Anemones give beautiful winter blossoms and require practically the same treatment as Hyacinths. The bulbs are placed an inch and a half below the surface. They are queer, shrivelled-up little things, with roots which fill up surprisingly after being in the damp soil. When up and growing they require abundant water and sunshine. Keep the saucer full of water all the time; failure in this respect means blasted buds. As Anemones give a succession of flowers they must be left in the window until through blooming. Tulips, Crocus, and Scillas should be potted and placed out of doors where they will not be disturbed, covered with earth and left until freezing weather, when they should be stored in the cellar like other bulbs. It is well in placing bulbs out of doors to set the pots in beds of coal-ashes to prevent the entrance of worms into the soil. They may be covered with ashes instead of earth, the object being to give them the benefit of the frost.
A half dozen Scillas planted in the centre of one of the large round gourds and surrounded with a border of white Crocus makes a very pretty show, and will come into bloom in about three months from the time of planting. The Ornithogalum is an effective flower, and quite sure to bloom, but requires a rather high temperature, as it is of slow development.
Freesia bulbs deteriorate very rapidly once they are out of the ground, and should be ordered early and potted as soon as received. Plant a dozen in a five-or six-inch pot, and set at once in a warm east window, as these do not need to go to the cellar. The leaves and stalks are very tender, and will require support, and this is the greatest objection to the Freesia. Ashes in the soil will counteract this tendency somewhat, and the wire carnation supports are very neat and satisfactory.
Alliums, which have the same defects, require the same treatment.
The varieties of Oxalis are usually started in a sunny window, as they require a strong light. Like the summer bloomers, they increase rapidly and need considerable root room. The Bermuda Oxalis is lovely in a gourd hanging-basket; indeed, a hanging-basket, or bracket, is the only suitable arrangement for it, as it loves to droop and spread itself, and requires abundant room for its wealth of golden flowers. When through blooming it should be allowed to ripen its foliage. It may then be set in the cellar, or a cool place, until September, when the bulbs should be shaken out of the pot and repotted; one bulb to a four-inch pot.
Bulbs of hardy plants may be ripened off, and in the spring planted out in the open ground, where they will bloom the following spring, but are valueless for forcing in the house.
Chapter EIGHTEEN
Hardy Shrubs and Plants for Fall Planting
In some localities, especially in the South, the practice of setting out hardy plants in the fall has much to commend it. The mild winters, during which growth is never entirely checked, allow the plants to fully establish themselves; but in the Northern States, where the severe winters set in early and last long, the plants do not become sufficiently established to stand the severe cold followed by the hot summer. They sometimes live through the one only to succumb to the other.
Plants moved from one part of the grounds to another will frequently winter-kill, while those left undisturbed will be found in excellent condition in the spring. Again, a plant may come through the winter in apparently good condition, but without sufficient vitality to withstand any severe heat or drought, and failure to recognise this condition results in loss. Plants transplanted in the fall, however hardy their character, should receive particular care during the following summer in the matter of water, cultivation, and mulching. Plants transplanted at any time of year will do better if the top growth is reduced by trimming or cutting back, and all broken or injured roots removed with a sharp knife.
Spring-planted shrubs rarely fail to do well if the precaution is observed of moving them while dormant. The only exception I need to mention being the various Irises when purchased from florists. These, being dug in the fall, and kept in cold storage during winter, have their vitality much depleted by spring, and are then of doubtful value. This is especially true of the Japanese Iris; the German and English, being much more hardy, are not so easily injured. Home-grown Iris would better be moved in the spring.