dry and free from frost. It may be kept alive in a dry room ; in a dark cellar ; 

 under the stage of the greenhouse; in cold pits or frames, without any covering; 

 or even will keep alive if buried under a heap of coal-ashes. It is easily propa- 

 gated ; every cutting will grow if taken off very young, planted in sand, and 

 placed in gentle heat, under a hand-glass. Then, again, it may be planted out 

 as early as May, and will flower till frost comes. It grows dense, and flowers 

 most profusely, producing its coral-like blossoms most constantly. Surely, all 

 these good qualities ought to induce flower-gardeners to patronize and cultivate 

 this charming plant more than they do. The fact, however, is, that varieties are 

 planted out that are utterly unfit for that purpose. Because a variety, grown in 

 a pot in the greenhouse, produces there extraordinary flowers, it is thought fit for 

 the flower-bed. It is then planted out and fails, flowering only for a short time. 

 ISTow, to plant such large-flowering varieties not only leads to disappointment, but 

 throws a slur upon the Fuchsia that it does not deserve. These ideas frequently 

 passed through my mind when customers came in for bedding-plants, and almost 

 invariably passed by the Fuchsias, because, they said, they did not flower enough. 

 What a mistaken idea 1 Choose the right varieties for bedding, and no plant 

 — no, none whatever — flowers more freely. 



I have seen Fuchsias in the open air, with stems as thick as my wrist, and 

 higher than any man I ever saw, as full of flowers as ever you saw an Oak-tree 

 full of leaves ; and I did not travel into their native country, the mountains of 

 Chili, to meet with such splendid specimens. No ; I only crossed the sea from 

 Fleetwood, in Lancashire, to Belfast, in Ireland. There, in a garden at Holly- 

 wood, I saw Fuchsia coccinea, F. cornea, F. fulgens, and F. macrostemon, of 

 immense size, growing in the open air constantly. It is true that locality is near 

 the sea, and, consequently, the frosts are neither severe nor lasting ; but that says 

 nothing ; such plants could be kept alive in any cultivated part of Great Britain 

 with such protection as I have mentioned above. 



In the warmer parts of Britain, the Fuchsia will live out constantly, though, in 

 severe winters, it will generally be cut down to the ground ; therefore I would 

 recommend them always to be taken up and stowed away, in preference to leaving 

 them in the ground ; and for these reasons — they are not sure to survive a very 

 hard frost. If they do, they form such rank bushes that they are far from being 

 handsome, and, beside that, they do not all grow alike. Whereas, if they arc 

 taken up and stowed away, the ground or beds may be well trenched ; the soil 

 renewed, if necessary, and the plants put out in such positions, according to their 

 strength, that the tallest and strongest will be in the centre of the bed, and the 

 weakest at the sides, so that they will form a kind of amphitheatre of flowers when 

 in bloom, and every plant will be seen. So grown, no plants require less care. 

 They grow thick enough to choke up all weeds. The foliage shades the ground, 

 so that the sun has no power to dry up or parch the land, and they require no 

 water, and are less subject to be preyed upon by insects than any plant I know. \ 

 these hints and praises, which, I trust, will induce many to try Fuchsias 



