October, 1912 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
Of all Spring-flowering Bulbs none is lovelier than the fragrant single white, pink or blue Hyacinth 
Bulbs for Fall Planting 
By Ida D. Bennett 
Photographs by Nathan R. Graves 
HERE is hardly a class of plants which ap- 
peals to all classes of people so generally as 
does that of Spring flowering bulbs—those 
which go into the ground in October, and 
bloom with the first warm days of Spring. 
Bulbs are adaptable to so many places and 
conditions of soil and exposure, so tractable in their re- 
quirements, even being, in many cases, quite content to spend 
a portion of their lives in paper bags, if it happens that the 
particular bit of ground in which they have bloomed is 
needed for something else later on—the bedding of Cannas 
and Caladiums, the growing of annuals and like operations, 
and they have, in consequence to be taken up for storage. 
Tulips are especially accommodating in this respect, and 
so universally popular and satisfactory is this particular 
family of Bulbs that it seems the subject natural to begin- 
ning any article on Bulb planting. Almost any location will 
serve the Tulip so long as it is well drained, but water about 
the Bulbs is fatal. They may even be grown under semi- 
shade as at the time of their blooming the leaves are not 
yet in evidence and the plants will receive sufficient sunshine, 
for it must be borne in mind that the sunshine upon the 
bloom is responsible for much of the brilliancy of the flower. 
After the period of bloom is past Tulip Bulbs may be lifted 
and heeled in some sunny position to ripen and then stored 
in tightly-closed paper bags for the Summer and planted 
out again when the season comes around. But it is also 
certain that the greatest satisfaction comes from growing 
the Tulips in permanent beds where they can remain undis- 
turbed for several years. It may not be generally known in 
this connection, that the Tulip seeds freely, and when this 
seed is allowed to ripen it will scatter and come up in various 
places about the grounds in later seasons, producing in two 
or three years, strong clumps of plants which will give a 
fine show of bloom. Such Tulip seedlings are apt to depart 
quite notably from the parent type in blossoming, the petals 
tending to revert to the original type, of the wild flower 
which produced pointed, rather than rounded petals. The 
color, too, varies and many stripped and blotched forms re- 
sult. JI have had some very good Bizarres and Biblooms 
result in this way. 
The use of manure applied in the Fall is of doubtful ex- 
pedience in the planting of Fall Bulbs, but as a rich soil is 
a requisite of fine blooms it must be supplied in some form. 
I find land which has been heavily manured in the Spring 
and used for annuals or other plants is usually about right 
for Tulips and other Bulbs, in fact about the same condi- 
tions which make for successful potato culture works out 
