42 
HOUSE & GARDEN 
Sand i)laced in the bottom of the holes where 
lilies are to go will -protect the bulbs from ex¬ 
cessive moisture 
ease. Always start the plants in a low tem¬ 
perature, even though it is found necessary 
later to increase the heat; never bring plants 
from outside into a high temperature. 
When first brought into the greenhouse 
most of the bulbs can be placed under the 
benches until considerable growth is de¬ 
veloped. This lengthens the stems of the 
flowers by causing the plants to “draw up,” 
but of course must not be overdone. Do 
not let the plants suffer for water at any 
time after growth shows. 
Good Forcing Bulbs 
If proper care is taken to ripen the bulbs 
after they have finished flowering, most of 
the varieties can be used for planting in 
various ways around the grounds. They 
are of no further use for forcing, and when 
planted out will not produce anything the 
first season, but after that a fair proportion 
■of them will continue to flower. They 
should not be used in any conspicuous place 
where they are expected to 
make a show, but in out-of- 
the-way corners, the edges of 
shrubbery borders, etc. 
The following will be found 
a fairly comprehensive list of 
satisfactory forcing bulbs: 
All the hyacinths, including 
the Dutch, Italian, Roman 
and miniature types; tulips of 
various types such as the 
single early, single late, 
•double, R e m b r a n d t, May 
flowering, Darwins, parrots 
and gesneriana. All types of 
narcissus force well, including 
single and double, paper white, 
polyanthus, j o n q u i 1 s and 
poet’s. Besides the regular 
forcing lilies, such as Harrisi, 
Longiflorum, Formosum, Can- 
diditm and Multiflorum, we 
now have the Japanese sorts 
such as Auratum, Rubrum, 
Melpomene, etc. Freesias are 
particularly valuable for cut 
flower purposes, and lily-of- 
the-valley, of course, is always acceptable. 
This is a list of the most popular bulbs 
that are forced, but there are many others 
that are really deserving of attention, such 
as the beautiful anemone and the Colvelli 
type of gladiolus. Other sorts of gladiolus 
can be bad in cold storage bulbs, as can the 
odd but beautiful ornitbogalum, the glori- 
osa, the Spanish and English iris, crocus, 
•calochortus, ixia, oxalis, allium and spa- 
raxis. A fair selection of these is desirable. 
Care is necessary when planting 
bulbs outdoors for formal effects. 
Varieties that flower at the same time 
must be used, and it is equally impor¬ 
tant that the bed be properly prepared, 
all parts dug to an even depth and the 
same amount of fertilizer used to in¬ 
sure a uniform growth. The bulbs 
must be planted at a uniform depth, 
the best method to pursue being to 
cut off the upper 6" of a spade handle 
and use this to plant with, jabbing it 
down to the hilt each time. 
Bedding and General Planting 
After the bulbs have finished flower¬ 
ing they can be dug up and ripened by 
storing in a cool, dry place or heeling 
in outdoors. When properly ripened 
these bulbs can be used for several 
subsequent seasons, though there is no ques¬ 
tion but that bulbs do deteriorate to a cer¬ 
tain extent in our climate. 
All the Dutch hyacinths are very useful 
in formal plantings, coming in a fairly good 
range of colors including the various shades 
of pink, red, blue, pale yellow and white. 
Practically all the tulips are available, but 
don’t mix them. Good ones are the single 
early, Darwin, May flowering, parrot. Rem¬ 
brandt and double flowering. While not as 
stiff and formal as the hyacinth or tulip, for 
large mass effects, the narcissus is very use¬ 
ful. The large trumpet or double flowering 
type is more effective where mass of color 
is desired. For smaller beds crocuses are 
excellent; a pretty effect can be had by 
planting them in between tulips or hya¬ 
cinths, and they will be through flowering 
before the others start in. Succession of 
bloom is as practicable with bulbs as with 
other perennials or annuals. 
There are hundreds of locations on the 
average place where a few bulbs might be 
used to advantage in herbaceous borders, 
the flower garden, in separate borders, or 
near the house. All the hardy bulbs are 
available for plantings of this type, in a 
good rich soil. They respond readily to and 
will reward good treatment, so where pos¬ 
sible always spade a liberal quantity of 
manure into the soil, and mulch well each 
winter with good manure if the hulbs are 
left in the ground. This last is the best 
means of supplying fertilizing qualities to 
the soil when you cannot dig it, and will 
add materially to the life of bulb plantings. 
When plantings of bulbs are made and 
it is desired to put other things in the same 
space, there are two methods to pursue. 
First, the bulbs can be planted extra deep— 
say about 8"—and after flowering their tops 
can be removed and the other plants put in 
place. The better method, however, is to 
pull up the bulbs and store them in a dark, 
dry place where they will ripen, or they can 
be heeled in outdoors until fall. 
In all kinds of plantings masses are de¬ 
sirable. Don’t sprinkle the bulbs around 
and don’t plant any ribbon rows of alter¬ 
nate colors. Mass the colors, and use a 
little judgment in blending them. Many of 
the hardy bulbs are rather strong in color 
and very firm when properly used, but by 
indiscriminate planting a conglomeration of 
colors that is hideous can be made. For the 
most part you will find the arrangement easy 
if you match the reds carefully, do not bunch 
a number of pinks and purples with a lot 
of reds, and never mix pink and purple. 
The Proper Depth 
The general rule for planting bulbs is to 
set them twice their depth. That is, a 2" 
bulb should be 4" below the surface of the 
ground, though personally I prefer to plant 
them deeper. Three times the size of the 
bulb would be a better rule, for this not only 
gets the bulb below the freezing and thaw¬ 
ing condition of fall and spring, but also 
retards the growth so that it is not so likely 
to be affected by heavy frosts late in the 
spring. This method would make it neces¬ 
sary to plant tulips, narcissi, etc., about 6 " 
deep and other bulbs in proportion. 
In poorly drained soils, bulbs will some¬ 
times rot before they have made sufficient 
root to sustain them. In loca¬ 
tions of this kind, make the 
hole a little deeper than needed, 
put about 1" of sand in the bot¬ 
tom, place the bulb and cover 
with sand. This is especially 
recommended w h e n planting 
lilies or other expensive bulbs. 
When making plantings of 
this kind it is not necessary that 
every bulb be planted the same 
depth ; in fact, it is better if the 
effect is prolonged a trifle by 
some coming in flower a little 
earlier than the others. A 
trowel is the best planting tool 
except for the very large bulbs 
like lilies, for which a spade is 
very serviceable. 
For general plantings all 
types of tulips are desirable. 
There are a number of differ¬ 
ent sorts flowering at different 
times, and it would be hard, 
indeed, to find anything more 
satisfactory than tulips from 
the early Due von Thols to the 
late Darwins. All types of narcissus can 
be used, and there are a goodly number such 
as the large trumpet, short cup trumpet, 
double flowering, polyanthus, jonquils and 
poet’s. Hyacinths can also be used, but per¬ 
sonally I think this flower better fitted for 
bedding than for general use. All the hardy 
lilies can be used effectively, particularly the 
Japanese types and many of the hybrids. 
Lily-of-the-valley is very good for border 
(Continued on page 58) 
Among the boxwood bushes some of the late flowering tulips 
will find a suitable setting. A trowel is a good planting 
tool for them 
