SOME COUNSEL ABOUT BULBS 



GRACE TABOR 



Though Hunting the Bulb Promises to Be an Exciting Autumn Sport, Just Now It 

 Is With the Planting of Such as May Be Captured That We are Chiefly Concerned 



\T IS so very easy to overestimate one's requirements, 

 -p- when the pages of a flower catalogue present their 

 '^W -M superlatives, that the thought occurs possibly the 

 JJosI present bulb situation is not so deplorable as it seems 

 — especially so far as the garden is concerned. Not that 

 spring has anything lovelier to offer than the bulb flowers; 

 but with these, as with all other garden material, one should 

 use reason — which is equivalent to saying one must use re- 

 straint. It is always the disposition made of mass rather than 

 simply mass itself — otherwise quantity, in the case of bulbs — 

 that distinguishes good garden design and execution from 

 poor. And though a bulb garden may of course contain all 

 kinds, it will never be a thing of real beauty so long as the 

 standard is either many kinds or large quantity. 



Of course one may have certain of the bulbs without 

 having any garden at all, in the stricter sense of the word; 

 for they take to naturalizing as ducks to water — providing 

 they are naturalized and permitted to grow unmolested as 

 they would in a state of nature. This means, of course, that 

 their tops will not be cut away — at least not until they have 

 finished their growth and ripened or died down. Hence it 

 means that the place of their " nat- 

 uralization" must be one that is _ 

 unshorn till late June anyway — if 

 it is in grass — for everything save 

 Snowdrops or Squills. These be- 

 ing very early in bloom and very 

 little fellows as well, are ripe early 

 enough to be out of the way by the 

 time lawns need mowing. Bear in 

 mind however that Snowdrops — ■ 

 true to their name! — must have 

 protection from the sun of sum- 

 mer—hence under the shade of 

 trees or shrubs is the one place 

 where they will find themselves 

 truly at home. On these, however, 

 we shall be short this year; likewise 

 on the Roman Hyacinths and early 

 flowering Tulips. Of the rest there 

 is probably an abundance. 



FOR bedding purposes dealers 

 in bulbs will supply on re- 

 quest exact and careful directions 

 as to the planting itself and the 

 quantities needed to fill any given 

 space, of any shape. Bulbs for this 

 purpose, in addition to having 

 been very carefully graded to in- 

 sure uniformity of bloom, must 

 have equally careful planting at 



Practical Planting Points 



Bulbs, like seeds, should themselves be the 

 gauge of their distance below the surface, 

 the safe and sane rule being to cover every- 

 thing with three times its own depth of 

 earth. 



Gauge the distance between them by their 

 width in the same way, spacing Crocus once 

 their width, Hyacinths and Tulips twice 

 their width, Snowdrops, Squills, and Jon- 

 quils three times their width, Lilies four 

 times their width and Narcissus five times 

 their width apart. 



Always insure perfect drainage out of doors 

 by setting all bulbs on an inch-deep bottom 

 of sand or coal ash. Cover the earth above 

 them with a layer of mulch as soon as 

 winter weather comes on, but not sooner 

 as this would induce premature growth. 



For indoor winter bloom plant at once in a 

 light soil, letting the top of the bulbs come 

 just above its surface. Water thoroughly 

 after potting, set away in a cool place and 

 cover with light litter to keep dark until 

 well rooted. Bring into the light and 

 warmth as wanted for succession of bloom. 

 Vigorous and abundant roots are the secret 

 of satisfactory flowers indoors. 



an exact depth. The labor involved is therefore consider- 

 able both now at the time of planting, and in the spring 

 following the bloom; for beds that are as exposed and on 

 parade as those wherein bedding is' practised must of 

 course be planted in their summer dress as soon as their 

 spring finery loses its freshness. 'Generally speaking, there- 

 fore, this fashion of using bulbs is attended with many 

 difficulties — not to say uncertainties under present labor 

 conditions — and quite apart from the esthetic points which 

 such handling involves, it will be well to consider thought- 

 fully before adopting it. 



As to the choice of it at any time and under the most favor- 

 able conditions, the most that may be said is that it is a 

 matter of personal preference, just as all other conventional 

 bedding is. For the person who likes it, nothing else will 

 serve; while for the person who does not, anything else is 

 preferable! That it is suitable only to the extremely con- 

 ventional and geometrical layout is obvious — and the pre- 

 sence or absence of this may indeed be the deciding influence, 

 if one has any doubts about its appropriateness. Bedding 

 as a matter of fact should be avoided like the seven plagues 



except in the geometrical parterre. 

 Here it is really the only thing 

 that insures continuous perfection. 

 Actually bulbs do not, as flow- 

 ers, merit the isolation so often 

 accorded them. They are quite as 

 sociable as the other flower races, 

 adapting themselves to the com- 

 pany of others much more gra- 

 ciously than some, as a matter of 

 fact. Therefore, why continually 

 think of them and deal with them 

 as something different? As to habit 

 and propagation they may be, to 

 be sure; but this difference ends 

 when the flowers begin, and their 

 place in a garden picture is not — 

 or should not be — influenced by it 

 in the least. A clump of Tulips 

 or Narcissus or Daffodils are as 

 delightful in the midst of a mixed 

 border as a clump of Phlox or 

 Pyrethrums or any other favorite 

 — and they do not moreover take 

 up so much room that the spot 

 left vacant by the ripening down 

 of their tops will not easily be 

 covered by the seasonal increase 

 in the foliage mass of the all-sea- 

 son plants around them. Thus they 

 leave no unfilled gaps. 



IOI 



