84 



HOME AND FLOWERS 



and encroaching on the walks, are volunteer 

 plants, from the self-sown seeds of Summer. 

 Phlox Drummondi, and Phlox Perennial are up 

 in colonies of young plants. Phlox Drum- 

 mondi is bright green all Winter, snow or ice 

 covered, no matter, it never even turns a dark 

 green, and in advance of the March winds the 

 flowers blow, velvety red, lilac, white and rosy- 

 pink. Among the host, in the crowded garden 

 of flowers, there is one that never fails to elicit 

 surprise. It is the Colehicum, in rose and white. 

 The flowers spring up in a night without a 

 leaf. The lily-like flowers and the stems are 

 waxen, and the anthers bright yellow. Some- 

 times, on a barren bit of brown earth, these 

 magic flowers spring up by dozens, for all the 

 world as if cut flowers had been stuck into the 

 soil, on four inch stems. The green leaves of 

 this curious bulb appear next Spring. This 

 is mere mention of the rich and varied flora 

 of Southern gardens in October. The serioas 

 ,; consideration is that bulbs must be planted now, 

 or there will be no Hyacinths, Tulips, Daffo- 

 dils, Jonquils, Narcissus nor Lilies, nor Glory- 

 of-the-Snow, nor Star-of-Bethlehem, when the 

 Spring time comes. There must be a slaughter 

 of the innocents. Hosts of young plants, and 

 many that are in the flush of rich Autumnal 

 florescence, must be sacrificed. They occupy, 

 perhaps, the sunny places the bulbs must have, 

 for bulbs must be bedded in the sunniest parts 

 of the garden. They must be given conspicu- 

 ous beds and borders. Nothing in nature can 

 take their places. Daffodils, Jonquils and Nar- 

 cissi should be planted in large numbers. The 

 bulbs have the faculty of multiplying, year by 

 ye&r, and of blooming profusely and beauti- 

 fully, without being reset. They do not de- 

 teriorate in quality. Hit and miss, careless 

 plenty, in among the shrubbery, along the bor- 

 ders, over the beds, and if the grounds are ex- 

 tensive, athwart broad green, grassy wastes, 

 these early bulbous flowers are a revelation. 

 Daffodils are lovely primrose yellow; Jonquils 

 deep chrome and the Narcissi from cream to 

 paper white. Eoman Hyacinths are as hardy and 

 free as the foregoing, but of greater delicacy 

 of appearance. They are so sweet it is always 

 advisable to have them near the garden gate, the 

 door steps and under the window. Masses of 

 the snow white Roman Hyacinths, blooming as 

 they do in the Winter garden, from the last 

 of January to the second week of March, are 

 not surpassed in any land, by any flowers, for 

 ideal loveliness. Plant the foregoing hardy 

 bulbs freely. The finest imported Holland 

 Hyacinths and Tulips are another proposition. 

 The bulbs bloom grandly the first year. Then 



new bulblets form and the main bulb nourishes 

 them, instead of maturing a fine flower. The 

 second year is a disappointment with Hyacinths 

 and Tulips. The remedy is to buy the fresh 

 importations in limited numbers. Where the 

 hardy bulbs first mentioned are safe to buy by 

 the hundred, fine Hyacinths and Tulips are 

 only safe by dozens. Get fresh bulbs every 

 Fall, which may easily be done. There will 

 then be no disappointment in the flowers, and 

 in the meantime, the bulblets will be growing. 

 They will bloom the third year. No flowers 

 surpass the large single and double flowered 

 Hyacinths from fresh Holland bulbs. The 

 method above suggested insures an annual sup- 

 ply of superb Hyacinths. 



Tulips are the most brilliant of all bulbous 

 flowers. Their colors are dazzling. For gar- 

 dens north of the Ohio and Potomac rivers, 

 and south as far as North Carolina, and Ten- 

 nessee, Tulips are highly available. Further 

 south the sun gets too hot for the blooms as 

 eai ly as April. Only the low-growing early Tulips 

 do well. They bloom while the weather is cool 

 and bracing. The tall, elegant late Tulips, as 

 double as Eoses, and of brilliant hues, appear 

 fresh and brave on the opening of an April 

 day, but before the day is over, whether of sun- 

 shine and shower or all of sunshine, the flowers 

 wilt and the stems fall prone upon the surface 

 of the earth. Tulip bulbs are hardy and free, 

 but the flower is not of texture and quality to 

 withstand the southern sun. 



Poppies come nearer than aught else filling 

 the place of Tulips. They are rival flowers in 

 dazzling red, orange and silvery white. Poppy 

 seeds sown over the bulb beds will succeed 

 Hyacinths and other bulbous flowers with such 

 beautifvfl effect that the Tulips will not be 

 regretted. 



About Our Ponderosa Lemons 



Gentlemen: — 



Some time in April, 190^, I received from you two 

 Ponderosa Lemon trees and statement that they 

 Avould bear fruit in two years. This statement 

 has been more than verified, as both trees are 

 now bearing well matured fruit, the first 

 bloomed in the living room in our house in 

 January, 1903, and have continued to bloom 

 ever since, and now have on them buds and 

 lemons in all sizes, from that of a pea to as 

 large as the largest Orange we ever saw, and 

 some of the fruit is turi'iing in color to a yel- 

 lowish green. Yours truly, 



E. W. Edwards. 



Illinois, August 26, 1903. 



