36 Making a Bulb Garden 
the offsets ; any bulb large enough to 
bloom will), and there will be no gap of 
a year in bloom. And the first year’s 
flowers, though not as remarkable in size, 
perhaps, as the flowers from first-size 
bulbs, will be quite as effective in the 
right kind of garden arrangement. It 
is only for forcing in pots, for winter or 
Easter bloom, or for park or cemetery 
beds that the giant blooms which fully 
matured bulbs produce, are demanded. 
What is true of hyacinths is true of 
all bulbs that are offered in different 
sizes. The largest or “first-size” as the 
catalogues give it, is the mature, healthy, 
properly grown bulb: from this, different 
dealers grade down differently. None 
who are really high-class offer seconds 
of narcissus, tulips, jonquils and the 
general run of bulbs, although the second 
size in crocus is frequently listed, and 
among certain lilies two and even three 
sizes are usually offered. The first-size 
crocus bulb will yield from six to a dozen 
flowers, while the second will not give 
