Bulbous Flowers From Thanksgiving To Easter 
M. G. KAINS, rr.”'- 
FIVE MONTHS’ CONTINUOUS BLOOM BY PLANTING JUDICIOUSLY IN OCTOBER AND NOVEMBER 
W E HAVE never had such a wealth of 
indoor flowers as during last winter. 
Commencing shortly 
before Thanksgiving 
Day and con- 
tinuing until 
after Easter 
Sunday, which 
last year came 
in late April, 
our home was a 
bower of bloom. 
Of course, we 
had some 
“house plants” 
such as Gera- 
niums, Chinese 
Primroses, 
Fuchsias and 
Begonias, but 
these were by 
no means the 
most striking or 
satisfying o f 
our flowers. 
They w i t h a 
few Ferns, 
Palms and 
other rather 
leafy plants 
seemed rather 
to furnish the 
green back- 
ground for the 
“ Dutch bulbs” 
which kept up an unbroken 
succession of blossoms for 
more than five months. 
The reason why we “ went 
strong” on bulbs is that in 
our experience no other 
group of plants will give 
anything like the amount of 
positive joy proportionate 
to the amount of money invested, the time 
spent in necessary attention, or in ease of 
handling, especially for home use and for 
securing a succession either of species or of 
varieties or of any one desired variety to 
succeed itself over an extended period of time. 
Another important reason which I will outline 
presently is that lack of experience counts for 
far less with bulbs than with other plants. 
Many of the house plants — for instance. 
Geraniums — will blossom all winter; but they 
must be started as cuttings and for months 
must be cared for, shifted from pot to pot as 
they demand enlarged space, before they start 
to produce flowers and all this time they must 
be watered and weeded and fertilized and 
given ample space in which to develop their 
tops or else they will not do well. Don’t mis- 
understand me, I would not do without such 
house plants. My point is that bulbs demand 
far less attention and yield greater satisfaction. 
Our success last winter was not due to any 
superior knowledge of how to handle plants, 
nor to any special advantages afforded by the 
house in which we lived. As to the knowledge, 
the veriest novice can easily succeed fully as 
well, perhaps the first time he tries. As to 
the house, it has no better facilities than the 
great majority of homes — no greenhouse or 
greenhouse accessories such as hotbeds or 
coldframes — no “sun parlor” or the believed- 
to-be-indispensable “south window.” It is 
least after the bulbs begin to form tops and 
especially buds and blossoms, because it con- 
duces to sturdy growth and an extended “life” 
of the individual flowers. In other words, 
bulbous plants 
grown in a 
rather high 
“living room 
tern perature” 
will come in- 
to blossom 
sooner, but last 
a shorter time 
than those 
grown in a room 
ten or even five 
degrees cooler, 
and if 
kept 
g r o wing 
at 50 to 
60 de- 
grees 
even bet- 
t e r r e- 
sults will follow. 
Our “living 
room ” is so 
hard to heat 
that the tem- 
perature in it 
last winter 
often went be- 
low 50 degrees 
at night. 
The main reason why the 
novice can count on success 
with bulbs is that he does not 
have to feed the plants. This 
has already been done for him 
by the man who grew the 
bulbs; for actually, bulbs are 
specialized buds filled with 
food for the production of the 
plants which they contain in 
rudimentary form. All that the novice need 
do therefore is to supply the conditions that 
favor growth; namely, a suitable medium in 
which to develop roots (sand, moss, soil, 
etc.), a favorable temperature and at first 
darkness. He need not consider fertility at 
all; for bulbs will bloom even when placed 
among charcoal or pebbles, provided the other 
conditions mentioned are favorable. Since 
the bulb contains the young plant the impor- 
tance of choosing well grown ones is apparent. 
The best way to choose bulbs is to judge by 
their w'eight; heavy bulbs will usually give 
better returns than light and flabby or spongy 
ones of the same size. The next best gauge 
of quality is the reputation of the bulb grower 
or seller. Prices for both named and un- 
named varieties vary so greatly that they are 
not a safe guide for the novice. Low price 
does not necessarily mean low quality, nor 
high price high quality of bulbs. Some varie- 
ties are much more easily propagated than 
others, some may be in such great demand 
that low prices may be asked, and so on. In 
general, named varieties or “one color” offers 
are often sold so low that the novice with even 
the slenderest purse may buy all he needs. 
Personally I like named varieties better 
than collections or the “one color” offers of 
the bulb dealers. I take more satisfaction in 
knowing that this specimen is an Emperor 
just an ordinary house, except that it is rather 
cooler in winter than comfort, if consulted, 
would dictate. 
To be sure this coolness is an advantage, at 
Emperor Narcissus which gave the greatest satisfaction of 
all the bulbs tried. It is late in coming to flower 
89 
