Evening star., 1936-09-05
BY L.W. WELLINGTON.


~ EPTEMBER is the month for
planting the gay Spring flow
ering bulbs, without which the
~ home garden is rather bar
rem place in early Spring. Although
the great emphasis is placed on mar
cissus and tulips and perhaps rather
justifiably so, there should be plant
ings also of hyacinths, snowdrops,
snowf1akes, crocus, grape hyacinths
and scillas. The recent rains have
been of great benefit in the planting
of bulbs as the soil is now softened.
Although the bulbs as they are re-
ceived from the scotsman are stocked
with reserve foods, great benefit re-
suits from working the soil and espe-
cially from fertiizing it with COM
plete material. Applications of l
pound per 40 square feet Of high
grade complete fertilizer is none too
much. Dr. Griffiths, the bulb author
ity, used to tell friends that phos-
phorous was the most important nu-
TRENT for Spring bulbs and this ele-
ment is contained in large proportion
in we'll balanced fertilizers.
Thorough preparation makes for
easier and better planting. If one
simply forces dibble down into the
hard soil and places the bulb in the
hole, the soil may not contact the
bottom of the bulb at all and the roots
are constrained when they emerge.
Depth of planting may be varied
somewhat without serious results, al
though as a general rule bulbs should
be covered about three times their
depth. In the case of the narcissus,
deep planting increases the formation,
of new bulbs and, where the bulbs
are to remain in place for three or
four years, may be desirable. There
will be less heaving of bulbs if they
are covered fairly deeply. One OBJ
jective of early planting is that the
bulbs have time to develop a strong
root system before freezing weather
and this helps anchor the bulbs
firmly. Narcissus and crocus roots
start to grow early and, for this rea-
son, should be planted as soon as pos
sible now. Tulip roots often do not
emerge until october even on bulbs
that are lying over Summer in the
soil, and tulips may be successfully
planted over long period in Autumn.
AS to arrangement, some folks pre-
fer formal paintings in geometrical
beds but, to gain full beauty, tulips
should be planted in informal groups
among other plants. The tulip makes
such show of color that it needs
really the background of shrubbery
to give the finest effects. Crocuses
may be grown in beds or scattered
about the lawn. When set in the lawn,
a small section of sod should be cut
out and the soil prepared with little
bone meal. After setting the bulb, the
sod should be replaced. Bulbs are
easy to grow because Of their ex-
treme hardness and stored foods
which assure good growth If good
bulbs are purchased. As limited above,
they are the glory of the Spring gar
den and return, for small cash and
labor outlay, a wealth of pleasure In
April and May.
Lily Of the Valley.
September is good time for reno
waiting lily of the valley paintings or
making new beds of this lovely, fra
grant Spring flower. Old beds run
out within few years by sheer crowd
ing and cannot be maintained In
prime condition, even with high fer
tilization. In fact, excessive fertili-
zation may merely aggravate the
crowded condition. When digging an
old bed, the roots will be found woven |
into a dense, tangled mat. There will |
be observed a great variation in the
size of the bulbs or pips. The larger |
ones should be selected for replant- |
ing, first preparing the soil by Spad-
ing deeply, working in at the same
time liberal amount of bone meal
or other good fertilizer. If the soil
is a heavy. sticky clay, 1t should be
lightened with peat moss or leaf mold.
Like snowdrops, the lily of the valley
is slow to recover from transnlantinr