284 



31 AX UAL OF GARDENING 



To secure good bulbs and of the desired varieties, the order 

 should be placed in spring or early summer. For flower-garden 

 effects, the large and mature bulbs should be secured; for 

 colonizing in shrubbery or on the la\\ii, the smaller sizes may 

 be sufficient. Insist that yom bulbs shall be first class, for 

 there is wide difference in the quahty; even Tsdth the best of 

 treatment, good results cannot be secured from poor bulbs. 



258. The Japanese gold-banded lily. — Liliinn auratum. 



It is not generally kno'^Mi that there are autumn-flowering 

 bulbs. Several species of crocus bloom in the fall, C. sativus 

 (the saffron crocus) and C. speciosus being the ones generally 

 recommended. The colchicums are excellent autumn-bloom- 

 ing bulbs and should be more generally planted. C. autum- 

 nale, rosy purple, is the usual species. These autumn-blooming 

 bulbs are planted in August or early September and treated in 



