XXII 
AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 
October, 1909 
the pipes in the greenhouse before any real 
harm is done; but in the private house—un- 
less there is a conservatory or greenhouse 
attached, there is seldom room for caring for 
any considerable number of bulbs where there 
will be light and the necessary amount of heat, 
so that they must be left until March at the 
earliest. 
They may, however, be left in the ground 
as late as possible—until the last of Novem- 
ber, any way—and, in late falls, it may be 
practicable to leave them well on towards 
Christmas. “The tops should be cut back, as 
soon as frozen, as far as sound tissue; and in 
this connection I would suggest the heavy 
mulching of the beds with dead leaves, lawn 
clippings or other cover, at the approach of a 
killing frost, bringing the litter well up about 
the stems in order that the frost may be kept 
as far as possible from the roots. After cut- 
ting back the frozen tops the bed should be 
piled high with leaves or other mulch and the 
whole protected with canvas or other material 
which will shed rain, as the protective value 
of the leaves rests in their dryness—a wet 
mass about the cannas would add to the dan- 
ger of frost. 
A bright day, free from frost, should be 
selected for the final digging of the roots that 
there may be no danger of their becoming 
chilled in the operation; the roots should be 
lifted with as much of the earth adhering as 
possible and placed in a warm, dry cellar in 
shallow boxes and enough earth thrown over 
them to protect them from the air. Occasion- 
ally during the winter they should be examined 
to see that they are not becoming dust-dry, in 
which case they should be sprinkled lightly 
with water. By February it will be neces- 
sary to examine the condition of the roots as 
to dry-rot or decay, and if any of the roots are 
found diseased they should be at once removed 
that the trouble may not spread throughout the 
entire box of roots. 
CALADIUMS 
except the new flowering caladiums, which 
are a very uncertain proposition, are more 
easily cared for than cannas; that is, they 
winter better, but they require more _ heat. 
‘They may be placed in boxes like the canna, 
but the boxes should be in a warmer place 
and should be elevated on something three 
teet or more from the floor, especially if the 
floor be cold and damp as in ordinary cellars. 
Only a furnace cellar is a safe repository for 
this class of roots, but gladiolas and dahlias 
will winter safely in any cellar that will keep 
potatoes in good condition. ‘The greatest suc- 
cess I have had with caladiums has been to 
lay them on the ground under the hot water- 
pipes where they extend outside of the cellar 
(the cellar not being under the entire house 
and the opening under the foundation of the 
remaining part being large enough to enter), 
and covering them with earth and sprinkling 
two or three times during the winter. In this 
situation they came out in splendid condition 
in spring, showing green leaf-shoots six or 
eight inches long. 
DAHLIAS 
winter easily packed in dry sand, earth, 
or merely thrown in a box in the cellar. They 
should not be dug too early, and if they are 
taken up when the earth about them is moist 
enough to adhere to the roots in considerable 
quantity they will give no trouble about keep- 
ing. When they have been well frosted be- 
fore digging the dead stalks should be cut 
back to live tissue, and in placing them in the 
boxes or baskets they should be set stalks up. 
GLADIOLA 
are as easily care for as 
should be left in the ground 
dahlias. They 
until the foliage 
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is well ripened and then dug with the stalks 
attached and laid in a warm, sunny position 
to dry and ripen, after which the stalks should 
be cut—never torn—off three or four inches 
from the bulb and the bulbs placed in paper 
sacks—flour sacks are best—and hung from 
the rafters of the cellar or other cool place. 
They will require no further care until time 
for starting them in the spring. 
MONTBRETIAS 
when lifted for the winter require the 
same care as the gladiolas—to be taken up, 
dried and hung in paper bags until spring. 
In taking them up the connecting roots be- 
tween the bulbs should not be disturbed, as 
these are the rhizomes on which new bulbs 
appear and their destruction much lessens the 
increase which is usually very great. 
TUBEROUS BEGONIAS 
should be carried through the winter in 
the pots in which they were grown, allow- 
ing them to dry off gradually and placing the 
pots in a warm, dry place over winter, as 
a closet off of a room, where there is fire. 
If they have been grown in the open ground 
or the window-box they should be potted and 
allowed to ripen before putting away. 
FANCY-LEAVED CALADIUMS 
require the same treatment as the begonias 
and are very susceptible to decay, as is also 
the TIGRIDIAS 
which are only wintered successfully in soil 
in which they have grown, or by potting or 
burying in dishes of earth and allowing them 
to become established before setting away for 
the winter. They are much afflicted with a 
blue mold, and it is rare to receive bulbs 
from the seedsman and florist free from this 
trouble. They should not be taken to the cellar, 
but placed on a shelf in a warm closet or in 
a drawer. ISMENES 
may be treated like gladioli and wintered in 
paper bags, but will give rather better result 
if potted and kept slightly moist in a warm 
position. If cold and damp they will invari- 
ably decay at the heart, and, although the bulb 
may have every appearance of soundness, it will 
be found to be rotten at the center, and so, 
of course, worthless. For this reason they 
should be lifted before touched with frost, or 
well protected on frosty nights. I have fre- 
quently seen it stated that the ismenes were 
hardy in the open ground; but this is by no 
means so, few plants being less so, and I do 
not think that any protection would make 
them hardy at the North. 
CRINUMS 
may be wintered in a warm cellar and be 
much benefited by the rest they thus obtain. 
They should not be allowed to go dust-dry, 
but no more water than is really necessary 
should be given, as it will encourage growth 
when the plant should be resting; and it is on 
the completeness of this season of rest that 
the flowering for the next season depends. 
Often the first sign of growth will be the 
appearance of buds; when these appear the 
plants should be brought up and given a 
warm, sunny place and plenty of water. 
Amaryllis require the same treatment, and the 
more completely they may be induced to die 
down and rest the better will it be for the 
plant and its subsequent blossoming. 
Atamascos, spider liles, cooperias, bessera 
elegans, milla bifloras and like bulbs may be 
lifted, dried off and wrapped in waxed paper 
placed in paper bags in a warm, dry closet or 
drawer until wanted the following spring, or 
they may be covered with dry sand or earth 
and wintered on a shelf in a warm cellar. 
