Knoxville journal. [volume] (Knoxville, Iowa) 1874-1986, 1874-11-19
Hyacinths for Room Decorations.


Hyacinths can be made to bloom in
great beauty from Christmas until April
If one only understands their culture;
and they are certainly unsurpassed by
any other flower for the decoration Of
window gardens, boudoirs, or dining
rooms. They can be grown singly in
pots, and when desired for decorations
can be turned out and packed several
together in fancy baskets, glass dishes,
or china bowls. The slight disturbance
of their roots really affects them 50 little
that it cannot be perceived, and they will
retain their freshness and loneliness quite
as long "a if left undisturbed. Few
plants will bear such handling without
injury, and there certainly are but few
which diffuse SO delicious a perfume or
present a more attractive appearance
than well-selected assortment of hya-
cinths, and yearly their culture becomes
more general and their beauties are more
appreciated,
In looking through the pages of the
"Bulb Catalogues" so plentifully dis
tributed throughout the country, amateur
gardeners are greatly inclined to purchase
the highest-priced, supposing that they
must be much more desirable than
cheaper ones of the same colors; yet the
prices of these bulbs are not always the
index of their value from a decorative
point of view Some varieties command
higher prices on account of their scarcity,
being more recently imported; others are
more difficult to propagate. Now the
new hyacinths are doubtless very hand
some, but unless you possess hundreds
of other varieties, and desire these
all 4, xyh,
cheaper kinds whichswould answer your
purpose quite as well. For a dollar and
"a half dozen you can purchase bulbs
which will bloom quite as beautifully as
those which cost twice as much or more
1t is also desirable to plant the bulbs
early hin the season, certainly by the
middle or the third week of October, if
you wish them to be in flower at Christ
mas; and for this purpose you should
also select those which bloom the earliest.
You will have flowers in February from
bulbs potted by the middle or the first Of
December, yet we think the largest and
handsomest spikes of hyacinths are
usually produced from bulbs potted very
early in the autumn.
In raising hyacinths for room decora-
ton neither complicated composts nor
large pots are essential. For general
purposes five to six inch pots for one
good-siZed bulb will answer the best;
but when you put them in pots merely
| TO start them in dark, cool place, three
to four inch pots ere quite large enough.
| Silver sand will grow them without the
addition of any soil, yet il exhausts the
| bulb quite as much as water. Turfy,
! fibrous loan, with good proportion of
road grit, sand, and little old hot bed
manure, is the very best compost for
! their growth. Mix them well together,
| put few bits of charcoal at the bottoms
OF the pots, and bury the bulbs about two
thirds of their depth, pressing the soil very
firmly about the roots. 1t should be in
rather IL moist condition, to make the
| bulbs start more quickly.
Set the pots in dark cellar; and il is
an excellent plan To take box and put
the pots in II side by side, then fill it to
the brims Of the pots with coal ashes, and
cover the bulbs either with leaves that
have fallen from the trees, heaping them
a foot in height over them, or else cover
an inch or SO in depth with coal ashes
alone; but the leaves are much better
than the ashes, as the shoots of the hya-
cinths sprout up among them more
quickly. They can be left in the box
at least four weeks, but IL desired to
bloom very early can be taken upstairs
in three weeks. Now put them in a cool
room, and for few days keep them from
coming directly in contact with the suns
rays, as they should become accustomed
to the light by degrees, but always re-
quire to remain until they are fairly in
blossom away from the warm atmos-
phere Of our close, furnace heated apart
ments. After the buds begin TO grow
freely, give liberal supply Of water,
really warm to the hand, and twice a
week add twenty drops of aqua ammo
MIA 10 pint of hot water, and apply it
thoroughly. Before the leaves and buds
are well developed too much moisture
will cause the roots to decay. When the
buds refuse to come out of the leaves,
take small square of white paper and
pin or glue it into the form of cone and
yut it directly over the whole plant, fast
| ening the large end into the soil In the
pot, and leaving large aperture at the
top by cutting off the peak. The light
falling through this cone stimulates the
buds to seek for more, and thus they will
throw up good stem. Take it off when
the stem ct mes up TO the leaves. For
planting in fancy baskets, glass dishes,
etc, you can fill up the receptacles with
cOcoa-nut HDer, spent tan OF nOpS, or
dried leaves from the forest; then with
knife run round between the pot and the
soil, turn the pot over on the left hand,
rap on the bottom of it with the knife,
and the bulb and soil will slip into your
hand. Now place it in the basket as you
desire, and then do the same with
another pot, and so on until you have
filed it up. Wicker baskets lined with
cartridge paper, and then used to grow
hyacinths in the manner related, make
very pretty ornaments for boudoir or
parlor.
We have given no directions for grow
ing hyacinths In water, because all the
catalogues are so minute in theirs. 1t is,
however, the most exhaustive way to
treat bulbs, and they are rarely good for
| anything after blooming, while, treated
as we have related, they will bloom finely
| for years. II the offsets are removed
every spring and planted in the autumn,
| they will make fine large bulbs in two or
three years. The single varieties are the
most desirable for house culture.-HaY-
pe"'s Bazar.