242 The American Flower Garden 



root most surely if stuck into sand within the bed s protection; tea- 

 roses and other tender plants may be stored in it all winter; tulips, 

 narcissus, hyacinths and freesias will bloom before Easter if the 

 bulbs are planted in the bed before Christmas. 



A coldframe differs from an old, spent &quot;hotbed&quot; in that 

 it never has had manure below the soil to supply heat. Frost 

 is kept out by a frame of boards to which sashes are fitted. This 

 is placed directly on the ground no foundation walls being 

 necessary over a bed of prepared earth. Night covers of 

 carpet, matting or quilts laid over the glass are kept on during 

 severely cold days, also; and manure or earth is banked around 

 the outside of the frame where it rises above the surface of the 

 ground. Nothing that cannot survive a touch of frost should 

 ever be trusted to a coldframe. 



Tender annuals like the warmth-loving portulaca may not 

 be transplanted from the hotbed, nor their seeds sown in the 

 open garden until the ground is thoroughly warmed. Half- 

 hardy annuals, such as the deliciously fragrant tobacco, the asters 

 and petunias, may go out as soon as all danger from frost is over 

 about the middle of May in the vicinity of New r York when 

 their seed, also, may be sown in the open ground; whereas the 

 hardier annuals, among which are included feverfew, stock, 

 marigolds, calendula, bachelor s buttons, calliopsis, poppies and 

 zinnias, need not wait for fully settled weather. Indeed, many 

 seeds of hardy annuals you will find have lived out through the 

 winter where they were scattered in the garden by the parent 

 plants the year before, and these self-sown seedlings will need 

 rearranging early in the spring if the garden is not to look unkempt. 

 Wet the plants before and after moving them at evening or on 

 a cloudy day, and protect them from the sun with inverted 



