es, and all of them are
exceedingly beautiful. Two kinds should be in all gardens--the white
Madonna lily, and the orange tiger lily. All the bulbs that have been
mentioned cost very little and can be grown very simply. And all bulbs
that have been mentioned can remain untouched for many years unless
they exhaust the soil around them (when, instead of increasing as they
should each year, the plants become poorer and smaller).

Never move a bulb when it is in active growth: after the leaves have
died down is the right time.

Leaf-mould mixed with your garden soil will help to give you fine
flowers.

If the leaves of the bulbs are attacked by slugs, as they often are,
sprinkle a little wood-ash all around them.

Planting Bulbs

For planting bulbs choose a day when the earth is dry, and make your
holes with a trowel. If you want to make a clump of bulb-plants, take
away the earth to the right depth from the whole area you wish to
fill, place your bulbs in position, points upward, and cover over,
pressing the earth firmly down.

In planting a bulb in a hole made for it by a trowel, be very careful
to see that it is resting on earth, and is not "hung," that is to say,
kept from touching the earth underneath because of the narrowness of
the hole.

All bulbs may be protected during the winter by laying hay or straw
over them. This must be neatly pegged down, and removed in March.

Cutting Leaves

Never cut all the leaves of plants growing from bulbs, but allow those
that are unpicked to die down naturally. If they look very untidy, as
the leaves of the Star of Bethlehem always do, tie them up tightly.
Seeds of annuals can always be sown among bulbs, and they will hide
dying leaves and fill up the places that are left vacant.

Shades

"Shades" are subterranean gardens: holes in the ground, some eighteen
inches deep and about a foot square (or larger), the sides of which
are covered with moss and little ferns. At the bottom you can sink a
pot or a tin, which must always be kept filled with water. It is more
interesting if a toad or a frog lives there. Over the hole stands a
shade made of glass and wood, which, together with the water, keeps it
cool and moist.

Kitchen Gardens

If you want to grow other things besides flowers, lettuces, radishes,
and mustard and cress are interesting to raise. Strawberries, too, are
easy to cultivate, but they need some patience, as the first year's
growth brings very f