BULBOUS fLAJMTS. 



Bulbous plants are among the most showy and useful of our garden favorites, and with scarely any 

 exception are easily managed, sure to bloom and require but little labor and care to enable them to 

 produce their charming flowers. As winter-blooming plants they hold an important place, as there is 

 no period of the year during which flowers are so highly appreciated, and certainly no class of flower- 

 ing plants afford more pleasure. The beautiful and almost endless variety of the various species now 

 grown in such enormous quantities, more especially for winter and spring decoration, and the in- 

 terest exhibited in their successful management, has induced us to compile this small book giving a 

 short description of the principal genera, with the best known methods of culture, etc., in the hope that 

 it may be of service to amateurs and others desirous of cultivating at least a few of these most interest- 

 ing and popular flowers. 



,In the culture of bulbous plants it must never be forgotten that it is the leaves of one year that 

 make the flowers for the next, consequently unless the leaves are well developed and thoroughly ma- 

 tured there can be little or no bloom the following season. Cutting away the foliage, therefore, before 

 it is matured (as is too often done) is sure to materially weaken the bulbs, and if persisted in will 

 eventually end in their destruction. It is also from want of noting the natural period of growth in 

 bulbs which is as varied and different as the weeks or months of the entire year, and adapting our 

 culture to fit these, that so many failures occur in the culture of bulbs, and so many disappear al- 

 together from our beds and borders. 



As Hyacinths, and in fact all Dutch bulbs are grown specially to produce the best effects the first 

 year, they are never to be depended on, if left in the ground for a second season, but should be taken 

 up and replanted yearly. Tulips will make a fair show the second year if left in the ground, but it 

 will be found much more satisfactory if they also are taken up when done blooming, dried off and re- 

 planted in Fall, as recommended above. The best known method of treatment of the various bulbs, 

 whether for out-door culture of for forcing, etc,, is given under their respective headings. 



To secure healthy, vigorous plants and really fine flowers, out-door planting should be done early 

 in the fall, though generally speaking, from October to the middle of November is the most desirable 

 time, as the ground to be used is often not disengaged until after the first frost. Preparations should 

 then be made not only to get all the beds and vacant spaces intended to be planted, manured, and put 

 in order, but also by early securing a suitable assortment of choice flower roots — often a difficult matter 

 if ordering is deferred till late in the fall, when in consequence of the exhaustion of stocks, many of 

 the specially required sorts are frequently unobtainable. 



/To those possessing a warm pit or greenhouse it is no difficult matter by early planting and forcing 

 a few Van Thol Tulips, Roman and other Hyacinths, Paper-white Narcissus, etc., to have them in bloom 

 by New Year's day, whilst a few successive plantings of these and other choice sorts will ensure a 

 beautiful display throughout the dull winter months. The out-door display may be fairly said to 

 commence with March, when, if judiciously planted, the garden is growing bright with Snow-drops, 

 Scillas, Chionodoxas, Crocuses, Daffodils, etc., and during April and well into May the flowerbeds 

 are brilliant and charming with a wealth of lovely Hyacinths, Tulips, Anemones, Narcissus, etc., 

 which, with a fair accompaniment of Pansies, Daisies, Polyanthus, Forget-Me-Nots, Aubretias, and 

 other spring flowers, make up a display of floral beauty rarely equalled. 



Where beds or borders of Hyacinths or Tulips are planted, very fine effects are often produced by 

 mixing the colors, care being taken to have them so arranged that the contrasts of color will be har- 

 monious. The most showy and satisfactory effects, however, are produced by planting the various 

 colored Tulips, Hyacinths, etc., that grow about the same height and flower at the same time, in lines, 

 each of one color, or in masses or geometrical designs. We subjoin a few of the latter. 



