THE SELECTION OF BULBS.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXII, Issue XIV, 8 April 1899, Page 464

THE SELECTION OF BULBS.

By

Mrs Gwyn Lewis.

Narcissi, the fairest among them all, Who gaze on their eyes in the stream’s recess. Till they die of their own dear loveliness. Daffodils, narcissi, anti Homeric asphodels—they are one and the same, after all. Beautiful they are, exceedngly, and profitable, too, from the point of view of decorative value within doors and without.

A bed of narcissus flowers, of golden daffodils — there is not a finer sight in all the pageant of the year; rich golden yellow and creamy white —how delicious! A big china bowl tilled with them bravely upstanding, bringing into the warmed air of the dwelling the fresh, tonic savour of the early spring—can you beat it? But then to have this fine flowerbed, this delicious bank of blossom, this brave bowl of spring delight, one must choose warily, with the knowledge that comes of experience. For example, one plants a bed of daffodils ami pots up narcissi with due consideration of their colouring, size, and beauty generally, waiting with serenity for the blossoming together of these flowers in amiable company. Alas, for the disappointment that too often results! It frequently happens that half the carefully-planted flowers are out of blossom, or certainly past their prime, before the rest are fairly open. There is a time for everything, as we all well know, and the time for bulb planting is certainly not yet at- hand; but bulb catalogues are falling around me as thickly as leaves in Vallombrosa, and in the selecting of varieties from these catalogues, and the placing of orders therefrom in the hands of the sellers, there is never any time to be lost. 1 am assured that orders are booked in rotation, and sent out accordingly. So, as it is always well to plant bulbs as soon as the growers are willing to send them out, in order that they may make some root-growth upon which to live during the rigours of winter, these few hints as to selection are not untimely after all. It is well, when making arrangements hopefully for a show of early bulbs, to know' beforehand what varieties flower simultaneously and remain in flower for an equal period of time. Thus it comes to pass that I offer the result of my own personal observation.

In looking over a good bulb list there is, among the narcissi, almost an embarras de choix, almost an unending variety, and all are suited to either the mixed border, the spring bed of daffodils, or to the shrubbery, where many a dreary bit may be lighted up with the golden glint of these delightful flowers; many a spot where deciduous bushes are gaunt and bare before the brown bracts open and liberate the leafy beauty of the later year.

Here are the narcissi. I would plant, as soon as 1 could get them, for my good contentment next spring: — First, by divine right of bulk, to sav nothing of beauty, must come the absolutely incomparable Sir Watkin. a magnificent flower, the largest of all the •incomparable’ section, with blossoms sJin. in diameter. The perianth is bright sulphur yellow, the cup golden, tinged with deep orange near the margin. I yearn for acres of this variety .

Narcissus incomparabilis albus aurantias plenus is the peculiar form of ostentation the old orange phoenix -—or. to give it a still homelier name, eggs and bacon —chooses so grandiloquently to assume in the lists of the catalogues. Its large flower, with white petals and orange nectary is too well known to need another

word from me. But it should not be left out of the order, for it is one of the best.

Another old favourite, butter and eggs, must be called incomparabilis aurantius flore pleno, whilst codlins and cream poses as incomparabilis sulphureus flore pleno; the ample double primrose flowers of the former, and the immense double blossoms of the latter, of soft primrose yellow, changing to pure white, are in themselves the most perfect posy. Horsfeldi bicolor is a very large and beautiful flower with a white perianth and a rich yellow trumpet. Emperor has large petals of soft but bright yellow, broad in shape and wonderfully firm in texture, with an enormous tube of deep and brilliant colour, inclining to orange. Golden Spur and Henry Irving are both selfcoloured flowers; the first golden yellow, and the other rather deeper in shade—both lovely and desirable flowers.

All these will come to bright perfection together, and are as fitted for green-house culture as for growing in the open air, where they will ‘Come before the swallow dares, And take the winds of March with beauty.’ They are tall-stemmed, showy flowers, and are never seen to such advantage in the garden as when they are planted in sheets and colonies, just as Nature grows them.

Here are three dwarf varieties of very characteristic and differing growth. Bulbocodium is the flower that is commonly called the hoop petticoat. It is very fascinating when grown as a pot flower, but is equally desirable where low-growing colour is wanted in the borders. Moschatus is white, long-flowered, and white and primrose tinctured. One of its chief charms is its delicate, musky scent, very peculiar and pleasing. Triandus is a soft yellow flower, with petals reflexed like a cyclamen —quite unique; and I must close my list with Juneifolius. a yellow, rush -leaved species, very dwarf, and suitable for an edging or for rock work. In conclusion, I pray you of your charity to plant these bulbs, where it is possible, in some position where they may remain undisturbed for several years, as they are all of the kind that come to stay.