Bulb Garden On Page at www.japanese-home-gardens.com

Peacock orchids (Acidanthera bicolor) have a wonderful and sweet fragrance which is present all day and then intensifies at night. They are described in the bulb garden on page 52. The cruel plant (Araujia sericofera) comes from Brazil and Argentina and is hardy only from Zone 9 and south. Everywhere else it does well in a 10-inch pot filled with a mix of good potting soil and composted manure, 2/3 to 1/3. Pots should contain a trellis or be near one, for Araujia is a climber. Seed germination takes three to six weeks and seedlings will bloom about ten months later. And it's the bloom that is the most interesting feature of this unusual plant. Starry, creamy white, 1 1/2-inch flowers use their sweet scent to attract the nocturnal moths from the garden. Once lured to the flowers the moths are trapped in the sticky pollen.

As the ribbon moves along, a mold with a wet charcoal lining, traveling at the same speed, closes about the glass gob and tiny air pumps come into position over the mold at the same time. As the glass continues to move along, the pumps blow a progressively stronger current of air into the bulb and the mold revolves around it, insuring a bulb of uniform thickness and size. At the right instant, the Pump lifts and the mold parts and falls away, leaving the finished bulb hanging from the belt. Then a small hammer automatically strikes a light blow near the point of contact of the bulb and the steel belt, and the bulb breaks away.

Lilium formosanum blossom from mid- to late September 6-inch flowers of white on 4- to 6-foot stems. Although open ar fragrant during the day, their perfume is stronger at night. They are i described in the Bulb Garden on page 56. Evening stock (Matthiola longipetala) is a straggly, hardy annual! that either falls along the ground or stands up to 12 inches. In spring] sow the seeds directly where you want the plants—they are also fine j in pots—and about six weeks later be prepared for a big surprise, ; These flowers, uninspiring by day, open to pink or purple fours petalled stars at dusk. Their sweet vanilla-like odor is so strong that it] would seem only a much larger flower could scent the night so much.!