32 
House & Garden 
An unusually striking “architectural” effect with bulbs has been achieved in the gardens of Willard 
D. Straight, Esq., Old Westbury, L. I. White Queen tulips have been bedded in such a manner 
that the lines of the plantings are in complete harmony with the formal character of the pool. 
Courtesy Stumpp & Walter 
BETTER EFFECTS WITH BULBS 
Suggestions for Planting Arrangements Which Are Pleasing and not Oppressively 
Formal—Securing a Succession of Bloom 
F. F. ROCKWELL 
W HY is it we make progress so slowly 
in the way we plant bulbs ? 
We have long since broken the shackles 
which so long bound us to old ways of plant 
ing shade trees, shrubs and hedge plants. 
The day when every home planting, regard¬ 
less of surroundings or conditions, had to 
include a formal, closely clipped hedge, 
shrubs set out with more or less geometric 
precision, and a Catalpa Bungeii on either 
side of the front entrance, has passed into 
oblivion. These things, of course, still have 
their uses where formal gardening is desir¬ 
able, as is sometimes the case. But they have 
become the exception and not the general rule. 
We h ave come to realize that for the majority 
of cases the formal treatment is not per¬ 
missible. 
We have not yet, however, got this far in 
the use of bulbs. Whatever the reason may 
be, we still adhere, as a general tiling, to the 
old-fashioned formal methods of using this 
particular form of landscape material. One 
reason, undoubtedly, is that the spring flower¬ 
ing bulbs naturally lend themselves to uses 
of this kind. If you want to make a “de¬ 
sign” planting in the middle of the front 
lawn or against the veranda, with blocks or 
ribbons of strongly contrasting colors, and 
flowers of even height all in bloom at the 
same time, it would be difficult to find any- 
Narcissi can never be stiltedly formal—their 
form and habit of growth forbid that. The 
variety which has been used here is Poetaz 
thing more ideally suited to your purposes— 
with the possible exception of some of the 
formal bedding plants—than hyacinths, cro¬ 
cuses or the old-fashioned, rather fragrant 
colored tulips. 
Some bulb catalogs offer collections of 
bulbs especially selected for planting round 
beds so many feet in diameter and including 
the standard bright but not always artistic 
colors. Then, too, bulbs are recommended 
for bedding, and people naturally associate 
them with that style of planting. 
But we are gradually breaking away from 
the bedding idea. The amateur gardener is 
beginning to realize that the spring flowering 
bulbs, like other forms of plant material, can 
be used at will in painting the garden picture 
beautiful; that bulbs are a legitimate medium 
available for him who wishes to create a liv¬ 
ing vision of loveliness out of doors. 
So it is coming to be realized that the 
spring flowering bulbs are much more im¬ 
portant than we have usually considered them 
to be. Their uses are almost unlimited, where 
heretofore they have been considered quite 
limited. For high-lights in the garden pic¬ 
ture, for splashes of color, either brilliant and 
glowing or more subdued and restful, they 
are unsurpassed. The bulb bed and the bulb 
border have their uses, although in the past 
thev have been atrociously misused. These 
