110 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



October, 1912 



Conducted by Ellen Eddy Shaw 



Bulb Work 



THE most important and imperative 

 item of fall planting work is that of 

 bulb planting. Just the very week school 

 opens the bulb orders ought to be sent to 

 the dealers. If the bulbs are to be planted 

 outdoors buy bedding varieties; if they are 

 for pot culture buy forcing varieties. 



The narcissus and hyacinth families are 

 the most satisfactory ones to introduce into 

 school work. The tulips are more likely 

 to give trouble. Buy early varieties and 

 push them rapidly along. 



Do not plant crocus, snowdrops, and 

 scilla in stiff, formal beds but scatter them 

 about the lawn or tuck them in wherever a 

 place can be found. Daffodils lend them- 

 selves to an informal arrangement. But 

 hyacinths and tulips are in themselves more 

 formal and are usually seen planted in 

 formal beds. 



Any good light garden soil will do for both 

 bedding and potting. Make the out-door 

 bed fine by means of a thorough spading. 

 Before placing the bulb in its place put into 

 the hole made for it a sprinkling of sand. 

 This layer of sand acts as a drainage area 

 and conducts the water away from the bulb. 



In potting there are a few things to hold 

 in mind. First put into the pot about an inch 

 of drainage material, next a little sphag- 

 num moss if you have it, and a few pieces 

 of charcoal to keep the soil mass sweet. 

 The soil should now be filled in to the proper 

 place at which the bulb is to be planted. 

 Plant small bulbs a quarter of an inch below 

 the surface of the soil, hyacinths and tulips 

 one half inch, and narcissus may be planted 

 with their noses sticking above the surface 

 of the soil. Each bulb should rest on a bed 

 of sand with soil filled in over the bulbs. 

 Never pot clear up to the top of the pot. 

 Leave one half inch for watering. 



Potted bulbs may be buried outdoors in 

 a trench or put away indoors in a cool, dark 

 place. Bulbs must stay from six to eight 

 weeks in the dark. Keep these bulbs 

 watered. If the potted bulbs are buried 

 outdoors, Nature will attend to them. 



Turn to page 53 in the September, 1912, 

 Garden Magazine and read the article on 

 "Starting Bulbs for Christmas." A de- 

 tailed and helpful account is given, and 

 as you look over the following table study 

 that article as well. 



A Window Garden of Bulbs 



OUR bulb table and zinc tray have been 

 in use four or five years. It was made 

 according to my directions, and the whole 

 thing, including painting the table a dark 

 cherry to match the woodwork in my bed- 

 room and living-room, and the making of 

 a long zinc pan, did not exceed six dollars. 

 The table is six feet long, two feet wide, 

 and two feet high. It is placed by a double 

 east window, about three inches above the 

 window sill. The zinc pan covers the 

 entire top of table and has a rim about an 

 inch deep to fit down over the table and an 

 inch deep rim at the top. On this I set 

 my potted hyacinths. Then I have a large 

 zinc pan, 38 inches long, 6 inches wide and 

 6 inches deep (4.5 inches would be better) 

 with holes down the centre of the bottom 

 two inches apart and large enough to run 

 a lead pencil through. In this pan I put 

 thirty-six bulbs of the white Roman hy- 

 acinth. I always buy one hundred single 

 White Roman and seventy-five Dutch 

 Roman, white and mixed, and pan hya- 

 cinths. They are potted in grape baskets, 



in boxes — anything that I can gather up 

 — that are four inches deep and can be 

 perforated for ventilation. Then I have a 

 load of well-rotted cow manure hauled in 

 July or August. I order my bulbs as early 

 as I can get them and try to have my white 

 Romans in pots by the fifth of October. 



I put in the bottom of the pan or basket 

 a layer of charcoal lumps (small pieces in 

 small vessel and vice versa), and after I have 

 mixed rich soil and sand to [the proportion 

 of four parts soil to one part sand, pulverized 

 well, I put in one inch of prepared soil and 

 sprinkle lime very lightly over the whole. 

 I then fill in with soil to within two inches of 

 the top, making it perfectly smooth and 

 even and free from clods. With a sharp 

 knife I lightly shave off the hard bottom of 

 the bulbs, rub off the dead skin, and then 

 gently press the bulbs down into the soil, 

 placing them two inches apart. The soil 

 should then be sprinkled over them evenly 

 until they are just covered. With a flower 

 sprinkler water them gently until they are 

 thoroughly wet. (Be sure that the soil 

 is wet through.) Put in a dark cellar or 

 closet (I use the latter) and let them stay 

 until roots are formed and the little points 

 begin to show. This takes from four to six 

 weeks. Be sure to keep the soil damp while 

 in the dark. When the bulbs are first 

 brought out do not put them in the sun for 

 a day or two after. They like the warm 

 sun. Do not ever let the soil become hard 



BULB PLANTING TABLE 









ESTI- 

 MATED 



HOW TC 



PLANT 







SPECIES OR 

 VARIETY 



COLOR 



COST 



(cents) 









NAME 







REMARKS 









PER 



OUTDOORS 



TNDOORS 











DOZEN 









Anemone 



Coronaria 



Mixed 



20 



i-inch deep scat- 



Eight bulbs in a 



Plant A. blavda 





St. Brigid 



" 



40 



tered over lawn 



5-inch pot. 



outdoors. Rich 





Fulgens 



Scarlet 



35 



or in rock gar- 

 den. 

 In a sandy loam 





blue color. 



Crocus 



Cloth of Gold 



Yellow 



15 



Six to eight bulbs 



May be grown in 





King of the 



Blue 



15 



1 inch deep. 



in a 5-inch pot. 



water and peb- 





Blues 











bles as the Chi- 





Albion 



Violet & white 



J 5 







nese lily. 





Mont Blanc 



White 



15 









Freezia 



Refracta Alba 



White 



35 





Sixtoeightbulbs 

 in 4-inch pot. 



Plant indoors as 

 early as possi- 





Leichtlinii 



Yellow 



40 





Ten to twelve 

 bulbs in a 6- 



inch pot. 



ble for Decem- 

 ber bloom. 



Hyacinth 



Gertrude 



Pink 



65 



Six inches deep 



Three bulbs will 



These are "exhi- 





Baron Von 



Purple 



65 



and 6 inches 



go in a 6-inch 



bition" varie- 





Thuyll 







apart, cover 



pot 



ties ;*'Romans" 





Robert Steiger 



Rose 



70 



for winter pro- 





respond rapid- 





Baroness Thuyll 



White 



65 



tection. 





ly to forcing. 



Narcissus 









Outdoors 4 inch- 



In pans or flats. 



All varieties most 



Chinese Sacred 



Chinese Lily 



White 



1 00 



es deep and 4 



4 large or 6 



satisfactory for 



Daffodil 



Von Sion 



Yellow 



35 



inches apart. 



small bulbs in 



pot culture. 



Jonquil 



Campernelle 



Yellow 



15 



The polyan- 



a 6-inch pot. 



PlantChineselily 



Polyanthus 



Paper White 



•White 



3° 



thus variety 

 is less hardy. 





in stones and 

 water indoors. 



Oxalis 



Bermuda 

 Buttercup 



Yellow 



40 





Six bulbs in a 5- 

 inch pot. 



Excellent for 

 hanging bas- 

 kets. Plant 

 early for De- 

 cember bloom. 



Tulip 



Artus 



Red 



30 



4 inches deep, 4 



Six bulbs in a cl- 



Force tulips in- 





Due Von Thul 



Red-yellow 



30 



inches apart. 



inch pot. Or- 



doors as they 





Pottebakker 



Yellow 



35 



Buy bedding 



der early tu- 



are prone to 





Queen Victoria 



White 



30 



varieties. 



lips. 



develop lice. 



Scilla 



Sibirica 



Blue 



15 



1 Inch below sur- 

 face. 



Ten to twelve in 

 6-inch pot. 



Plant outdoors in 

 masses with 

 crocus. 



Snowdrop 



Elwes' Giant 



White & green 



20 



1 inch below 

 ground. 



Ten to twelve in 

 6-inch pot. 



Grows in almost 

 any soil. 



