130 
blanched shoots, three of which are probably 
fit for use at the first cutting, early in October. 
The remaining small shoot are covered 
up again and allowed to grow for a second 
cutting a week or so later. Cut close to 
the base of the shoot, leaving no stub, to 
ensure the rapid growth of the remaining 
young shoots. 
Generally only two crops of shoots are 
Why Everyone Should Buy Darwin Tulips Now—By Wilhelm Miller, ¥« 
THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 
secured of the kan udo, but occasionally 
there are three. After the removal of the 
last crop the rootstocks are buried and 
allowed to remain over winter. In the 
spring the mounds are opened and rich 
manure is applied in trenches running on 
both sides of the plants. Throughout the 
summer free growth is encouraged, the 
plants being again cut down in the fall 
OcrTroBeEr, 1908 
and treated in a similar way to that just 
described. This can be profitably con- 
tinued for ten years, when it is better to 
start a new stock. 
Botanically the plant is Avalia cordata, 
and has been recognized as an ornamental 
plant on account of its large sharply lobed 
leaves. It is also used as a salad by the 
Chinese, when its name is tu-tang-kuei. 
New 
THEY HAVE A NEW SET OF COLORS, STEMS THREE FEET LONG, AND WILL LAST FOR YEARS WITH- 
OUT THE BOTHER OF REPLANTING ANNUALLY —THE MOST INTERESTING NEW RACE OF BULBS 
WANT every reader of the GARDEN 
MacGazINE to try some Darwin tulips 
this fall. Never before have I made such 
a request, because, up to this time, I have 
never seen any flower or plant which 
I thought would please everybody. The 
bulbs are now cheap enough for every purse 
and we have colors enough to suit every 
taste, for there are now more 
than one hundred and fifty 
varieties of this new race. 
Heaven knows I do not 
urge this simply because 
Darwin tulips are now the 
centre of interest among 
hardy bulbs and are bound 
to be “ fashionable ” this 
fall. I will never turn a 
finger to encourage any 
“fad” in American flori- 
culture, because we can 
never make America a gar- 
den as England is until we 
stop chasing everything that 
is cheap, quick, and showy 
and settle down to making 
beautiful home _ pictures 
with permanent or long- 
lived materials, even if they 
cost more and involve a 
long wait. It is true that 
Darwin tulips are cheap, 
quick, and showy, but the 
important point is that 
they will last indefinitely 
and multiply without the 
bother of lifting the bulbs 
every year, curing them in 
a cellar and replanting every 
autumn as people do with 
bedding tulips, which are 
merely for a brief show in 
a conspicuous formal bed. 
Of course, this longevity 
is not peculiar to Darwins. 
All Jate or May-blooming 
tulips can be left in the 
ground from year to year. 
The distinguishing feature 
of Darwin’s is their long 
stems, which are often two 
and a half to three feet 
in length, while those of 
the old May-blooming tu- 
lips average about sixteen 
blended colors. 
inches. This great length of stem is one 
of two reasons why Darwin tulips are 
especially adapted to American condi- 
tions. For Americans put more stress on 
long-stemmed cut flowers than any other 
people, an example being the fiorist’s 
carnation, which is essentially an American 
In the garden also these long- 
product. 
Darwin tulips have stems two feet high, flowers as large as your fist and subtly 
The striped flower on the right is a Rembrandt 
stemmed Darwins are most effective, giving 
a robustness of growth that we have never 
had before among bulbs. 
The other reason why Darwin tulips ought 
to appeal so powerfully to a democratic 
people is that their colors represent a revolt 
against the hard-and-fast standards set up 
in aristocratic countries. The whole course 
of the tulip’s evolution has 
heen a struggle to purify 
and intensify a few popular 
colors. The intermediate 
shades have hitherto been 
suppressed, and rightly too, 
in the case of the early or 
bedding tulips where the 
object is frankly show. But 
in late or garden tulips, 
which are made to be loved, 
we want no artificial stan- 
dards. We want at least a 
chance to see every inter- 
mediate color and every 
combination of colors that 
nature or man can produce. 
And the distinguishing feat- 
ure of Darwin tulips is that 
they give a host of. such 
colors, which we can get in 
no other class of tulips. 
I must confess that I was 
sceptical on this point, 
especially after reading the 
contemptuous comments of 
some English gardeners of 
the old school who declared 
that these colors were too 
often “muddy” and “ un- 
certain.” So I got about 
fifty varieties of Darwins 
last year and tested them 
with about a hundred other 
kinds. The result was a 
perfect revelation. Every- 
body who visited my garden 
liked the Darwins best and 
declared that the colors 
were beyond anything they 
had every seen in any kind 
of flower. It suddenly be- 
came as clear as day why 
these colors are so lovely, 
why they are so indescrib- 
able and why some of the 
old-timers hate them so. 
