362 AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
quires much sun, as a general 
thing, to open the flowers, 
though I have found some 
curious exceptions to the 
rule. Several years ago, 
having had occasion to dig 
up a big patch of these Bulbs, 
I found, when through, that 
I had a bushel of selected 
Bulbs. The basket contain- 
ing these was set in a dark 
corner of a shed, quite for- 
gotten for atime. The next 
Spring, chancing to go to the 
shed for something, I was 
surprised by a gleam of 
white in a dark corner, and 
investigation revealed the 
basket of Bulbs a solid mass 
of flowers. 
Next of importance to the 
Hyacinth and to Tulips is 
the Crocus. Useful as this 
delicate flower is for filling 
in beds of Tulips and Hy- 
acinths, the Crocus is only at hearts of all 
its best when grown in the grass of the lawn, where it 
should be planted by the hundreds and thousands. Crocus 
Bulbs are so cheap—eighty-five cents a hundred for the 
choice named giant sorts—that the cost can never form a 
barrier to their liberal use. Never buy the small cheap 
Bulbs which give but a single bloom, but rather select the 
giant named varieties, which give from a dozen to twenty 
or more bloom to a bulb. Plant them, if possible, where 
they may be seen from the living-room windows, massing 
them particularly in the shade of trees or where the grass 
will not need attention quite 
so early as on the more open 
spots, as the only precaution 
required in this form of cul- 
ture is to- not destroy the 
leaves of the plant until they 
have ripened. It is usually 
quite possible to run the 
lawn-mower over them with- 
out cutting the leaves, how- 
ever, and once planted they 
will come up Spring after 
Spring and brighten wonder- 
fully the often gloomy days 
of March and early April. 
Do not attempt any regular- 
ity of arrangement in plant- 
ing Crocus, but plant in un- 
even groups and lines, throw- 
ing the Bulbs on the ground 
and planting wherever they 
chance to fall. White and 
gold are the most effective 
colors, but the blues are 
lovely at close range. In 
planting just lift the sod with 
a narrow trowel or a spud, 
one person making the incis- 
ion and another dropping 
the Bulb, right-side-up, and 
pressing back the sod with 
the foot. Set each Bulb two 
inches deep at least, and 
that is all that is required. 
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Probably the old-fashioned single Tulip is the variety most dear to the 
The Snowflake, Leucojum zstivum 
October, 1912 
All the Narcissus family— 
Narcissus, Daffodills, Jon- 
quills and the like do well in 
almost any situation and as 
a general rule should not be 
disturbed for several years at 
a stretch. The Poet’s Nar- 
cissus, which is most in evi- 
dence in the Springtime, is 
only at its best when grown 
in long double or triple rows, 
and will give a wonderful 
display of bloom the end of 
May. Plant Narcissus 
Bulbs about twelve inches 
apart, setting the Bulbs 
three inches deep in rich, 
mellow loam and in a well- 
drained situation. The Nar- 
cissus forms its new Bulbs 
around the old in ever- 
spreading circles, hence the 
need of room. ‘The Crocus, 
on the other hand, makes 
its new Bulb on top of the 
old, so we put it deep so 
that the Bulbs of the third year may still be below the sur- 
face of the ground, after which, unless lifted and reset, they 
will be apt to disappear. The trumpet-flowered Narcissus 
or Daffodills are equally beautiful in clumps or rows, their 
higher price, however, usually results in the former manner of 
planting, the best varieties costing about three dollars per 
hundred, while the Poet’s Narcissus may be had for one 
dollar per hundred. The newer King Edward variety costs 
three dollars per hundred. The best of the trumpet-flow- 
ered varieties are undoubtedly the Glory of Leyden, Em- 
S 
aati 
garden-makers 
press, Emperor, Albicans, 
Bicolor Victoria and the 
Mme. de Graff. 
For naturalizing in the 
grass the old Von Sion Nar- 
cissus is unexcelled, and it is 
magnificent when grown in 
long, heavy rows. Speaking 
of naturalizing, why not 
plant quantities and quanti- 
ties of the little Winter 
Aconite (Eranthus Hyemal- 
is), and let it make bright 
the first windy days of 
Spring with its little cups of 
gold growing so close to the 
ground that they seem just 
golden stars dropped down 
in wanton play. They are 
so cheap and easily planted, 
one dollar per hundred or a 
thousand (think of it!) for 
only eight dollars, that the 
home grounds ought to glow 
with them in Spring. 
Most of the occasional] 
Bulbs which the catalogues 
advertise, like the Chiono- 
doxias, Colchicums, Ornith- 
ogalumns, Pushkinias, Fritil- 
larias and the like look best 
when planted in considerable 
groups in the shrubbery, but 
they do not, as a general 
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