102 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



October, 1912 



Plant bulbs in masses along the borders of shrubbery 

 to furnish the edges 



In the three great families, hyacinth, 

 tulip, and daffodil, the variety is bewildering 

 and the garden possibilities inexhaustible. 

 The best of them can be bought at from 

 two to five dollars a hundred and the mere 

 preparation and planting of a bed or border 

 entails little labor and expense. 



If your little lawn is unadorned, its 

 simple, quiet beauty would be enhanced 

 to a marked degree with a few rightly dis- 

 posed beds or a simple border parallel to the 

 garden walk. Dig up the bed thoroughly 

 to a depth of two feet and if soil conditions 

 are not of the best remove the poor material 

 and in its place fill up with good top or 

 garden soil. Hereafter all you have to 

 do is to add a little fertilizer every year 

 or two to maintain fertility. 



Here is a simple rule to calculate the num- 

 ber of bulbs or plants required for any round 

 bed you may make. Find out the exact 

 length of line of the outer circle and divide 

 it by the distance apart the bulbs are to 

 be planted. For example, given a bed 7 

 feet in diameter, you should allow a space 

 6 inches from the edge of the bed before 

 planting. The outer circle would then be 

 6 feet in diameter or approximately 18 

 feet long, and 54 bulbs would be required 

 if planted 4 inches apart. The next circle 

 48, the next 42, the next 36, reducing 6 each 

 time up to the central bulb, which would 

 give give a total of 271. The same rule ap- 

 plies of reducing by 6 each circle if the bulbs 

 are spaced 6 inches, 8 inches, or 1 foot 

 apart, the total numbers required at these 

 distances being 127, 78, 37. A square or 

 oblong bed is easily computed as all lines 

 are of even length. For an oval bed the 

 simplest calculation is to add the totals of 

 extreme length and width and divide by 

 2. A bed 8 feet by 6 equals 14 feet divided 

 by 2, or 7, and the required number would 



be as for a round bed with the outer plant- 

 ing circle 7 feet in diameter — 410 bulbs 

 at 4 inches or 169 at 6 inches apart. 



Hyacinths and the larger types of nar- 

 cissus should be planted 6 inches apart and 

 5 inches deep, but the early tulips may be 

 spaced 4 inches, giving the greater distance 

 to the later May-flowering types. 



The varieties are so numerous in hya- 

 cinths, tulips, and narcissus, that it is not 

 easy to make a limited selection when so 

 many are first class. In hyacinths for 

 outside planting the single flowered types 

 are best and one can buy them in such 

 colors as he may desire without reference 

 to name. Tulips are legion but the be- 

 ginner in bulbs might try any of the follow- 

 ing: Belle Alliance or Vermilion, brilliant 

 red; White Hawk, Proserpine, rose; Golden 

 Queen, yellow; and Keizer Kroon, red and 

 yellow. These are all single. In doubles 

 Couronne des Roses, pink, and Boule de 

 Neige, white, are good. In late or May 

 flowering tulips the beginner should try 

 Gesneriana major, red; Mrs. Moon, yellow; 

 Maiden's Blush, pink and white; Clara 

 Butt, soft rose; Glow, vermilion; The 

 Sultan, dark maroon. 



In narcissus, the single trumpet flowered 

 varieties such as Emperor, Empress, Hors- 

 fieldi, Golden Spur or Sir Watkin are ad- 



Hyacinths are massive looking and flower late in 

 spring. They need deep planting 



The white flowers of the snow-drops appear about 

 the same time as the sauills 



mirable for planting in beds and borders; 

 also the star-flowered types, such as Barri 

 conspicuus, incomparabilis, Stella, the 

 poet's or pheasant's eye narcissus, and the 

 rich yellow Jonquil rugulosus. 



A beautiful way to grow the finer tulips 

 and the narcissus is to have them planted 

 in groups of ten to twenty bulbs of each 

 kind in a hardy flower border, interspacing 

 between them other hardy perennial plants. 

 When thus planted they may be left un- 

 disturbed for several years. The bare 

 spaces they leave in the border after they 

 die down can be sown with annuals. 



The narcissus, too, have unlimited pos- 

 sibilities for naturalizing in grass and wood- 

 land, by stream or river. The essential 

 fact to bear in mind wherever bulbs are 

 grown, is that the leaves have a most 

 important part to perform in the plant's 

 economy. When flowering ceases the leaves 

 must remain till they die naturally so that 

 they may mature the bulb. 



The bulbous rooted lilies and iris are 

 other bulbs to plant now. The prevailing 

 practice of planting everything in spring 

 and little or nothing in the fall is primarily 

 responsible for the dearth of lilies in 

 gardens. A great many people only think 

 of lilies at Easter time, but lilies in great 

 variety are found all over the northern 

 hemisphere in America, Europe and Asia. 

 An unbroken succession of lily flowers is 

 possible from June till October, only you 

 must plant them before winter sets in. 



In the great iris family there are two bulb- 

 ous types commonly known as English and 

 Spanish iris, and they too must be planted 

 now. Their diversity of color, in white, 

 yellow and blue shades, their freedom of 

 flowering, and their usefulness for cut- 

 ting combine to make them garden flowers 

 par excellence. 



