The Garden Magazine, November, 1919 



131 



trouble. In heavy soils, 1 can readily believe that the Late 

 Tulip might be short lived as it has seemed to me that the 

 secret of longevity is drainage. 



A liberal pocket of sand in heavy soils is essential and a 

 raised bed also should be provided. My soil, being ex- 

 cruciatingly well drained, of light and sandy texture, main- 

 tains Tulips wonderfully well. 



THERE is a lot of nonsense about the impossibility of 

 moving the bulbs until they are thoroughly ripened and 

 will stand the test of winding the stem about the finger with- 

 out its cracking. A Tulip bulb may be dug even when in 

 full bloom if it is desirable, and moved with safety providing 

 it is lifted carefully with a full quota of roots and soil adher- 

 ing and is given attention after being planted in the way of 

 watering until it has ripened its bulb. 1 have done this often 

 without damage to the bulb 

 which has bloomed the fol- 

 lowing season. 



Another fallacy is that the 

 Tulip must be planted in full 

 sun. I have finer Darwins 

 and Breeders, as well as Cot- 

 tage Tulips in partial shade. 

 In fact the full development 

 of the flower cannot be se- 

 cured without some shade in 

 the hot and drying Mays 

 which we often have here in 

 the Middle West. 



RETURNING to the idea 

 of growing a stock of 

 bulbs with a weather eye to 

 those who would reduce us to 

 glorifying our own weeds into 

 garden subjects, I shall briefly 

 outline how I keep up a stock 

 in the hope that it may en- 

 courage others, for there is a 

 wicked waste of Tulip bulbs 

 each year. 1 know gardeners 

 who annually dig up their 

 bulbs and throw them away 

 to make room for summer 

 beds and each year buy a new 

 stock. We cannot afford to 

 do that now. 



For best results Tulips 

 should be lifted each year but with a large quantity it is 

 obviously impossible for any one not having the leisurely 

 life of the wealth endowed (or of a clergyman) to attempt 

 anything of the sort. 1 take mine in sections, figuring 

 three years as the longest time to leave any particular 

 section in the ground. A few perennial beds in which 1 

 have installed clumps of bulbs have gone for six years 

 and the Tulips have done well and furnished as high as 

 nine blooms to the original bulb last season. They need 

 digging but so long as they remain healthy and produce, why 

 not let them alone? Some Tulips naturalize themselves in 

 this way and persist healthily for years, others will not. 



A "BROKEN" OR "RECTIFIED" TULIP 

 Striped white on a red ground the Bybloem Tulip Lac Sans Pariel 

 is a good instance of the ultimate destiny of any self-colored 

 Tulip. Why it "breaks" and when it will do so none can tell 



When the bulbs are lifted they will grade from tiny little 

 fellows to two-to-four blooming sized bulbs. It is necessary 

 to separate them, keeping the blooming bulbs for regular 

 plantings and taking the little fellows for nursery beds. 



IN DIGGING the bulbs another peculiar and unexplained 

 characteristic of the Tulip may be noted. They often 

 let little bulbs down on strings underneath or to one side of 

 the parent. The only bulb that I know of that acts in any 

 manner resembling this is the Dogtooth Violet which plays 

 hide and seek in an irritating manner when you try to locate 

 it. These little bulbs are as valuable for propagating as the 

 little fellows clustering around the parent bulb. Some 

 varieties produce green bulbs in the axils of the leaves and 

 these are also valuable for propagating. 



Having separated the bulblets or offsets I plant them in 



long drills about two inches 

 deep and two inches apart. 

 1 formerly figured that as 

 these little bulbs were pro- 

 duced at the same depth as 

 the parent bulb they ought 

 to be replanted as deeply, but 

 practice seems to indicate 

 the)' do better at a lesser 

 depth. This is readily ex- 

 plained when one stops to 

 consider that a Tulip auto- 

 matically buries itself, the 

 new bulb forming under the 

 old one. 



The following spring after 

 planting the seedling bulbs, 

 so to speak, a few of them 

 will give tiny flowers. It is 

 best to remove these little 

 buds wherever they appear 

 and devote the entire strength 

 of the plant to bulb making. 

 By the second season a per- 

 centage of the larger ones will 

 be fair blooming size and by 

 the third year the greater 

 portion of the crop will come 

 into bearing. 



IT IS thus a simple manner 

 to keep up a stock of 



Tulips, taking the offshoots 

 from varieties by name and labelling them in the rows. There 

 is no difficulty or cultural trick about it that I have ever 

 discovered, the one injunction being to avoid fresh manure 

 and use only bone meal as a fertilizer; and if in the course of 

 events muriate of potash comes down to a reasonable price, 

 or any of the other salts of potassium, a sprinkling on the 

 beds in the fall is beneficial to bulbs, particularly Daffodils. 

 Drainage for the little bulbs is just as essential as for the 

 mature ones. In fact, I believe the main secret of Tulip grow- 

 ing is giving the bulbs free drainage so that they may never 

 suffer from too wet feet. If it comes off hot and dry just 

 after the Tulips bloom, give a good soaking with the hose. 



