“Let me dig,” Jane demanded, after the first bulb had been planted and covered with soil. “It takes you too long, Vevi.”
“I’ll hand you the bulbs,” Vevi offered, willing enough to turn the harder job over to her friend.
Jane dug a series of small holes all around the circular bed. She worked fast and spaced them evenly.
“Now hand me the bulbs one at a time,” she instructed.
Vevi dumped them all out of the bag. From the very bottom of the canvas sack out tumbled a handful of small gray, greasy appearing pellets.
“What are those?” Connie demanded curiously.
Picking up one of the hard, round pieces, she rubbed it between her fingers.
“It must be fertilizer,” Vevi declared. “Put one in with each tulip bulb.”
Jane followed instructions, carefully pressing a pellet at the base of each bulb. There were not enough of them to finish the task. The last of the bulbs had to be planted without the “fertilizer.”
“There! That’s done,” Jane said in relief when the last bulb had been firmly covered with earth. “I’m tired too! My legs feel as if they will drop off.”