Page:Every Woman's Encyclopedia Volume 1.djvu/462

 440 WOMAN IN HER GARDEN This section will give information on gardening topics which will be of value to all women — the woman who lives in town, the woman who lives in the country, irrespective of whether she has a large or small purse at her disposal. The range of subjects will be very wide and will include : Practical Articles on Horticul- ture Flower Growing for Profit Violet Farms French Gardens The Vegetable Garden Nature Gardens Water Gardens The Window Garden Famous Gardens of England Conservatories Frames Bell Glasses Greenhouses Vineries, etc., etc. GROWING BULBS i: By HELEN COLT, F.RH.S. Different Ways of Growing Bulbs in Bowls — How to Plant — How to Tend the Flowers — What to Do with the Bulbs when Flowering Ceases pEW forms oi amateur gardening have ^ become so popular of recent years as the practice of growing bulbs indoors. This is chiefly owing to the fact that the use of ordinary fiower-pots, soil, and drainage can be dispensed with. The bulbs can be brought to perfection in the dwelling-room, planted in tasteful bowls of pulp or china- ware. How to Plant A peck of cocoa-nut fibre — or moss hbre, where preferred — will fill half a dozen or more bovvfls of average size. Moisten the fibre till it is in the right con- dition for use — do not let it be too wet — and put enough at the bottom of the bowls to make it pos- sible for the bulbs to stand with their tips just above the surface. Mix a few knobs of charcoal with the fibre to keep it sweet, and pack the compost firmly around the bulbs, leaving a margin of three- quarters of an inch or so at the top. The bulbs should not touch each other in the bowl. A bowl eight inches in diameter will look at- tractive when filled with six early Roman hyacinths, while three large hyacinths will make up a pretty bowl of the same size. Cream pots are suitable for simple table decoration, planted thickly with snowdrops S^^^i^'"'" ""^"'"^ or with a big tulip in each, and filled up to the brim with fresh green moss. Another way of growing bulbs is by the - use of shell gravel, or even pebbles from the garden path, if washed and sifted. Coarse silver sand can also be used, or the bulbs may be grown simply in damp moss (with charcoal). When hyacinths are set in glasses, the water in the glasses should be kept so as just to clear the base of the bulb, and a few knobs of charcoal should be placed in the glasses also. The Chinese sacred lily (Good Luck lily, or joss flower) can be grow^n simply by standing it in an inch depth of wet pebbles at the bottom of a shallow bowl. Root Formation If it can be managed, the bulbs may be stood out of doors on a bed of coal-ashes, and covered with a thick layer of cocoa- nut fibre or ashes. If this is done, they will require no water until it is time to bring them indoors. Again, they may be placed in a cold frame or put in an outhouse, but under these circumstances will need water occasion- ally. The most usual method for amateurs, however, is to put the bulbs in a dry and airy cupboard or cellar, f„„, • u I free from blackbeetles and frecsia can be grown in bowls. ^,, i j u Messrs. yas. Carter &■ Co. TCilCQ. They ShOuld haVC a