CHAPTER XV.
SPRING FLOWERING BULBS.
“Odors of spring, my senses ye charm! Methinks with purpose soft ye come, To tell of brighter hours; Of May’s blue skies, abundant bloom, And sunny gales and showers.”
In October and November we must plant the Spring Flowering Bulbs, which are the first flowers in the spring that gladden our eyes. As soon as the sun’s rays have strength enough to pierce the stony ground, they send up their leaves closely sheathed together to withstand the icy touch of the north wind. With the first sweet whistle of the robin, and the clear treble notes of the blue bird, they stand ready to burst forth into gorgeous splendor. The pearly white Snowdrop, white as the snow-drift which has nourished her buds, is the pale leader of the gloriously clad procession which follows the spring’s footsteps.
Clusters of these roots can be planted among the grass nearest the house, and early in March and April they will appear in full bloom. They will grow in any soil; but will run out if new homes are not provided for them every three or four years. They multiply rapidly. The great Snowdrop is double the size of the common kind, but does not blossom so early. The small sorts can be planted an inch apart and two inches deep, but the larger kinds should be planted five inches asunder, and four inches in depth.
_The Crocus_
Comes next in order, clothed in purple, yellow and white, lilac and blue; striped and plain; cloth of gold and cloth of silver. They are of easy culture, and increase rapidly by offsets; they can remain in the ground three years, but may be taken up every year, when their leaves have become yellow. October is the best season for replanting them, but November will do in warm climates. They should be planted two inches deep, and an inch or two apart. The new varieties are raised from seed. These bulbs are perfectly hardy, but will come forward better in the spring, if the ground is covered with a bed of leaves or evergreen boughs.
Among the new varieties are:--
Albion, blue, striped with white.
Caroline Chisholm, purest white.
Cloth of Gold, yellow, striped with black.
Cloth of Silver, white, striped with purple.
David Rizzio, dark purple.
Elise, light shaded.
Ivanhoe, blue and white.
Ne plus ultra, blue bordered.
Miss Nightingale, light striped.
Queen Victoria, pure white.
Scotch, yellow, with purple stripes.
Sir Walter Scott, pencilled lilac.
Van Speyk, violet striped.
_The Hyacinth._
This plant, though a native of the desert, has been domesticated for many centuries, and is aptly styled the “Domestic Flower,” for it is dearly loved in many homes.
Haarlem is the great focus of bulbous cultivation; its soil consists of light vegetable mould mixed with sand, and under this is a substrata of sand which drains off the heavy spring rains. Florists of other countries have imitated this soil, thereby producing as fine bulbs as can be raised in Holland.
All new varieties are raised from seeds, but much care and patience are required, and often not more than six fine flowers will be found in a thousand seedlings; so it is the best to content ourselves with raising them from the bulbs, which multiply rapidly by offsets, which should be planted out by themselves, in a dry, sunny location; if they attempt to flower the first spring, pick off the buds, for the root needs all its strength; but the next spring they will flower well, and after that can be treated like grown-up bulbs.
If the beds in which the Hyacinths and other bulbs have flowered are needed before the roots have fully matured, they can be taken up and laid in ridges, covering the roots with sandy earth, but leaving the stems and leaves fully exposed to the air; they will soon decay, and the bulbs will swell to full maturity. If the ground is not required for other plants, the beds can remain for two or three years undisturbed, but larger flowers are produced by yearly transplantings. The seed-pods should be broken off before they have had time to develop, as ripening the seed would tend to exhaust the strength of the bulb, but the leaves are needful to prepare the pulp for maturing the bulb for another season; therefore they must not be cut off until they are wholly dried up. When quite dry, separate the offsets, and place by themselves in paper bags or boxes, and keep in a dark, dry closet, until time to replant them. Their roots will strike through a mellow soil, from ten to even twelve inches; therefore to raise the finest blossoms, the soil should be removed at least one foot in depth, and the earth well broken up; then spread over it a layer of three or four inches of leaf mould, well mixed with sand, and fill up with a compost of one-third well-rotted cow manure, and two-thirds sandy loam, well mingled. If the soil under the pine trees of the woods can be obtained, you will make your bulbs blossom in perfection; it is a dark, sandy loam, excellently fitted for flowering all bulbs. Scouring sand, which can be found in nearly every kitchen, is very useful in planting bulbs; put a table-spoonful into each hole, and set the bulb upon it. Plant in concentric circles, straight rows, or clusters, and cover the largest sized bulbs, at least three to four inches. A liberal top dressing of sand will draw the sun’s rays early in the season. As soon as the ground freezes hard, cover the beds with four or five inches of straw, leaves, or coarse stable litter; but don’t cover them too early, else the ground mouse may burrow in the warm bed, and feed upon your bulbs.
As soon as the green sheathed leaves appear, remove part of the covering, and press the earth tightly around the bulbs, else they will crack the earth, and let the chilling winds into the roots. In ten days or a fortnight, if the weather is warm, remove all the coverings.
The florists’ catalogues are issued every autumn, and offer us a large variety of roots with high-sounding names. In the selection of bulbs, choose those that are compact, solid, and firm at the base of the root.
The double varieties are usually the most desirable for out-door culture, and they will often cover at least half of the stem with lovely bells, forming a compact cone, terminated at the top by an upright flower. The single varieties are better for window gardening, and some of them are indispensable to every collection.
A bed of Hyacinths in full bloom is a glory and a joy, but in planting them due deference must be paid to their height, and time of blooming, or the whole effect may be spoiled; and some catalogues properly mention, not only the names, but the seasons and height of the flowers.
A select list of double and single varieties:--
_Double, Dark and Light Blue._
Albion, late, low.
King of Wurtemburg, early, tall, very fine.
A la Mode, early, low, a perfect blue.
Pasquin, early, tall, a light blue.
Globe Terrestre, late, low, perfect flower.
Laurens Coster, low, early.
Koning Ascingaris, tall, early.
Bloksberg, late, low.
Lord Raglan, low, early.
Richard Steele, low, early.
_Single, Blue of all shades,_
L’Amie de Cœur, tall, early, very dark.
L’Unique, tall, early, rich purplish blue.
Bleu Mourant, late, low, deep blue.
Charles Dickens, tall, early, perfect flower.
Porcelaine Scepter, low, early, light blue.
La Peyrouse, low, early, porcelaine blue.
_Double, White._
Duc de Berry, late, tall.
Duchess of Bedford, late, low.
La Deese, late, low.
La Virginitie, low, early.
Virgo, tall, early.
Lord Anson, low, early.
_Single, White._
Alba Superbissima, low, early.
Bella Donna, late, low.
Blanchard, tall, early.
La Candeur, low, early.
Queen Victoria, low, early.
Queen of the Netherlands, tall, early.
_Double, Red and Rose._
Belle Marie, late, tall.
Bouquet Constant, low, early.
La Gaiete, low, early.
Mars, late, low.
Sir Thomas Grey, late, low.
Czar Nicholas, low, early.
Lord Wellington, low, early, fine.
Perruque Royale, late, tall.
_Single, Red and Rose._
Belle Corrinne, low, early.
Madame Hodson, tall, early.
Robert Steiger, tall, early.
Princess Victoria, late, low.
Jenny Lind, low, early.
Duchess of Richmond, tall, early.
_Double, Yellow._
Bouquet d’Orange, low, early.
Crœsus, late, low.
Jaune Supreme, tall, early.
La Grandeur, late, low.
Van Spek, tall, early.
_Single, Yellow._
Alida Jacobea, low, early.
Anna Carolina, late, low.
Fleur d’Or, low, early.
Koning Van Holland, low, early.
La Pluie d’Or, tall, early.
Prit Hein, low, early.
Rhinosceros, tall, early.
_The Tulip._
This bulbous plant has been aptly styled “The Fop of Flowers,” for it is the most gorgeous of all the spring flowers, and its variety of colors, most delicately blended, are almost beyond the power of imagination.
Their culture is so simple, that no one can well afford to be without a bed of them, for an early display of gorgeous bloom.
They are natives of Persia, and the name is derived from _tulipan_, a turban, the calyx of the flower resembling that Eastern head-dress. The Turks first cultivated them, and from thence they were sent to Vienna. At first they were supposed to be eatable, like onions, but were found unpalatable; then they were preserved in sugar, but their taste was not improved, so they were thrown out upon a refuse heap as worthless trash; here they bloomed, and thus revealed the beauty of the flower.
Conrad Gesner, the Swiss botanist, first saw the flower in 1559, and described it scientifically. Many years afterwards, Linnæus gave the flower the specific name of Gesneriana, in honor of Gesner.
Linnæus styles bulbs, “The hybernacle, or winter lodge, of the young plants.” Darwin says, “These bulbs in every respect resemble buds, except in their being produced under ground, and include the leaves and flowers in minature which are to be expanded in the ensuing spring. By cautiously cutting in winter through the concentric coats of a Tulip root, longitudinally from the top to the base, and taking them off successively, the whole flower of the next summer’s Tulip is beautifully seen by the naked eye, with its petals, pistils, and stamens. The flowers exist in other bulbs in the same manner, but their individual flowers being of less size, they are not so easily dissected, or so conspicuous to the naked eye. The poet thus describes the bulb:--
“Quick flies fair Tulipa the loud alarms, And folds her infant closer in her arms; In some lone cave’s secure pavilion lies, And waits the courtship of serener skies.”
In the first half of the 17th century the historical episode of the tulipomania occurred. It commenced in Holland, thence spread to France, and England would have felt its influence had she not been fully occupied with the more sanguinary mania of civil war. The almost incredible extravagances of this mania are usually laid to the Dutch; but this is erroneous. As well attribute the deeds of reckless stock speculators in railways, to the scientific engineers who planned and constructed them.
The high esteem in which the Dutch held the flower, doubtless sowed the seeds of the disease; but the immense prices given for single roots, had no reference to their floral value. It was the love of gambling, and not the love of flowers, which created them. Speculators bought or sold tulip roots at a certain price, to be delivered at a specified time, just as the frequenters of the stock exchange speculate by _time bargains_ in stock. Thus the tulip king of the era would possess himself of a certain variety of Tulip, and then offer to purchase more; other dealers, supposing they could procure them easily, would undertake to deliver a certain quantity at such a time, at an agreed price; that variety would rise in value, and so the artful speculator could obtain almost any price he pleased for his roots, purchased at a low price.
“Bulls,” “bears,” “ducks,” “gulls” and other like animals, well known to those who frequent the stock markets, are not a modern invention; but centuries ago existed in Holland and France. The Dutch amateurs loved their Tulip roots as they loved their own houses and lands, and Crabbe tells us that:--
“With all his phlegm, it broke a Dutchman’s heart, At a vast price, with one loved root to part.”
Some individuals gave all they possessed for the coveted bulbs, and we read that one root was exchanged for four fat oxen.
In England, as late as 1835, a root named “Fanny Kemble” sold at auction for $225.
Tulips do not bloom quickly from the seed; five years at least must elapse before “the bright, consummate flower” appears, and its bloom is usually a _self_, or mere ground color, and is termed a breeder; but in a few years the calyx will become variegated, and it is termed _broken_; so when a really choice variety is produced, its annual offsets is its only means of propagation, and it must command a high price for some years.
The late variety of Tulip mostly cultivated is T. Gesneriana, and is divided into three classes, viz.:--roses, byblomens, and bizarres. The “roses” are marked with cherry, scarlet, pink and crimson stripes or veins, on a white ground. They are usually eighteen inches high, and their cups are large and well formed. The “byblomens” are marked with black, lilac or purple, on a white ground; and the “bizarres” are feathered with purple, pink, cherry, scarlet, etc., on a yellow ground.
These classes are still divided into flamed and feathered. A Tulip has neither corolla or petal, but a calyx of colored sepals. A feathered Tulip has a dark colored edge, growing lighter toward the margin.
Those of our readers who have never seen a bed of these Tulips cannot even imagine the brilliancy of their colorings and gorgeous featherings. When planted in diamonds, ovals, stars or circles, on a well kept lawn, the effect is splendid!
The “Duc Van Thol” varieties are a very early kind, blossoming in temperate climates early in March. They are dwarfs, their stems not over six inches high, and they are excellent for winter flowering in window gardens. There are white, yellow, scarlet, red, rose and striped varieties, and small beds of them scattered over a lawn, present at a distance the appearance of brilliant butterflies hovering over the grass. They are perfectly hardy, but will flower more plentifully if taken up every spring, when the leaves have decayed.
The “Tournesol” species come into bloom next to the “Van Thols,” and are double and only in two kinds; the red and yellow, and the clear, pure yellow. In mixed beds they are very gorgeous.
The Double Tulips gain in favor yearly; their flowers are very brilliant and large.
Crown of Roses is of the richest rose color.
Belle Alliance, white, striped, and feathered with violet.
Gloria Mundi, delicate primrose, striped with crimson.
La Candeur, of the purest white and perfect shape.
Poupre Agreable, white and violet, late.
Marriage de ma Fille, pure white, striped with cerise, late.
Pæony Gold, yellow, beautifully shaded, late.
Lord Wellington, blue, very showy, late.
Amsterdam, brown and red, curiously blended, late.
The Parrot Tulips are the most curious and unique of all the varieties. The flowers are magnificently striped and feathered, with many colors, most picturesquely mingled, while the edges of the sepals are fringed like fretted lace work. They are very desirable for groups and clumps, and, if planted around low evergreens, will stand out finely against the dark, green background.
The most distinct varieties are:--
Constantinople, a bright yellow and red.
Glorieuse, a brilliant scarlet.
Markgraf, striped, red and yellow.
Monstre Rouge, large, crimson.
Belle Jaune, large yellow, feathered with red and green.
_Cultivation of the Tulip._
Fresh, sandy loam, such as is obtained from upland pastures, is the best soil. Remove the sods from sheep or cow pastures, and take the virgin soil. The late blooming Tulips should be planted four inches in depth; the “Van Thols,” etc., from two to three inches, according to their size, and their roots will strike down from five to six inches. Good garden soil, mixed with cow manure, two years-old, and a plentiful sprinkling of sand, will grow them to advantage. Never put fresh barnyard compost near them; it will burn up the bulbs.
They should be planted in November, and be firmly set in the soil, six inches apart for the tall varieties, and four inches for the “Van Thols.” Sprinkle sand, as directed for Hyacinths, into each hole; this will keep the bulbs from rotting at the base. After the ground freezes, cover with straw, or leaves, for the freezing and thawing of the ground injures the blooms of the next spring.
When the leaves fall, cut off the stems, and when the leaves are dried up the bulbs can be removed, the offsets separated, and treated just like Hyacinths.
In selecting the bulbs, choose those that are solid, a little pointed, and the skin entire.
These flowers will richly repay the little care expended upon them, and I especially desire to call the attention of lady florists to their merits.
As I write this chapter, I feast my eyes on a small bed of “Van Thols” that are perfectly gorgeous, and attract the attention of every passer-by. The cold north wind whistles around the windows, and bends the brilliant calyx of their blooms, but does not mar their beauty. By their side sweet Hyacinths bloom, and they are all the flowers which my garden can boast in this young spring-time.
_The Daffodils._
These are hardy bulbs, which are common in old-fashioned gardens, and our grandmothers loved to cherish them. They will bloom in out-of-the-way places for years and years, and ask no care or attention. The flowers are of a brilliant yellow.
_The Jonquils._
Their creamy, rose-tipped, chalices are always lovely, and the double varieties are fair and white as roses; but some of them lack the fragrance of their sister bulbs.
_The Narcissus._
This is an extensive family which grows freely in any good garden loam. The Daffodil and Jonquil belong to the family, and there are many varieties of the Polyanthus Narcissus, which are the most lovely bulbs of the class. Their flowers are formed in clusters of six to twelve flowers on a single stem, and of every shade from purest white to deepest orange. The cup of the white varieties is always yellow, and of the yellow, a deep orange. These bulbs flower finely in the window garden, and three or four bulbs can be grown in a small pot. The Double Narcissus is very desirable for its perfect flower and spicy fragrance. They all require the same treatment as Hyacinths, and should be planted four inches deep, and set out in clumps, ten inches apart.
_Anemones._
These are very lovely bulbs; their colors are gorgeous, and the markings, belts and stripes very charming. Double and single are both beautiful. The bulbs are tender in our north countries, and can be kept in the house until spring, in a dry, cool place, and set out as soon as the ground is well thawed. In mild climates they can be planted in October or November. They bloom after the earlier bulbs are gone, and their flowers last a long time. When the leaves turn yellow, take up the roots, dry in the shade, and pack away in sand until autumn.
_The Lily of the Valley_
Must not be forgotten among Spring Flowering Bulbs, though her roots partake more of the nature of small, thin tubers. She hangs her pearly bells like so many fragrant censers, and is ever welcome and ever lovely--a true home flower, sanctified to many hearts by both festive and funeral occasions. No garden is complete without a bed of them!
There are both double and single varieties, but the latter are the most common. These sweet flowers require no care, will bloom for years in the same bed, and throw out their pure white tuberous roots far into the pathways. They love the shade, and flourish best in an out-of-the-way corner, where the soil is moist and rich. Are perfectly hardy, requiring no protection in the coldest winter. There is no bulb that flourishes so perfectly under neglect; and no flower which is more perfect in form and fragrance.
_The Ranunculus._
There are two kinds of these bulbs--the Double Persian, and the Turban; they form a fine contrast when planted together. They require a rich soil, at least a foot and a half in depth of friable, rich earth; that taken from a marshy wood--deep and dark, and mixed with very old decomposed manure--is the best for them. They need to be frequently watered; drought will kill their blossoms, and they are too tender to endure the cold of northern winters, but must be kept in dry sand, and planted out three inches deep, early in the spring. The hot sun will fade out their bright colors, so it is best to plant them in the shade.
Ixias, Scillas, Irises, Colchicums and Crown Imperials are all good border plants, and add variety to a bed of bulbous roots.
Generally, any well-drained garden soil will answer for them; if clay, a good sprinkling of sand, and a top dressing of well decayed manure will make them bloom more freely.