XX RIVERSIDE LETTERS 153 



keep the cold out of the little greenhouse 

 for so long a period. 



My alstroemerias, of which I am very 

 proud, are pushing through the ground as 

 vigorously as ever, though the beds in which 

 they grow were, first of all, for a week or 

 more three feet under the flood-water, and 

 after that, in the winter, frozen nearly solid 

 for a month at least. These Peruvian lilies, 

 as they are sometimes called, are generally 

 supposed to be rather delicate and tender, 

 but I am now convinced that, provided they 

 are let alone, they will survive any weather. 

 They must, however, be grown from seed, 

 doing best with me when self-sown. Most 

 people try to establish them from seedlings, 

 which they buy in pots, but alstrcemerias 

 scarcely ever succeed in this way, the fact 

 being that they will not stand transplanting, 

 for their roots are long and hair-like, and the 

 least damage to these injures the plant fatally. 

 These plants just suit my " let things alone " 

 style of gardening and thrive amazingly, 



