Bulbs

Bulbs are brilliant for growing in pots and boxes, here are some all time favorites:

Agapanthus or Blue Lily of the Nile. Fleshy-rooted evergreen plant, with strap leaves, often grown in tubs and urns on terraces and steps during the summer, when the tall blue spikes unfold. Culture is easy, but plants require a well-lighted, frost proof room or greenhouse in winter.

This is an old-time favorite, often seen in gardens of Europe.

Calla Lily. Showy, hardy outdoors in warmer regions, but a tender pot plant in the North. Most familiar is the white one with large, shiny, heart-shaped leaves. Start bulbs indoors in February or March in rich soil and, when weather settles, transfer to large pots and take outdoors. Calla lilies do well in full sun or part shade, are heavy feeders and need much water. There is also a dainty yellow with white-spotted leaves. Rest bulbs after foliage ripens and grow again.

Dahlias. Colorful and free-flowering, they provide bounteous cut blooms. Tall, large-flowering kinds can be grown only in large planters and boxes, but the dwarfs, even freer flowering, are excellent in small containers.

Attaining one to two feet tall, they grow easily from tubers in average soil in sun or part shade. They may also be raised from seed sown indoors in February. If tubers are stored in peat or sand in a cool, frost proof place, they can be grown for years. Check bulbs during winter, and if shriveling, sprinkle lightly.

Gladiolus. Summer-flowering with spear like leaves and many hued spikes. Corms can be planted in containers outdoors after danger of frost is passed. Set them six inches apart and four to six inches deep. If several containers are planted every two to three weeks, there will be a succession of bloom.

Stake stems before flowers open. After the leaves turn brown, or there is a frost, lift corms, cut off foliage and dust with DDT to control thrips. Store corms in a dry place at 45 to 55 degrees F. Gloxinias. Summer-flowering and tender with large, tubular blooms of red, pink, lavender, purple, or white, and broad velvety rosettes of leaves. Start tubers indoors and don't take outside until weather is warm. Since the leaves are easily broken or injured by wind or rain, put plants in a sheltered spot. The low broad eaves of contemporary houses, with restricted sun, offer an appropriate setting for rows of pots or window boxes filled with gay gloxinias.

Lilies. Gorgeous and hardy, with blooms in many colors. It is now possible to have a lily container garden, with flowers from May to frost. Open the season with the dainty Lilium pumilum and continue with madonnas, Golden Chalice hybrids, Olympic hybrids, auratums, and specios-ums. Lilies can be planted in fall, like daffodils and tulips, and they will also flower from bulbs set out in early spring. In cold regions, the rules for Dutch bulbs outdoors in winter apply also to lilies, which do well in large planters, two feet wide and two feet deep. Group several of one variety for a good effect. Plant smaller sizes in individual six or eight inch pots to be wintered in cold frames. Plant larger sizes in eight or ten inch pots. After flowering put containers out of sight while stalks ripen.
Nurserymen and florists offer pot-grown lilies in early spring ready to plant in containers without disturbance of roots. Try combining several in large containers, with English ivy, vinca, grape ivy, dwarf annuals, or other low plants for softening effects. After flowering, bulbs can be planted in the garden, grown again in containers or given to friends.

Tuberose. Tender and summer-flowering with narrow foliage and tall spikes of single or double white flowers, fragrant and long-lasting. Where seasons are short, bulbs are best started indoors six to eight weeks before planting outdoors. Plant in six-inch pots and feed with liquid fertilizer. Tuberoses need a rich, well-drained soil and full sun and staking of the tall spike. Since bulbs do not flower well a second year start with fresh stock each spring.