October, 1909 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



121 



much as when thus associated. That phlox 

 proved its claim and is permanently located. 

 I am moving some of the later Leedsi nar- 

 cissus, such as Lady McCalmont, a glorious 

 flower, and more phlox into this group. 

 This planting is backed by Chinese lark- 

 spur and some of the tall English larkspurs, 

 if they escape the blight which destroyed 

 a number of them. 



Barri conspicuous, quite the best general 

 all-around sure bloomer of the daffodils I 

 know, with a border of the lavender and 

 blue denticulate hybrid primroses, makes a 

 charming picture with platycodons to bloom 

 later. 



THE PROBLEM OF THE TULIPS 



In fact, the daffodils lend themselves quite 

 easily to concealment after their day is over. 

 But the tulips are still furnishing plenty of 

 gardening mathematics. While narcissus 

 leaves fall over prone upon the ground with 

 a little persuasion, tulips remain erect, 

 aggressive, and thoroughly disreputable until 

 they are all done. More vigorous growing 

 perennials are necessary to cover them, 

 and there is no use trying to plant anything 

 among them that I know of. 



Part of the tulips were planted in narrow 

 groups like the narcissus grouped accord- 

 ing to color. The plan worked well. The 

 tulips made a fine show, and the same 



system is to be continued this fall. I am 

 using phlox, physostegia, lychnis, evening 

 primrose, coreopsis, and other taller grow- 

 ing perennials to hide the tulip groups. 



The Darwins need more room than the 

 early tulips, as they make a more vigorous 

 growth, and some smaller growing plants 

 can be planted among them safely. I find 

 double arabis is particularly neat with them. 

 Shasta daisies follow closely, and make such a 

 fine display that the shabbiness of the Dar- 

 wins is partially lost sight of. Some of 

 the new Darwins and late tulips I tried last 

 year were the finest I ever saw. The two 

 best newcomers I had were Inglescombe 

 Pink and Mrs. Moon, two glorious tulips. A 

 new introduction, Tulipa Tubergeniana, did 

 not bloom although making a strong leaf. 



Some rose and violet byblooms, the first 

 named ones I ever found catalogued, in 

 the lists I have had at hand, were magnif- 

 icent. I wish more varieties were listed by 

 American firms. The best new daffodils 

 I tried were Lady McCalmont and a gor- 

 geous yellow trumpet, Shakespeare. 



BULBS LN THE GRASS 



Smaller bulbs, such as crocus, scillas, and 

 star of Bethlehem, go into the grass in con- 

 venient spots. Spanish iris I have planted 

 in a long strip on the edge of the border 

 and seeded to sweet alvssum. 



Anemone coronaria is so cheap that I plant 

 at least a dozen bulbs every fall just to take 

 the chance of getting two or three blossoms. 

 I never succeeded in getting more than four 

 from a dozen, but they were worth the price. 

 I have succeeded best in planting the 

 anemones among the early tulips. They 

 send up leaves in the fall and then I set a 

 box over them. The tulips seem to afford 

 a needed shade for the roots and the bright 

 sun brings up the flowering stem. They 

 seem to be hardy enough, but for some 

 reason or other only a limited number ever 

 blossom for me. I have never succeeded 

 with them in the shade. 



And now for the one freak of my bulb 

 planting. When I was a youngster the vil- 

 lage hearse had a sinister attraction for me. 

 It had six peculiar looking three-cornered 

 affairs on its top, three on each side. They 

 were originally black, but weather-beaten 

 to a gray. I was told they were fleur-de-lis 

 which, it was explained to me, was a flower. 

 I know now what those hearse flowers were. 

 They were Iris Susiana. This grand, 

 gloomy, and peculiar iris, while not strictly 

 speaking a bulb but a rhizome, grows for me 

 very kindly on a sandy south slope. I have 

 had it four years. It dies down about the 

 same time as the tulips, and I take it up and 

 pack it away in dry soil until late fall, for 

 it is ever ambitious to make a fall growth. 









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Mixing the bulbs and tne herbaceous perennials affords abundant opportunities for trie amateur to think out new and harmonious combinations 



