38 
THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN. 
corner beds we should plant solid with Scilia siberica. The 
four tulip beds should be of four kinds only, the bulbs five 
inches apart all over, and the hyacinths mixed thus :— 
Early Tulip, 
Early Tulip, 
Brutus 
Belle 
Rectifie. 
Alliance. 
Mixed Hyacinths. 
Early Tulip, 
Early Tulip, 
Belle 
Brutus 
Alliance. 
Rectifie. 
The principles which govern the use of bulbs in solid masses 
do not strictly apply to their use in borders. Here they can 
be used in close lines as ribbons, or in distinct clumps, which 
are better than lines certainly. Compare a line of snowdrops 
or crocuses with a set of clumps, and the latter will always 
be pronounced the best disposition of them. As the different 
kinds of bulbs bloom at different periods, there will be the 
same succession as in beds, and the places for each will be 
determined by height only—say for front line clumps of snow¬ 
drops and Scilla siberica, nine inches apart all through; 
behind that front row clumps of yellow crocus ; behind that 
again, clumps of blue and white crocus, not mixed, but 
distinct and alternating; then hyacinths, and for the back 
row early tulips. 
With the exception of hyacinths, all the bulbs we have 
named will increase in value every year if planted in a sound, 
well-drained, well-manured soil, and the more sandy the soil 
the better. They should be planted before they have grown 
much, and be taken up when the foliage is decaying, and be 
laid in some shady place covered with a little mould to ripen 
before being stored. Crocuses and snowdrops need not be 
removed every year, but once in three years. They should 
