Part 3

In connection with the question of planting, attention may be directed to a very interesting and remarkable power possessed by the roots of many bulbs and corms. A glance at the sketches of Gladiolus, Tritonia, Nothoscordum, and Lilium, will show the reader some thick fleshy roots with conspicuous rings on them. They are readily distinguished from the finer fibrous roots, and, as may be readily supposed, their functions are quite distinct. To thoroughly understand what these thick-ringed roots are for, the reader will remember what has been said at page 13 about the way in which the old corms of Crocuses and Gladioli disappear, or are surmounted in autumn by new ones. If the plants were not disturbed for several years, one would imagine that as the new corms were always produced _on top_ of the old ones, they would sooner or later come through the surface of the soil, and thus run the risk of being either parched by drought, or shrivelled up by the heat of the summer sun; or, again, of being frozen to death in winter. And yet, examination of the corms will show that the new ones are quite as deep down in the soil, if not deeper, than their predecessors. This remarkable state of affairs to preserve what may be called the _status quo_ is entirely due to the action of the thick, ringed roots referred to above. These roots usually strike straight down into the soil. When they have gone as far as Nature intended them to, they begin to contract much in the same way apparently as a worm does when going into its burrow, and for this reason they have been called "contractile."

Illustration: NOTHOSCORDUM BULB. Showing Contractile Roots.

Illustration: TRITONIA CORMS.

During the process of contraction a tremendous force must be exerted to enable the roots to pull the corms or bulbs down to their proper level in the soil. The passive resistance of the latter is overcome, and as a result its particles are pressed much closer together than they were before.

Sometimes this pulling power of the roots is exerted horizontally instead of vertically, and this accounts for the spreading of many bulbous plants like Tulips, Grape Hyacinths, &c., over a large area in the course of a few years when left undisturbed.

=Bulbous Plants without Contractile Roots.=--Some bulbous plants have not the advantage of contractile roots to keep them down in the soil, so they must secure this desirable end by different means.

Illustration: COLCHICUM. _o. c._ old corm; _n. c._ new growth; _o. r._ old roots.

Illustration: BULBOCODIUM. _o. c._ old corm; _n. c._ new growth; _o. r._ old roots.

A glance at the sketches of Colchicum and Bulbocodium will show a peculiar method of growth. The new corm instead of being produced on top of the old one, is developed at the side. Note, however, that the new corm is not on the same level as the old one. That would be no advantage whatever. Therefore it takes, as it were, a step _downwards_, so as to be well out of reach of mowing machines, rats, and mice, and other enemies, and also probably because it knows it will be much warmer in winter when several inches below the surface. The same principle seems to be employed by the bulbs of the Dog's Tooth Violets (_Erythronium_), as may be seen from the sketch--the new bulb to the right being distinctly lower than the older one to the left.

Illustration: ERYTHRONIUM.

PLATE 8. FRITILLARIAS (31. MOGGRIDGEI, 32. WALUJEWI, 33. MELEAGRIS ALBA, 34. RECURVA)

PROPAGATION OF BULBOUS PLANTS.

Perhaps there is no one class of plants that have so many ways of being easily increased as bulbous plants proper. Some kinds, _e.g._, Liliums, Alliums, may be increased in four different ways--from offsets and "spawn," scales, bulbils, and, last of all, seeds.

=Offsets.=--The great mass of bulbous and cormous plants, however, are so readily multiplied by detaching the offsets from the parent bulb or corm, that the other methods are rarely employed except by trade growers. Nearly all hardy bulbous plants produce offsets freely. These offsets represent a superabundance of nourishment that has been elaborated in the leaves, and very often there are several smaller ones attached to the base of the larger ones that have been produced in precisely the same way.

In the case of Daffodils, Tulips, Hyacinths, Crocuses, Gladiolus, and a host of others, the new offsets are pressed against the sides or on top of the older ones. In the drawing of the Tulip (p. 30), three new bulbs are to be seen surrounding all that is left of the old bulb. This latter has practically vanished up the main axis from the disc to produce flowers and leaves--hence it follows that the Tulip bulb somewhat resembles the corm in its vegetative characters. The bulbs taken out of the soil in early summer are not those that were planted the previous autumn.

Besides "offsets," some plants produce numerous small vegetative bodies called "cloves" or "spawn." These are shown in the drawing of the Gladiolus (p. 14), where two strong flowering corms have been developed on top of the old shrivelled one. At the base of each of these are numerous small outgrowths among the contractile roots. If these growths or spawn are taken off and stored in sandy soil until spring, they may then be planted in special beds, and in the course of two or three years will reach the flowering size.

Illustration: Tulip. _d._ disc of old bulb; _f. s._ flower and leaf-stalk which have eaten up old bulb; _n. b._ new bulb and offsets.

The Liliums are a large and interesting group of bulbous plants. Many of them produce offsets freely round the base of the old bulb. There are several species, however (_e.g._, _canadense_, _Grayi_, _maritimum_, _pardalinum_, _Parryi_, _superbum_), which have creeping rootstocks or rhizomes, and the new offsets are produced along these at intervals as shown in the drawing.

=Division.=--Bulbs or corms are rarely cut up for purposes of propagation. The best example in which this method of increase is practised is the Gladiolus. The larger corms, if they show two or more crown-growths, may be carefully cut down between them with a sharp knife. The cut surfaces may be dipped in soot, not only to dry it more rapidly, but also to prevent any stray spores of fungoid diseases from germinating.

Illustration: RHIZOME (_r_) WITH OFFSETS.

=Leaf-Scales.=--The thick, fleshy, deltoid scales of many of the Liliums will develop buds at the base, as shown in the drawing, when detached and inserted almost vertically in sandy soil. In about three or four years flowering bulbs can be produced by this means.

A somewhat analogous process is adopted with Hyacinths. The old bulb is slashed across the base of the disc two or three times into the fleshy scales. The cut surfaces dry up, and by-and-bye small buds or bulblets, as shown on the sketch of the Lily scale, make their appearance. In due course these bulblets are detached and planted in light sandy soil. The propagation of the florists' varieties of Hyacinths by this means is not altogether satisfactory, as the old bulbs themselves undergo a deterioration in our variable climate.

Illustration: Scale leaf (_s. l._) of Lily bulb showing new growth (_n. b._) at base.

PLATE 9. TULIPS (35-38)

=Bulbils.=--These are vegetative growths--neither seeds, bulbs, nor offsets--that appear in the axils of the aërial leaves, as shown in the sketch. Many Liliums, like _bulbiferum_, _tigrinum_, _speciosum_, _Leichtlini_, and some of the Alliums produce them with great regularity. It is thought that bulbils are borne by some plants and not others, because the conditions for the fertilisation or ripening of the seeds are not favourable. In such cases, therefore, Nature has provided such plants with this means of reproduction by bulbils, rather than allow them to run the risk of dying out altogether. In Kerner and Oliver's "Natural History of Plants" it is stated that "There are two forms of Orange Lily indigenous to Europe. One (_Lilium croceum_), occurring especially in the Pyrenees and South of France, almost always ripens fruits and forms no bulbils in its leaf-axils. The other (_Lilium bulbiferum_), found in the valleys of the Central and Northern Alps, hardly ever fruits, but is characterised by the bulbils it produces in the axils of its leaves; bulbils which disarticulate in autumn and are scattered by the wind. But there is no difference noticeable in the structure of the flowers in these two Orange Lilies, and it is difficult to explain their difference in mode of propagation, save on the assumption that in the regions where _Lilium bulbiferum_ grows those insects are wanting which should convey its pollen from flower to flower. As the Orange Lily possesses no arrangements for autogamy (_i.e._, self-fertilisation), no fruits are formed in the absence of insect visits. It appears that this plant has lost the capacity for autogamy; at any rate, if a stigma be pollinated with pollen from the same flower on plants in a garden, no result follows. On the other hand, offshoots in the form of numerous bulbils are produced by _Lilium bulbiferum_, by means of which it is propagated and dispersed. In several valleys of the Central Alps it does not flower at all, and thus obviously depends entirely upon its bulbils for propagation."

Illustration: BULBILS in leaf-axils.

The bulbils should not be detached from the stems until the latter are quite ripe, and the foliage shows signs of withering. They may be sown as if they were large seeds. They possess the advantage over seeds, however, inasmuch as they produce flowering bulbs two or three seasons before the bulbs from real seeds come to maturity.

=Bulbous Plants from Seeds.=--The would-be raiser of bulbous plants from seeds must be gifted with a good deal of patience, and be systematic in his methods, otherwise he will find it is no sinecure to wait from five to ten years before a flower appears from the seeds he sowed at the beginning of those periods. Even when the blossoms do appear, the great majority of them are likely to be inferior in almost every way to their progenitors. The raising of bulbous plants from seeds, therefore, is not likely to find many enthusiastic disciples among amateur growers, who, as a rule, are content to cultivate the varieties that have been evolved by generations of gardeners. Under these circumstances it is most fortunate that bulbous plants can be so readily multiplied by offsets. Of course, in large gardens and nurseries, where there is a trained staff of men, it is a comparatively easy matter to save and sow a certain quantity of seeds each year. After the first period of waiting is over, each season sees a fresh lot of seedlings burst into blossom. Any particularly fine forms are marked, and afterwards increased by means of the offsets or bulbils.

Illustration: TULIP SEEDLING. _b._ young bulb; _r._ first root; _s. l._ seed leaf; _s. c._ seed-coat.

The annexed drawing shows a seedling Tulip. The germination is very similar to that of the common garden Onion. The swollen portion at the base represents the first stage in the development of the bulb, and each year for six or seven seasons sees it increase in size, and ultimately large and strong enough to blossom.

=Sowing Seeds.=--The seeds of all the perfectly hardy bulbous plants may be sown in the open air, in beds specially prepared for the purpose. The soil should be a light sandy loam with a good sprinkling of leaf-mould in it. The "drills" may be drawn about one inch deep, and as the seedlings in many cases are left to look after themselves until they bloom, the seeds should be sown very thinly--two or three inches apart--so as to allow for future development. It would scarcely be wise, in the case of choice or rare varieties, to trust the seeds to the open air. They may, however, be sown in pots or pans, and after two or three seasons' growth they will be large enough for transferring to the open air. The seeds of bulbous plants may be sown in spring if they ripen late in the year; or in early autumn if they ripen in summer.

LIFTING AND STORING BULBS.

PLATE 10. TULIPS (39-42)

As all bulbous plants have a period of rest at some season of the year, it is a matter of some little importance whether the bulbs or corms in the soil shall be taken up, or left in the ground from year to year. It will be noticed in many instances in the following pages that certain kinds are recommended to be left in the ground for three or four seasons without being disturbed. This practice may be adopted with advantage when bulbs are naturalised in the grass, the rock-garden, by the sides of lakes, &c., and in thin shrubberies or borders, where they are not likely to be rooted up during the year.

In the formal flower beds, however, in which Tulips, Daffodils, Hyacinths, Crocuses, &c., are planted for a display in spring and early summer, it is necessary to lift them after flowering, not only to make way for the summer "bedding" plants, but also to allow of the beds being re-dug and re-arranged if necessary.

The best time for lifting the bulbs is usually when the leaves have commenced to turn yellow. Some do this earlier than others, but in all cases, it is a sign that growth has ceased, and that bulbs or corms in the soil are ripe, and will be improved by a period of rest.

=Storing.=--When lifted by means of a fork, the bulbs may be spread out to dry, either in the sun, or in some dry and airy shed. After a few days they may be gone over and cleaned by hand, taking off the old leaves, and putting the offsets or bulbils in separate receptacles from the large and well-ripened bulbs that are to be used for next year's display. The bulbs lifted in early summer (_e.g._, Tulips, Daffodils, Hyacinths, &c.) may be spread out in thin layers--not heaps--upon shelves in a cool, airy shed, where they can remain without injury until the time of planting in autumn comes round.

In the case of bulbs or corms that are lifted in autumn when the leaves begin to fade, like the Gladiolus, the same process of cleaning is gone through, but care must be taken to keep them where the frost will not touch them during the winter. It is a good plan to store them in dry sand or earth in shallow boxes, and place them in dry, airy cellars or sheds until the spring.

COMBINATIONS OF BULBOUS AND NON-BULBOUS PLANTS.

While bulbous plants alone, especially when used in large quantities, make an effective display in the garden, they can be made much more attractive by the exercise of a little art and a pleasing combination with other plants that come into blossom at the same period.

In the first place, true bulbous plants, like Tulips, Daffodils, and Bluebells for example, that flower at the same time may be mixed together for planting in grassy banks, or near the margins of lakes, &c., where they are not likely to be disturbed for several years. Similar combinations may be made with Snowdrops, Chionodoxas, Scillas, Leucojums, Crocuses, &c., that appear in the spring; and with Colchicums, autumn-flowering Crocuses, and Sternbergias in the late autumn.

In the next place, the grace and beauty of bulbous plants proper are enhanced by judiciously mixing them with plants of a non-bulbous nature. Among these latter may be noted the following as being particularly useful:--Wallflowers, Forget-me-Nots, Polyanthuses, Primroses, White Arabis (_A. albida_), and Yellow Alyssum (_A. saxatile_), Violas and Pansies, the Winter Aconite (_Eranthis hiemalis_, and _E. cilicica_), Silene, Aubrietia. These are all useful for planting in the autumn at the same time as the bulbs of Tulips, Daffodils, Hyacinths, Crocuses, Snowdrops, Scillas, Chionodoxas, &c. Where formal beds are necessary the non-bulbous plants may be put in first, leaving sufficient space between the plants for the insertion of the bulbs afterwards.

To secure effect and contrast, a little skill, or rather knowledge, of the different plants used, is necessary. Haphazard and careless combinations are not to be encouraged in the formal flower-beds. It would be a mistake, for instance, to mix three or four different kinds of bulbs (_e.g._, Snowdrops, Tulips, Daffodils, or Hyacinths) with Wallflowers, Forget-me-Nots, or any of the other plants mentioned above. The effect would be ludicrous, and give the beds a higgledy-piggledy appearance. Nor would it be wise to use one kind of plant in such a way that the other would be smothered or practically concealed from view. This could happen easily with combinations of such plants as Wallflowers or Forget-me-Nots, and such bulbs as Crocuses, Snowdrops, &c.

The true idea of combination should be such that one plant is really as prominent as the other when in blossom--each one, in fact, lending and borrowing at the same time some charm from the other. Colours of course play an important part in this scheme, and care should be exercised at the time of planting _not_ to combine Yellow Polyanthuses, Yellow Wallflowers, or Yellow Violas, for instance, with Yellow Tulips or Daffodils; and so on.

PLATE 11. HYACINTHS (43-46)

The following are a few suggested combinations that will look well:--

1. =Violas= (Blue), beneath White, Red, or Yellow Tulips or Daffodils.

2. =Violas= (Yellow), beneath White or Scarlet Tulips or Hyacinths.

3. =Violas= (White), beneath Scarlet or Yellow Tulips or Daffodils.

4. =Wallflowers= (Red), with Yellow, White, or Orange Tulips or Daffodils.

5. =Wallflowers= (Yellow), with Scarlet, Pink, White, or Red Tulips.

6. =Forget-me-Nots= (Blue), with all Tulips, Red and White Hyacinths, and Daffodils.

7. =Aubrietia= (Purple), with Tulips or Daffodils.

8. =White Arabis=, with Tulips, Daffodils, or Hyacinths.

9. =Yellow Alyssum=, with red-flowered or white-flowered Tulips or Hyacinths.

10. =Silene= (Rose), with White or Yellow Tulips and Daffodils.

NATURALISING BULBOUS PLANTS IN THE GRASS.

Although it has only been recognised of late years, owing chiefly to the teachings of Mr. Robinson, there is no place so natural perhaps for the artistic display of bulbous plants as in some piece of grass-land, whether it be a meadow, a sloping bank, the margin of a piece of water, or even a lawn. Every lover of bulbous plants, however, cannot gratify his individual tastes as to where he would like his bulbs to blossom, and he must perforce make the best of the piece of ground--large or small as it may be--that happens to be at his disposal. In large parks and gardens there is no difficulty, or there ought to be none, in securing suitable sites to show off the natural graces of the various bulbous plants recommended for the purpose in this volume. And even in small suburban gardens, where one often sees a piece of grass lying bare and cheerless in winter, a better use might be made of bulbs. Ce n'est que le premier pas qui coûte. Once the initial cost and labour of getting the bulbs beneath the turf is over there is joy ever afterwards, and keen anticipation in watching the spring and autumn Crocuses, Sternbergias, Snowdrops, Snowflakes, the smaller Fritillaries, the Chionodoxas, Scillas, and Bluebells, Narcissi, Grape Hyacinths, and even Tulips, when one is not in too great a hurry to get the mowing done early in the year. One group or another of these plants (to which may be added the tuberous winter Aconite, with its glistening yellow blossoms) may be grown in the smallest of gardens, and will brighten them year after year without trouble or expense, until, perhaps, they become so crowded, that lifting and re-planting becomes essential to prevent suffocation.

BULBOUS PLANTS UNDER TREES AND SHRUBS.

Early flowering bulbs are capital for planting beneath deciduous trees on lawns or in large parks and gardens. The bulbs bloom at a period when the trees are leafless, and therefore sufficient sunlight is able to percolate through the bare branches for their benefit. Such kinds as Snowdrops, Scillas, Chionodoxas, &c., are excellent for this purpose, and may be left for several seasons without disturbance, provided they get a top-dressing of well-decayed manure during the autumn. Before the trees expand their leaves, the bulbous plants beneath have finished their work for the season, so the absence of light during the summer does not interfere with them in the least. On the other hand, however, they enjoy the cool refreshing shade of the tree foliage, which prevents them from being shrivelled up.

BULBOUS PLANTS FOR CUT FLOWERS.

There are comparatively few of the bulbous plants mentioned in this volume that are not fit to be cut for the adornment of bowls, vases, &c., in the dwelling house. Some kinds, of course, are much better suited for the purpose than others, and it would be difficult indeed to surpass the elegance of the Daffodils, Tulips, Wood Hyacinths, and Bluebells in the spring and early summer. Following these we have numerous Liliums--white, yellow, orange, red, variously blotched and speckled, and provided with long wiry stems that are often a great advantage. The late summer and autumn flowering kinds are best represented by the Montbretias, Tritonias, Gladiolus, Brodiæas, and Sparaxis. The dwarf-flowering bulbous plants, like Snowdrops, Crocuses, Grape Hyacinths, Chionodoxas, Colchicums, Sternbergias, Leucojums, &c., although they look charming in bold masses in the garden, scarcely afford much length of stalk to enable them to be used with great effect in bowls, vases, &c., by themselves. As a groundwork to taller-stemmed blossoms, however, they are often found to come in very useful.

It is, perhaps, scarcely necessary to say that the more simply and naturally flowers are "bunched" the better they look in room decorations. Very often indeed, it is difficult to improve on a bunch of flowers picked at random in the garden and placed in bowls of water as they are--with stems of various lengths, and the blossoms facing in different directions. That some people have extraordinary notions as to what a "bunch" of flowers really means may be gathered from an inspection of any ordinary local flower show in the kingdom. At such exhibitions a "bunch" of flowers is generally as large, flat, unwieldy, and squatty as possible--the various kinds being jammed together as if they were "sticks" of Asparagus done up for market. Educated judges have been endeavouring for some years to get an improvement in the method of putting bunches of flowers together, but with very little success up to the present. The same old order of things prevaileth.

PLATE 12. LEUCOJUM VERNUM, (47) MUSCARI CONICUM (48), ERYTHRONIUM JOHNSONI (49), TECOPHYLÆA CYANOCROCUS (50).

=When to pick Flowers.=--Of course, when people want flowers they will pick them at any time--if they happen to be in their own gardens, not in other people's. It may be as well, however, to remind the reader that if picked either early in the morning--the earlier the better--or in the evening after sunset, flowers last much longer in a cut state, than if they are picked at any other period of the day. Perhaps the very worst time to pick flowers is from mid-day to 2 or 3 o'clock--especially in summer. The heat takes a good deal of substance out of the blossoms, and many get so "blown" that if cut at that particular period of the day, the petals never recover, but drop off in a few hours. Tulips are well-known examples of this. In the morning and evening, the petals close up to a point--really to prevent the pollen from getting drenched with dew or rain. But when the sun shines, they open out, and lie well back from the stamens so that insects may be lured to take the pollen from one flower to another. In this state the blossoms should not be cut or pulled as they will last but a short time.