Lilies-of-the-valley are very easily 
forced into bloom indoors 
If you want to grow your bulbs for cut flowers 
only, plant them close together in flats 
Flowers Indoors 
All Winter 
by F. F. Rock w ell 
Photographs by N. R. Graves and others 
Narcissus Von Scion is one of the most 
easily forced 
BY POTTING BULBS NOW TO INDUCE ROOT-GROWTH, AND BRINGING THEM TO THE 
LIGHT AS NEEDED, ONE MAY HAVE A CONTINUOUS SUPPLY OF WINTER FLOWERS 
H AVE you ever stopped before a florist’s window in the 
winter to enjoy the cheerfulness it seemed to radiate? 
Possibly the snow fell about your ears, and the wind whistled 
around the nearest corner, but even through the curve of cold 
glass some of the joy of the beauty and fragrance therein came 
to you. And yet you did not pur¬ 
chase : you took away with you 
only a momentary memory of 
that “island of enchantment” 
amid the city dreariness, because 
experience had taught you how 
quickly those beautiful forms and 
colors would droop and perish. 
And yet flowers as beautiful may 
be had in the perfection of bloom 
for days, even weeks, at a time, 
in your own house. No green¬ 
house, no glass, not a humble 
hot-bed sash even, is necessary. 
Perhaps if you had looked, you 
would have discovered in a cor¬ 
ner of that florist's window a 
basket of brown and russet bulbs, 
plain and unattractive looking 
enough. Quite naturally the 
price-tag indicated that these 
“Oriental onions” could be pur¬ 
chased for much less than the 
beautiful flowers displayed above 
them. Yet each is a concentrated 
and “canned” bloom, requiring 
the very slightest attention to be 
“ready for the table,” and a hun¬ 
dred times more satisfactory than 
any cut flower. Think of the 
delightful out - of - the - ordinary 
Christmas and birthday gifts such 
living flowers would make: of 
the constant cheerfulness they 
lend to the living-room or dining¬ 
room. They may be had in a succession of bloom from Thanks¬ 
giving to Easter, and yet all the work is done at one time. The 
task of bringing them to bloom is an easy one. 
If you want to have the enjoyment of attending to the whole 
process yourself, procure your supply of bulbs from a reliable 
seed store, or order by mail. The 
bulbs should be firm and plump. 
The easiest to grow and the most 
satisfactory are Hyacinths, Tu¬ 
lips, Narcissus and Freesia. They 
can be grown in pots, but success 
will be more certain with small 
boxes four to six inches deep and 
any size up to the regular “flat" 
(about 13 x 22 inches), accord¬ 
ing to the number you wish in 
bloom at one time. All the para¬ 
phernalia you will need is a sup¬ 
ply of light, rich soil (one-third 
old rotted manure, two-thirds 
rotted turf — loam is good), a few 
fern- or bulb-pans, boxes, and 
your bulbs. Begin operations 
early in October. Cover the bot¬ 
toms of your pots and boxes, 
which should have ample drain¬ 
age (see illustration) with an inch 
or so of coarse screenings, char¬ 
coal lumps, pot fragments or 
sifted coal cinders to assure good 
drainage. Cover this with an 
inch or so of soil, and put the 
bulbs in place, setting them firmly, 
right side up, and near enough 
almost to touch each other. The 
“extra size” bulbs can go a little 
further apart, but not more than 
two or three inches. Then cover 
over and fill in with the same soil, 
until the bulbs are an inch or so 
If you will pot a few bulbs now so that they will start making 
their root-growth, you can make your windows bright 
throughout the winter 
(218) 
