WOOES CR@PSPECIAL 
Giving Timely Information and Prices of Seasonable Seeds 
T> u B lis HE d s^c) *T . W . WO OD Zr* S ONS seedsmen Richmond Va. 
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Mrs. William P. Wood, Jr., inspecting City of Haarlem tulips at the New York World’s Fair last May. The chain of curved 
beds have masses of tulips ranging from dark scarlet in the fore-ground, through lighter shades of red and pink to pure white. 
World’s Fair Tulip Blooms Magnificent. 
Reprint from th.e Richmond Times Dispatch, by W. P. Wood, Jr. 
The tulips blooming at the New York World’s Fair last 
May were the most magnificently beautiful sight I ever wit¬ 
nessed. It looked like a giant artist had painted a lovely 
picture with tulips instead of paint. The many miles of 
avenues and parkways stretching throughout the fair grounds 
were bordered with over a million tulips ranging in color 
through every shade of the rainbow planted in artistic de¬ 
signs that blended with the buildings and landscape. They 
were not planted in long straight rows, but in intricate pat¬ 
terns, of many plots, each of a different variety and color. 
I learned from the gardeners in charge that bulbs may 
decay if the soil remains water soaked. To drain the swampy 
soil they dug out 8 inches of dirt, spread two inches of sand 
placed the bulbs on top, 6 inches apart each way, and covered 
with top soil. The tops of the bulbs were 4 inches under¬ 
ground. After blooming they were dug up and destroyed and 
other flowers planted in their place. This fall they will plant 
new bulbs, In preparing soil for bulbs, shape it to shed 
water. A bit of organic matter such as manure, hyper¬ 
humus, or peat moss mixed with the subsoil will furnish 
drainage and allow the deep roots of the bulbs to penetrate. 
Where land is poor, bone meal should be worked into the sub¬ 
soil. Bulbs do best when planted from the middle of October 
through November. I learned how much more beautiful 
tulips appeared when planted in designs consisting of several 
clumps with a different variety in each, but all in one clump 
of the same variety to give a solid mass of color. These can 
be placed between shrubs or roses in the garden or comers 
of the lawn. In rows or borders, they should be planted at 
least three abreast to give the solid color effect. 
There were 65 popular varieties landscaping the World’s 
Fair grounds and about 200 unusual varieties in the horticul¬ 
tural exhibit. Many of the rare tulips had never been planted 
in America before and were fabulously expensive. However, 
I did not think the expensive varieties a bit more beautiful 
than some of those less expensive. I found a few very lovely 
rare ones of moderate cost including the following Darwins: 
King Mauve, a purple-mauve colored flower with broad white 
edge; Mr. Van Zyl, a beautiful dark rosy pink with lighter 
border; Eclipse, attractive brilliant deep crimson with blue 
base; and Giant, a large flower of deep reddish purple, shaded 
violet. Probably no tulip novelty created more of a sensation 
than Fantasy. It is parrot shaped with fluffy leaves and a 
straight strong stem, a sport from the Darwin tulip, Clara 
Butt, with the same height and beautiful pink color. 
Among the 65 tulips landscaping the fairgrounds, were 
31 verieties of the Darwin family, the most popular of all 
tulips because of their vigorous growth, tall strong stems 2 
to 3 feet high, with immense goblet shaped flowers ranging 
through every conceivable shade of lovely, clear, solid color. 
The old favorite Darwins that particularly attracted my at¬ 
tention were: Yellow Giant, one of the most popular of all 
tulips, with large golden yellow flowers and tall strong stems; 
Rev. H. Ewbank with soft lavender-violet flowers; Zwanen- 
burg, one of the best white varieties; City of Haarlem, one of 
the finest brilliant red Darwins; Venus, with silvery rose 
flowers; King George V., deep cherry rose with blue base; 
The Bishop, with lovely soft bluish violet flowers; William 
Pitt, dark crimson; Farncombe Sanders, brilliant scarlet; 
Clara Butt, salmon pink; Pride of Haarlem, rose; Baronne De 
La Tannaye, light pink; and Princess Elizabeth, rosy pink. 
There were 19 Cottage tulips, so called as they were vig¬ 
orous old varieties long lost to cultivation in all but cottage 
gardens of the British Isles. They are hardy, sturdy, and 
permanent, often delicately perfumed, with good long stems. 
Some have pointed wide-flaring reflex petals. They comprise 
many beautiful color combinations not found in Darwins, 
and the the next most popular tulip family. Their petals 
frequently have feathers of different color. The Cottage va¬ 
rieties I liked best; Inglescombe Yellow, with immense glob¬ 
ular, rich yellow flowers; Jeanne Desor, orange yellow with 
clear red border; Arethusa, with large canary yellow flowers 
on strong stems; Carrara, the finest white Cottage tulip; and 
Dido, with a large goblet formed flower of rich orange rose 
color. Mrs. Moon, a late yellow tulip with long pointed 
petals, made a spectacular splash of color. Sirene was a 
beautiful glistening satin rose colored, lily-flowered tulip. 
Five varieties of the Dutch Breeder family were used. 
These aristocrats of the old Florist tulips, with subdued un¬ 
broken shades of purple, maroon or terra cotta, have immense 
blooms borne on stiff stems, often 40 inches tall. 
Tulips make perhaps the most attractive and showy of 
all bedding flowers, and can transform an uninteresting land¬ 
scape into a vivacious picture of beauty. 
