The bulbs of both tuberoses and gladiolus should be taken out of the ground in the Fall after the foliage becomes yellow. The stems are cut off and the bulbs dried on an airy shelf, or any place which is neither very warm nor very cold. They are set in the ground again in the Spring.
Cannas and dahlias grow from fleshy roots and are planted in the Spring also. They are lifted and dried in the Fall.
If your garden space is small, the following selection of bulbous plants will give a great deal of enjoyment:
Hardy Bulbs for a Small Garden
- 6 Snowdrops
- 6 Grape Hyacinths (2 white, 4 blue)
- 6 Emperor Daffodils
- 6 Poet’s Narcissus (Pheasant’s Eye)
- 6 Early Single Tulips
- 12 Darwin Tulips (3 each, of four different colors)
- 3 Spanish Iris
- 6 German Iris
Growing Bulbs Indoors
It is very interesting and delightful to grow bulbs indoors, where the warmth “forces” them into bloom in the cold winter months. If they are managed in the right way, you may have blooms from Christmas on. Do not attempt to have over a half dozen pots the first year.
Bulbs may be grown indoors in pots or in prepared fibre, which may be bought of a dealer.
If grown in pots, prepare a rich soil of sand and leaf mold. If impossible to get leaf mold, use a sprinkling of bone meal. Place some pieces of broken flower pots or pebbles in the bottom of the pots to drain the water off, or the bulbs will mold.