Tulips

The richly-painted Tulip is a noble plant for the spring flower border, making grand breaks of colour. The May-bloomers are majestic plants, with thickets of luxuriant leaves, stems nearly as strong as those of Flag Irises, and huge, globular flowers of splendid colour and substance. The Tulip specialist can have some of his favourites in bloom throughout the whole of spring, for the earliest of the dwarf Dutch varieties begin flowering about Easter, and the Darwin and Cottage varieties last till June. There are, too, several pretty species, notably Clusiana, Gesneriana and its varieties (magnificent plants these), Leichtlini, Greigi, Linifolia, Macrospeila, Retroflexa, Sylvestris, and Vitellina. They are all spring bloomers, but the majority flower in May. The Parrot Tulips are a singular class, with their beaklike petals. The "Florist's " Tulips are a dying class; they are handsome flowers, with petals of great substance and beautiful colour-markings, but they are not, as a whole, suitable for giving beautiful blocks of colour, and are scarce and dear. The early Dutch Tulips are the most useful for pots, and they also come in well for beds. The May-bloomers (Darwin and Cottage) are the finest class for borders. The largest of the species, such as Gesneriana, are splendid for groups, but the smaller are best in the rock garden. The Parrots make pretty beds and border groups. The Hyacinth and Daffodil compost will suit pot Tulips perfectly well, and three bulbs per 5-inch pot will be a proper allowance. They should be plunged for a few weeks after potting, like Hyacinths. Early Dutch Tulips are also well adapted for cultivation in vases, like Daffodils, peat-moss fibre and shell being used in place of soil. When grown as garden plants they ought to be put in deep, fertile, friable soil, and covered about three inches deep. If possible, the groups should consist of at least six bulbs each, set nine inches apart. The following are good varieties in the various sections:

The Summer Snowflake, Leucojum aestivum, a charming bulb to plant in autumn.

Early Dwarf Single

Chrysolora, yellow Cottage Maid, pink Duc van Thol, various colours Joost van Vondel, crimson and white Keizer's Kroon, red and yellow Le Reve, pink.

Ophir d'Or, yellow Pink Beauty, pink and white Proserpine, rose, early Thomas Moore, orange Vermilion Brilliant, scarlet White Swan, white.

Early Double

Blanche Hative, white Imperator Rubrorum, scarlet La Candeur, white.

Salvator Rosa, rose Tournesol, red and yellow „ yellow.

Tall Late Single

Billietiana Sunset, red and yellow Clara Butt, pink.

Dainty Maid, scarlet and white Farncombe Sanders, red Gesneriana Spathulata, scarlet Inglescombe Scarlet.

Kern, amethyst.

La Merveille, rose, fragrant.

Mrs. Moon, yellow.

Mrs. Walter Ware, orange.

Picotee, rose, white margin.

Pride of Haarlem, crimson.

Sultan, marone.

Other bulbs and tubers worth growing are Allium Neapolitanum (garden), Amaryllis Belladonna (Belladonna Lily - garden), Colchicum (Meadow Saffron - garden), Dog's - Tooth Violets (rockery), Fritillaria (Snake's-head Lily - garden), Galtonia or Hyacinthus Candicans (garden), Gladiolus Colvellei Alba (pots) and G. Brenchleyensis (garden), Ixias (pots), Lachenalias (hanging baskets), Ornithogalum (Star of Bethelem - garden), Ranunculuses (garden - plant in February), Sparaxis (pots), Sternbergia (garden or rockery), Trigridias (garden), Wood Lily (Trillium - shady spot in the garden), Tropoeolums (garden), and Tuberoses (pots).