A WINDOW FULL OF DAFFODILS 
RUTH GIPSON PLOWHEAD 
A Potful of Posies for Christmas Time by Planting Bulbs in August—Selected 
Varieties that Keep Winter Window-boxes Gay Till Spring Comes Again 
v^ACH year I try to have some 
different fad for my window- 
garden. One time, when it 
S 3 I 3 I was Daffodils, 1 intended to 
buy but a few, but all the catalogued 
descriptions were so alluring I could 
not well choose. One praised one 
variety so highly, while another fa¬ 
vored some other, that in the end I de¬ 
cided to buy a dozen different sorts 
and grow them under the same con¬ 
ditions to see which pleased me best for my windows. Four 
bulbs each of the following were purchased: Ffenry Irving, 
Victoria, Grandee, Telamonius (Single Van Sion); Double Van 
Sion; Glory of Leiden: Emperor: Empress, Madame de Graaff, 
Maximus, Albicans, Golden Spur, Giant Princess—a “baker’s 
dozen,” you see. 
The results, which would undoubtedly vary with different soil, 
care, and room temperature, were most interesting. 1 found out 
which responded best to my care, and how 1 could have a long 
season of Daffodil bloom by choosing an early and a late variety 
and bringing them to the light as 1 chose. 
The bulbs were potted immediately on arrival in September, 
watered well, and placed in a cool cellar—four bulbs in each 
five- or six-inch pot. On January 15th they were brought into an 
unheated upstairs room, having had about sixteen weeks for 
rooting. Three weeks later (on February 5th) the pots were 
put in a window-box in a sunny window. This of course, is not 
the desirable way to do. as some of the plants showed no sign of 
buds, and took up space for weeks, which could well have been 
given to something else; but I was experimenting. The ideal 
time to place Daffodils in your show window is just before the 
buds burst open. 
Henry Irving and Single Van Sion were the first to flower 
(February 26th) just three weeks from the time they were placed 
in the warm window. Both were good. 
Albicans and Golden Spur fol¬ 
lowed in three days. Albicans, a 
strawy white on drooping stems, 
proved rather poor. Golden Spur 
was disappointing at first but almost 
redeemed itself before it faded. 
Giant Princeps showed its colors on 
March 3rd. I rate this as fair. 
The next day (March 4th) Victoria 
bloomed. This seems to hold the 
place of honor in my record, both 
for its beauty and for its delightful fragrance. The flowers 
were large, daintily colored, and the stems stiff and long. 
Two days later, Double Van Sion bloomed. This has always 
been one of my favorites. 
Emperor and Empress blossomed quite fittingly on the same 
day, the former being especially fine, of great size, firm sub¬ 
stance, long stems, with a bright golden colored trumpet, and 
petals slightly lighter. 
Madame de Graaff is a lovely ivory white, For some reason 1 
failed to write its date of blooming and also that of Glory of 
Leiden, which, somehow in my pot culture, failed to come up to 
expectations, though I know it to be a fine flower. 
Grandee was the last to bloom, starting to blossom on March 
20th. I report it one of the very best, possibly next to Victoria. 
Maximus failed to flower at all. 
This season of blooming could have been extended somewhat 
at both ends by earlier potting and quicker forcing. Henry 
Irving or Victoria planted in August might have been ready to 
nod a gay greeting to the Christmas tree, while the latest bulbs 
could have been held in the cellar to bloom for a late April 
Easter or a May party. 
All of these Daffodils were planted outdoors when through 
blooming. Some of them did not live, but Telamonius, Van 
Sion, Emperor, and Golden Spur have multiplied and become 
very beautiful. 
STRAWBERRIES FOR NEXT SEASON 
O F COURSE you want them! And you can have Strawberries next 
year in moderate quantity even though you haven’t a plant on 
the place this moment. 
It is quite practical to plant Strawberries in late summer or in early 
fall so that they get a month of growth before cold weather comes. 
Then they are almost as good as though the plants had been growing in 
position all through the present season. But to get this result you 
must use potted plants. That means a runner of this season that has 
been rooted in a pot so that it can be knocked out of the pot and the 
ball moved and planted in the new position without any real distur¬ 
bance to the roots or shock to the plant. Such plants, as sold, are really 
quite small—but that’s of no moment; its their vigor that counts. Of 
course, if you have Strawberries, you can transplant strong runners 
from the beds, lifting them with soil attached and to all intents and pur¬ 
poses they will behave just like potted plants from a distance. 
The ubiquity of the Strawberry is sufficient testimony to the fact 
that it is not particular as to soil. It will grow almost anywhere, 
except in pure sand or muck. Even the sand can be made to produce 
a good crop if sufficient manure is given and that’s the keynote to 
success—plenty of available food and water to help the growth,—but 
the soil must be drained. “Wet feet” make sick Strawberry plants. 
Therefore choose for your Strawberry patch a plot of ground in which 
the water does not collect all winter. The roots must have humus, 
which means rotted manure. A layer of three inches of this is not too 
much to dig in. 
Choose a spot that is already cultivated. Don’t plant Strawberries 
on freshly turned sod, because of the June bug. Plow, dig, cultivate, 
harrow, and in fact do anything and everything that is general to make 
the soil deep, mellow, and put into good tilth. Make a Strawberry 
bed just as though you were making an Onion bed, and you will have 
good Strawberries. 
In the North, spring planting is usually relied on by commercial 
growers, but in the home garden you can do almost anything. You can 
plant Strawberries now, pot grown plants, of course, and harvest fruit 
nine months later. Isn’t it worth while? 
The pioneer Strawberry grower for the New York market used to say 
that you could measure the size of your crop by the amcvunt of manure 
you put into the bed. Remember that. Leslie Hudson 
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