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Show 1 How To Have Lots Of Color In Spring There is one hard-and-fast I rule about spring-flowering bulbs: they must be planted in the fall. By interplanting groups of early, mid and late flowering Dutch varieties, you can create a parade of spring color that lasts for months. FIRST TO flower -- sometimes some-times as early as February --are --are the bright yellow winter aconite, pure white snowdrops, snow-drops, and blue and white glory-of-the-snow. They're soon followed by purple, blue, white and yellow crocuses. By mid-March, daffodils come into view. Their trumpets trum-pets may not blare, but their colors are a feast for the eye. They range from bright red to apricot, salmon and shell pink, perched above skirts of ivory, yellow and gold petals. SOON THE heady fragrance of Duth hyacinth is in the air. Though they are known primarily pri-marily for their many shades of blue, hyacinths are available in pastel shades of yellow, pink, rose and white. Plant them in formal rows along walkways, or in clusters across the lawn. Every parade must have a "queen," and in the parade of breathtaking spring color, the tulip reigns supreme. Large-cupped Large-cupped Fosterina and Kauf-manniana Kauf-manniana tulips generally blossom in early to mid-April. Within weeks, the stately Triumph and hybrid varieties make their appearance, to the applause of all flower-lovers. AND FOR a grande finale in mid to late May, there are flamboyantly-colored and fringed Parrot tulips, and graceful, lily-flowered tulips. Tulips are a tough act to follow, fol-low, but the late-blooming allium manages to steal the show season after season. This spectacular, purple-globed ornamental onion frequently grow s to heights of 45 inches or more. WHEN YOU put your bulbs in the ground this fall, plant tulips, daffodils, hyacinths and other large bulbs 8 inches deep and 6 inches apart. Smaller blubs can be planted 5 inches deep and 3 inches apart. Keep the soil moist and cover with a layer of mulch for winter. Then sit back and wait for the spring parade of color to begin. Fresh bulbs from Holland are now at nurseries and garden gar-den centers throughout the country. |