Ailments and Troubles 51 
A mulch of leaves will take the place of 
actual ground shade, where such shade is 
not possible ; the essential thing is to 
keep the earth cool above them. Cro- 
cuses prefer this coolness also, and do 
well under trees and along shady borders 
for that reason, although it is well to 
have them where early spring affords 
them a measure of the sun’s rays. It is 
the midsummer heat that is fatal. 
Each kind of bulbous plant has its own 
preferences and peculiarities, quite the 
same as all other plants have theirs, nat- 
urally. But none is difficult to under- 
stand or to find out about; and barring 
this one aversion to the death-dealing 
heat of the sun which plants that grow 
naturally in the shade or in a very much 
cooler climate than our gardens afford, 
might be expected to cherish, there is 
practically no limit to the use of bulbs. 
