CROCUS

This brilliant harbinger of spring will thrive in any soil or situation,

but to be brought to the highest possible perfection it should be grown

in an open bed or border of deep, rich, dry sandy loam. The bulbs should

be planted during September, October, and November. If kept out of the

ground after the end of the year they will be seriously damaged, and

however carefully planted, will not flower in a satisfactory manner.

Plant three inches deep in lines, clumps, or masses, as taste may

suggest, putting the bulbs two inches apart. If convenient, let them

remain undisturbed two or three years, and then take them up and plant

again in well-prepared and liberally manured soil. A bed of mixed

Crocuses has a pleasing appearance, but in selecting bulbs for the

geometric garden it is more effective to employ distinct colours,

reserving the yellow for the exterior parts of the design to define its

boundaries, and using the blue and the white in masses and bands

within. In districts where sparrows attack the flowers, they may be

deterred from doing mischief by stretching over the beds a few strands

of black thread, which will not interfere with the beauty of the

display, and will terrify the sparrows for a sufficient period to save

the flowers.



The named varieties are invaluable for pot and frame culture, and to

force for decorative purposes; for though the individual flowers are

short-lived, the finest bulbs yield a long succession of bloom, and in

character Crocuses are quite distinct from all other flowers of the same

early season. When grown in pots and baskets, the bulbs should be placed

close together to produce a striking effect. A light, rich soil is

desirable, but they may be flowered in a mixture of charcoal and moss,

or in fibre, or moss alone. When required in quantity for ornamental

baskets and similar receptacles, it is wise to plant them in shallow

boxes filled with rotten manure and leaf-mould, and to lift them out

separately, and pack them when in flower in the ornamental baskets. A

perfect display of flowers in precisely the same stage of development

can thus be secured, and successional displays may follow as long as

supplies remain in the boxes.