Hyacinths should be set eight inches apart in rows and so arranged
that the colors harmonize well. Blue and purple do not form a pretty
contrast, nor red with either of these colors. Nothing can be more
lovely than a combination of yellow and blue ; white and crimson, or
yellow and white. Purple may come with good effect between white
and yellow, and white between red and blue. No collection is complete
without a few single Roman hyacinths, as they are the earliest of all
varieties.
Bulbs, when flowered in the house, should be kept in as cool a room
as possible — a few degrees above freezing will answer. A very satis-
factory way to raise them is this: Take a common, shallow box,
ornament it with sticks or bark, and fill with sandy earth, mixed with
moss finely broken up. Then plant a row or two of crocuses on the
outside and fill up with tulips, narcissus and hyacinths, making a minia-
ture bulb garden. After planting, the whole can be covered with moss,
such as is found on logs in damp woods. The plants will find their
way through the moss. Keep this in a cool room where the plants will
not freeze. As fast as the plants come into flower, take them up and
place in glasses of water, and you can thus keep up a supply for the
parlor or sitting room for a long time.
To grow hyacinths in glasses : First select only dark colors, blue or
red for instance, and those of the long narrow or Belgian pattern in
preference to the more elaborate styles. The hyacinth makes long,
white roots, and to make them quickly and before it starts into leaf
growth, the bulbs, after being either potted or put in the glasses, must
be put entirely in the dark for about six weeks. Always use rain water.
Fill the glasses so that the water will barely touch the bottom of the
bulb. The water should be changed as often as once in three weeks,
using pure rain water of the same temperature as you took them out of.
A piece of charcoal in the water will cause it to keep sweet longer. A
little ammonia dissolved in the water will give the flowers a much
brighter color.
To grow hyacinths in sand, take a soup plate, glass dish, china bowl^
or in fact anything which will retain moisture, and fill it heaping full of
sand. Now push a hyacinth bulb carefully into the center, allowing
the whole bulb to be covered except the crown, and set the vessel con-
taining the bulbs in water for a few minutes to fix them in their places.
Set them away in the dark for a fortnight, and as often as once a week
give the sand a soaking, for it must never be allowed to go dry at any
time.
When hyacinths have finished blooming in glasses, they should be put
PROPAGATING PLANTS. 117
into sandy loam and leaf mold, and watered as long as the leaves
remain green. When the leaves turn yellow, take up the bulbs and put
them where they can get a good deal of sun. All bulbs, except lilies,
can be taken up as soon as the leaves turn ripe and brown. After
taking them up, allow them to dry in the shade for a few days, after
which label carefully and put them away in paper bags in a cool, dry
room until the autumn.
LILIES.
Page 103
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
Hyacinths should be set eight inches apart in rows and so arranged that the colors harmonize well. Blue and purple do not form a pretty contrast, nor red with either of these colors. Nothing can be more lovely than a combination of yellow and blue ; white and crimson, or yellow and white. Purple may come with good effect between white and yellow, and white between red and blue. No collection is complete without a few single Roman hyacinths, as they are the earliest of all varieties.
Bulbs, when flowered in the house, should be kept in as cool a room as possible — a few degrees above freezing will answer. A very satisfactory way to raise them is this: Take a common, shallow box, ornament it with sticks or bark, and fill with sandy earth, mixed with moss finely broken up. Then plant a row or two of crocuses on the outside and fill up with tulips, narcissus and hyacinths, making a miniature bulb garden. After planting, the whole can be covered with moss, such as is found on logs in damp woods. The plants will find their way through the moss. Keep this in a cool room where the plants will not freeze. As fast as the plants come into flower, take them up and place in glasses of water, and you can thus keep up a supply for the parlor or sitting room for a long time.
To grow hyacinths in glasses : First select only dark colors, blue or red for instance, and those of the long narrow or Belgian pattern in preference to the more elaborate styles. The hyacinth makes long, white roots, and to make them quickly and before it starts into leaf growth, the bulbs, after being either potted or put in the glasses, must be put entirely in the dark for about six weeks. Always use rain water. Fill the glasses so that the water will barely touch the bottom of the bulb. The water should be changed as often as once in three weeks, using pure rain water of the same temperature as you took them out of. A piece of charcoal in the water will cause it to keep sweet longer. A little ammonia dissolved in the water will give the flowers a much brighter color.
To grow hyacinths in sand, take a soup plate, glass dish, china bowl^ or in fact anything which will retain moisture, and fill it heaping full of sand. Now push a hyacinth bulb carefully into the center, allowing the whole bulb to be covered except the crown, and set the vessel containing the bulbs in water for a few minutes to fix them in their places. Set them away in the dark for a fortnight, and as often as once a week give the sand a soaking, for it must never be allowed to go dry at any time.
When hyacinths have finished blooming in glasses, they should be put
PROPAGATING PLANTS. 117
into sandy loam and leaf mold, and watered as long as the leaves remain green. When the leaves turn yellow, take up the bulbs and put them where they can get a good deal of sun. All bulbs, except lilies, can be taken up as soon as the leaves turn ripe and brown. After taking them up, allow them to dry in the shade for a few days, after which label carefully and put them away in paper bags in a cool, dry room until the autumn.
LILIES.