Part 19

Of the Japanese Lilies, rubrum is most easily grown here and should be planted eight to ten inches deep. Planted deep they are not injured by thawing and freezing, but when too near the surface the frost often throws the bulbs out of the ground. Lilies are not injured so much by freezing as by sudden and frequent thawings.

As long as the rubrum is doing well it should not be disturbed, but if it suddenly fails to grow and bloom the bulbs should be taken up when dormant, and cleansed. Remove all decayed scales and look for worm-nests, which are usually the source of the trouble. Ants sometimes make nests in the Lily bulb in the spring, and cause the top to decay. When this occurs it should be lifted, cleaned, and reset in a place free from ants. The greatest care must be exercised in cleaning bulbs not to injure the sound scales, as that will only induce further decay.

All the speciosum Lilies are exceedingly beautiful. L. Album is one of the finest; its reflexed flowers are a clear, sparkling white with a green band through the centre of each petal, and a peculiar glistening appearance, as though covered with water. It is one of the most easily grown of the speciosum family. S. Roseum is another handsome variety, white flushed with rose, and with dull crimson spots on the white ground; while S. rubrum has large reflexed petals of frosted white, heavily bearded and spotted with rich crimson, with many glistening points of white. Aside from the speciosum Lilies there are many other fine Japanese Lilies, the auratums easily leading in size and beauty. While Krameri is a tube-shaped Lily of a soft pink; longiflorum has lovely trumpets of pure white; the wonderful Lilium giganteum, six to ten feet high, sends up immense clusters of twelve to twenty creamy white flowers, with purple throat. Washingtonianum is another tall variety bearing large clusters of delicate white flowers spotted with black, and the grand and rare Brownii shows a chocolate-purple outside with a creamy interior. The list is long, but with a generous planting of well-selected varieties a succession of bloom may be had from the first blooming longiflorums and candidums in June until auratum and the late speciosums cast their ivory petals in September.

The general treatment of all is the same: deep planting, keeping the manure from actual contact with the bulbs by packing in sand; well-drained soil and the presence of fibrous-rooted or perennial plants near enough to absorb the surplus water from the soil. During the hot weather, give a heavy mulch of lawn clippings brought well up around the stems, and water as needed. If planted deep they will hardly require staking, as the stalks send out surface roots which not only afford nourishment, but also act as a brace to the plant and hold it firmly in its place.

A heavy mulch of old manure and rough litter should be given in the winter, and the bed protected with leaves and evergreen boughs, or anything that will shed water.

Spring-planted bulbs rarely do well. It is better to plant after severe cold weather sets in than to wait until spring. As long as the ground can be worked they may be planted safely, but they should be set eight or ten inches deep. I have planted them late in December—when the ground had to be broken with an axe—and have had excellent success.

The planting of hardy Lilies should be done on a scale limited only by one’s means and the ground at command. A few new and rare sorts should be added every year. In this way a magnificent collection will, in time, be acquired, as they increase very rapidly under favourable conditions, and the larger the clumps of one kind the finer the effect, so that each variety should be given abundant room to spread and develop.

It is often stated that Lilies left to themselves place their bulbs near the surface. Such bulbs are the small ones that form on the blossom stalk above the main bulb, and lie near the surface from force of circumstances. The main bulb sends its offshoots deep in the ground, as in the case of our native Lilies, which are almost impossible to dig. Especially is this the case with the native Flame Lily, the bulb of which I have never been able to reach with a trowel. Travellers in Japan report various native Lilies growing in forests among the interlacing roots of the trees, quite out of the reach of any small tools. There the auratum Lily grows on wooded hillsides where the drainage is perfect, and the falling leaves give a deep mulch at all times, and supply the best of nourishment, leaf-mould, and the roots of the trees absorb all superfluous moisture.

Chapter SEVENTEEN Care of Cannas, Caladiums, Dahlias, and Other Bulbs during Winter

Fall Bulbs, Tulips, Hyacinths, Crocus, Scillas, and the Like

The first hard frost in September—about the 20th inst. at the North—is usually followed by a few weeks of mellow fall weather. If one has been so fortunate as to have saved Cannas, Caladiums, and other tender bulbous plants by night protection or by turning the hose on very early in the morning before the sun reaches them, they will grow and ripen well in these last warm days. These sudden falls of temperature usually find the gardener unprepared, and unless water is at hand plants will be cut down by frost. When this happens remove, with a sharp knife, the frozen portions, and consign to the compost heap. If allowed to remain, these not only give the yard a most untidy appearance, but the decay is likely to extend to the bulbs. The plants may then be left to ripen in the ground for several days, according to the weather, or the necessity of preparing the ground for other plants.

Dig all roots to be saved on a warm, sunny day, and dry in the sun for several days if the weather is fair and warm. Cover with blankets at night or leave them on the floor of a sunny room until the earth about their roots is dry, pack in boxes of dry earth or sand, and store in a dry, frost-proof cellar.

Dahlias and the common tall Canna are easily wintered in a warm, dry cellar. The large Orchid-flowered Cannas are much more difficult to winter, and are very apt to dry-rot under the most favourable circumstances. I have found laying on the ground (under the steam-pipes where they are run outside the cellar) and covering with dry earth a very good way of handling them. They should be examined occasionally, and if they seem too dry sprinkle with water. If the Caladium bulbs show any decay of the centre-shoot all the decayed parts should be pulled off down to sound tissue. Parts of Cannas broken in digging should be removed with a sharp knife. Where there is but a small quantity of roots, shave off the dirt and wrap the tuber in tissue-paper. Store on a shelf in a closet, or other convenient frost-proof place. There is no more uncertain root to carry through the winter. Florists often lose their entire stock by decay or dry-rot, and were it not for this the Canna would soon become a drug on the market, and only novelties have a sale.

Dahlias are much more easily wintered, doing well in any cellar that will keep potatoes in first-class condition. All roots wintered in cellars should be placed on elevated shelves or tables away from the low temperature of the floor—on a swinging shelf, if the cellar is frequented by rats and mice.

Gladioli will keep perfectly if stored in flour-sacks and hung from a beam or post near the ceiling. Montbretias may be wintered in the same way.

When the Cannas, Caladiums, and other summer plants are out of the way the beds may be prepared for the fall planting of bulbs for early spring blooming. The vacant foliage-beds on the lawn offer the best place, as the bulbs will have played their part and passed on by the time these are needed again for the summer occupants.

If the beds have been lowered owing to limited water-supply haul on a few wheel-barrow loads of very old manure and earth, and mix thoroughly with the soil, raising them sufficiently to shed water. If permanent bulb beds are preferred (which may be planted with annuals in the summer) choose an exposure slanting toward the south, if possible, as this will insure earlier flowers. See that the soil has good natural drainage, or, if this is lacking, supply it by excavating to a depth of eighteen to thirty inches, and placing several inches of broken stone or crockery in the bottom for drainage. Return the soil to the bed, making it mellow and fine. The earlier the bulbs are planted the more roots will be started before the ground freezes, but late fall or winter planting, providing the ground is not frozen, is preferable to spring planting. Spring-planted bulbs rarely amount to anything, having lost much of their vitality by being so long out of the ground.

A bed facing the south is warmer and earlier than any other, hence it is sometimes liable to a set-back—if not actual injury—from a sudden sharp frost after the plants have started in the spring, and the litter should not be wholly removed until it is entirely safe to do so. An ideal bed for early bulbs would be one on the south side of the house, sloping slightly toward the south, with a frame around it somewhat higher at the back, over which a canvas attached to hooks could be drawn on cold nights and days. The frame should be made so that it could be readily lifted on the approach of warm weather.

Hyacinths, Tulips, and Narcissi look far better when planted each in a bed by themselves, as they are not at all in harmony. Plant Hyacinths seven inches apart and four inches deep, either in beds of vivid colours without other order than a regular distance apart, or according to some colour arrangement or geometrical design. Tulips should be planted four inches apart each way and four inches deep. A good arrangement is to draw lines across the bed forming squares—four inches for Tulips, seven for Hyacinths—and set a bulb at each corner. The centre of the square may be filled with Crocus or Scillas, which will have finished blooming before the larger flowers are out. Only Tulips of the same height and season of bloom should be set together.

Scillas and Crocus together make a bed that can hardly be surpassed in bulb planting. The effect is best where only the white Crocus is blended with the blue of the Scillas.

Protect the bulb beds with rough manure, leaves, and evergreen boughs during winter. Remove the protection gradually in the spring, and leave the finest of the manure to enrich the soil.

When through blooming in the spring, and the foliage has ripened, the bulbs may be lifted, dried, and stored away in a cool place until fall. All these bulbs increase rapidly, both by multiplying and by seed. Neglected beds of Tulips seem to multiply and perpetuate themselves indefinitely, but the new plants will be found to be all from seed, as the Tulip forms its new bulbs at the base of the old, and if they were not frequently taken up and reset they would grow so deep in the ground that all the strength of the plant would be exhausted reaching the surface, and there would be no bloom. The seedlings make robust plants, and do not deteriorate materially.

The seed formation of the Crocus is very interesting. If dug a few weeks after its season of bloom is over, under the ground, below the blossom, the stem will be found to have expanded into a long chamber or cell as large around as a lead-pencil and an inch or more in length. Open this and it will be found full of exquisite pink pearls; these are the seeds. As they ripen they become nearly black, the cell bursts, and the earth receives them. The Scilla lengthens its flower-stems until they lie on the ground, forming large seed-pods filled with white pearls. When the plants are taken up, if these little seeds are saved the stock will increase much more rapidly.

The beds are often wanted for other plants before the foliage has had time to ripen. In that case the bulbs may be lifted and heeled-in, in some out-of-the-way place, until ripe, care being taken to preserve the seed-pods. Heeling-in means digging a shallow trench, laying in the roots of the plants in a row, and covering them with earth. They must be lifted when ripe and not allowed to grow.

A pretty way to grow the Scilla, Crocus, and Snowdrop is to scatter them on the lawn in the grass, planting singly or in clumps. Lift the sod with the trowel and slip the bulbs under, right side up, leaving them to care for themselves. Plant hundreds in this way; they will be through blooming by the time the grass needs cutting.

The various varieties of Narcissi should be planted in permanent beds or borders, where they need not be disturbed except as it is necessary to divide them. They should be set four inches deep and twelve inches apart each way, that they may have room to increase. The new bulbs of Narcissi form in a cluster around the old, and unless allowed to develop freely will not bloom. If set the proper distance apart they will need to be taken up but once in four years. Do not wait for them to show signs of a crowded condition, but move on schedule time, and keep them blooming continuously. All the Narcissi, except the Polyanthus, are hardy, and all are lovely—especially the large trumpet sorts. Emperor and Empress, Horsfieldi, and Sir Watkin are especially good in the open grounds. Poeticus, P. ornatus, Alba plena, Odorata, and Von Sion all make beautiful borders.

There are a few other bulbs for fall planting that are hardy all over the country. The Chionodoxa, Glory of the Snow, is a recent introduction from Asia Minor. Like the Scilla it is blue, a rare and desirable colour in spring flowers. Winter Aconite, with its tiny, golden-yellow flowers, the first of the spring; Wood Hyacinths, Dog-tooth Violets, Fritillarias, Crown Imperials, and Snowdrops are all worth a place.

The bulbs advertised by the seedsmen as hardy in a temperature like that of Philadelphia may not prove hardy in Canada, Michigan, Northern Illinois, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Dakota, and this must be borne in mind when purchasing same. The safest way, when in doubt, is to address a letter of inquiry to the dealer offering the plants, in regard to suitability for your particular climate.