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Garden Correspondence 
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Conducted by W. C. EGAN 
PLANTING SPRING FLOWERING BULBS 
Last spring I made several large beds and planted 
out shrubs. Acting upon the advice given by House 
and Garden I planted them at a considerable 
distance apart, and, as a consequence, there is con¬ 
siderable bare soil between them. I want to plant 
some spring flowering bulbs and would like to know if 
they would do well in between the shrubs. W. J. S. 
One of the most charming situations for spring 
flowering bulbs is in open spaces in the woods, or 
in the meadow or on open woodland banks, in 
fact in any situation where a colony of wild flowers 
would seem natural and at home; but few people 
have such situations, and their plantings are con¬ 
fined to the lawn and edges of shrubberies, or near 
the border of perennials, whose spreading habits 
necessitates being planted far apart. Planting spring 
blooming bulbs on the lawn is objectionable for 
two reasons. In the first place the grass requires 
cutting before the foliage of the plants are ripened 
off. If the foliage is mowed off', it so weakens the 
development of the newly forming bulb as to soon 
exterminate the plants. In many sections of the 
country the dandelions bloom about the same time 
the crocus do, and this plant in bloom in a lawn 
if yellow in color— is often taken for a dandelion 
when seen at a distance. Both produce about the 
same effect at a distance, and the dandelion is the 
cheaper plant to procure and maintain. Being 
hard to eradicate they are found in moist lawns, but 
in shrubby beds or perennial borders they are easy 
to exterminate and therefore one does not look for 
them there; nor are they expected in the meadows 
or the woods as the seed is seldom carried there, 
consequently they may be planted in any of these 
situations. 1 he open spaces between your shrubs 
may be occupied with effect for quite a number of 
years, and even when your shrubs become large and 
their tops meet, you can grow the bulbs, because 
the time they require the sunlight is in early spring 
before the leaves of the shrubs are out. 
Plant any of the bulbs recommended by the lead¬ 
ing seedsmen, but buy in quantity and plant in 
masses of one kind. Avoid a look of lumpiness by 
not planting in squares or solid circles, and plant 
in pear-shaped masses curving the neck of the pear, 
and let the broader part of another variety ht into 
the under curve of the neck of the first “pear” and 
so on, sometimes running the neck quite long. If 
you have a group of Forsythias use the blue scilla 
or Chionodoxa Lucille, or better still, the Meriensia 
Virginica, at the base of them. Many springs the 
shrub and plants underneath will bloom at the same 
time and the blue flowers seen through the yellow- 
flowered branches of the Forsythia make a charming 
picture. Half rotted leaves make an ideal winter cov¬ 
ering for bulbs. It protects the soil from the sun’s 
rays, and thus prevents the heaving of the soil. 
1 hey wdl come up through it in the spring and in 
time the leaves decay completely and become part 
of the sod. Covering with manure requires much 
labor in the spring in removing it. The straw in it 
is often unchanged in color, and broken pieces of it 
in among the rather scant foliage looks untidy. Let 
the foliage die a natural death and keep the beds 
free of weeds. 
SIFTED COAL ASHES FOR BULBS 
I shall be pleased to have your opinion as to the 
value of sifted coal ashes—soft coal—to use about 
bulbs and lilies when setting them out. Sand is 
rather hard to get here, and I notice that H. A. 
Dreer advises the use of coal ashes in setting tulips— 
fall catalogue of 1907. 
For best results do you simply put the base of the 
bulbs on say half an inch of ashes or do you com¬ 
pletely cover them with the sifted ashes, i.e., enclose 
them? F. W. B. 
Sifted coal ashes, either anthracite or bituminous, 
is all right around the bulbs. The idea is to prevent 
the moisture from remaining in between the scales 
and rotting them. The Japanese gardeners plant 
their bulbs on their sides so that the water will run off. 
Place, say three inches of ashes in the bottom of 
the hole and then press your bulb into it. Fill up 
with ashes until the bulb is about covered. 
1 here is but little manurial value in coal ashes, 
still many plants will grow in it, especially when 
used for walks, where some soil is mixed with it by 
the washing of the rains. Coal in its natural state 
contains considerable sulphur, derived from iron 
pyrites. In combustion only about half the sulphur 
is eliminated, the remainder going into the ash. 
This should be beneficial to the bulbs. 
236 
