is past, are treated in this article. The 

 tender kinds, such as cannas and dahlias, 

 which are best planted after the danger of 

 frost is past, will be described in May. 



I. The Hardy Bulbs 



The only important hardy bulbs that are 

 commonly offered in spring are certain lilies, 

 but there can be no question that September 

 and October are the best months for planting 

 them. All lily bulbs are soft and sappy 

 and they lose a great deal of vitality in the 

 winter if stored in a warm, dry place. An 

 American specialist who grows lily bulbs 

 commercially tells me he stores them in 

 moist sphagnum moss which keeps them 

 from drying out. He declares that many 

 of his customers report success from spring 

 planting. Nevertheless, the only reason for 

 planting lilies in the spring is that you have 

 forgotten to do so in the fall, and it would 

 be unwise to risk any large sum of money 

 on spring-planted lilies. The favorite lilies 

 for spring planting seem to be auratum, longi- 

 florum, speciosum and tigrinum. 



The Japan iris is not a bulbous, but a 

 rhizomatous species. It is, however, often 

 classed with hardy bulbs and is sold both 



Photographs by N. R. Graves and others 



spring and fall by seedsmen as well as nursery- 

 men. It has the largest flowers of all irises — 

 often nine inches acros's and a superb set 

 of colors. 



II. The Half-Hardy Bulbs 



THE FIVE MOST IMPORTANT KINDS 



Of the half-hardy bulbs for spring plant- 

 ing, the first five are the most popular. 



Gladioli are easily the most important 

 flowers mentioned in this article, their only 

 rivals among the summer-blooming bulbs, 

 besides lilies, being cannas and dahlias, 

 which have to be planted later. Gladioli 

 are usually planted about the middle of 

 April near New York, or as soon as the 

 ground is fit to work, and for succession 



The largest-flowered of all irises is the Japanese 

 (/. laevigata.^. Flowers often nine inches across. 

 Not bulbous, but planted in spring as well as fall 



until the last of June. It is also a good 

 plan to risk a few of the gladioli a month 

 earlier, or when sweet peas are planted, in 

 order to get the earliest possible flowers. 

 The subject of gladiolus is so important that 

 it is reserved for a separate article. I will 

 merely remark that tho interest now centres 

 in Groff's hybrids. 



Next to the gladiolus in historical impor- 

 tance is the florists' anemone (A. coronaria), 

 but this has never become popular in the 

 United States because its outdoor culture is 

 too particular. It has the widest range of 

 color among anemones, and differs from 

 the other plants here mentioned in being 

 a spring flower, but its curious flat tubers 

 will not survive our Northern winters, though 

 they are commonly offered in both fall and 

 156 



spring catalogues. These anemones have 

 remarkably pure reds and blues, and were 

 long ago brought to a high pitch of perfection 

 by European florists. They are still forced 

 occasionally for sale in March or April, 

 but I doubt whether any American has had 

 continuous successful experience with them 

 in the garden. If so, The Garden Mag- 

 azine would be glad to hear about it, as the 

 only satisfactory way we know of raising 

 them is by the aid of coldframes. 



The red-hot poker plant (Tritoma Uvaria), 

 is one of the most peculiar and interesting 

 plants in the vegetable kingdom. It has 

 bright orange-red, tubular flowers crowded 

 into a spike four to six inches long, which 

 crowns a naked stalk three or four feet high. 

 The correct name of this plant is Kniphofia 

 aloides, and "torch lily" is a better popular 

 name for it, being quite distinctive and less 

 vulgar. There are at least twenty-five horti- 

 cultural varieties advertised by the Dutch 

 bulb dealers, but how much variation there 

 is in season of bloom and size of flowers 

 does not appear in horticultural literature. 

 The colors range from whitish and pale 

 yellow through yellow and orange to brick 

 red, but there is probably no red as intense 

 as that of the scarlet sage. It is to be hoped 

 that some American amateur will grow all 

 these varieties and report upon their relative 

 merits. Probably the most valuable is 

 Pfitzerii, which is called the ever-blooming 

 torch-lily. There are two drawbacks to the 

 torch-lily. It will not usually survive the 

 winters as far north as New York. It 

 naturally blooms late and has a short season. 

 However, its season has been greatly extended 



Golden-banded lily (Lillam auratum). Often planted 

 in spring. Most gorgeous lily, but short-lived 



