172 raoTECTiox of hale-hardy plants iir winteb. 



non-conducting medium, and the waterproof calico will preserve the whole in a 

 dry state. "With these precautions we fully believe that the Tacsonia will take no 

 harm, even with the thermometer as low as 18° or 20° F ; such of the surface roots 

 as extend beyond the wooden semicircle may perhaps be killed, but the plant itself 

 will not suffer. The Mandevilla may be treated in a similar way, and all other 

 deciduous climbers requiring protection. 



The Habrothamnus will need little more than the covering at the roots we have 

 recommended for the Tacsonia ; on a west wall, where its shoots will receive but 

 little excitement from the sun's rays, this beautiful shrub will bear some degree of 

 frost uninjured, without any protection, especially in dry soils ; some provision 

 should be made, however, for covering it in severe weather, as the flowers are 

 produced at the ends of the branches, and these are precisely the portions of the 

 plant which would first suffer. "We know no better plan of affording this temporary 

 shelter than by placing in front of the plant a frame covered with matting, or old 

 carpeting, and sufficiently large to extend some inches beyond the plant on all 

 sides. 



Such a frame may be made in any style, and with any materials, from smooth 

 deal splines put together secundum artem, to rough poles cut from a coppice, and 

 tied at the corners with strong cord. These last may be made to answer every 

 purpose, and need not be more than one inch in diameter, except for large frames. 

 The size of the frame will, of course, vary with that of the plant to be sheltered ; it 

 will be a good plan to prepare several of them differing in dimensions. One of 

 five or six feet in height, and the same in breadth, will be found very useful, and if 

 made of light poles, will not be too heavy for even a lady to remove. The covering 

 for the frame may be bast-matting, old carpet, floor-cloth, tarred canvass, or, in 

 short, any fabric capable of being securely fastened. The tarred canvass will be 

 found an excellent material, on account of its waterproof qualities, and strips of 

 floor-cloth are equally useful ; but these will need nailing to the frame, and should 

 overlap each other. When placed before the plant, the frame will, of course, be 

 arranged in a^slanting position ; and if necessary, may be secured by a short hooked 

 6take driven into the ground at the foot, and at the top by a staple and cord. 



It will be understood that these frames are only to be employed when frost 

 threatens ; in mild, open weather their use would be injurious to most of the shrubs, 

 and likely to cause a premature growth, which must be carefully guarded against, 

 as much of the success in preserving the more delicate of this class of plants during 

 winter, depends on their energies being kept quite dormant. It is for this reason, 

 that when the shoots are well ripened, they often suffer less in mid-winter than in 

 early spring, when they commence their growth. 



"We have referred only to the Tacsonia and Habrothamnus, but our suggestions 

 are equally applicable to all other wall-plants of a tender character. Armed with a 



