244 DECEMBER 



end of the year other plants must take the place 

 of the geranium as a mainstay of the gardener. 

 Nothing is better suited for this purpose than the 

 primula, which is as easy to grow as the geranium, 

 and can be provided in almost equally generous 

 quantities to tide over the season of threatened 

 famine before the succession of bulbs come in, 

 which will be about the middle of January. 

 Cinerarias are almost as useful as primulas, but 

 in a small house very few can be maintained, as 

 they are worthless unless well grown. It is not 

 generally recognised that cinerarias are admirable 

 for cutting if the flowers are picked before they are 

 expanded to their fullest. I have had them in 

 vases for ten days or 'a fortnight, but it is necessary 

 to change the water every day, and to give them 

 good-sized vases. 



I said in a previous chapter that I would describe 

 the best way to enjoy hardy bulbs in the drawing- 

 room, so I will give my experiences here. 



I had a few Roman hyacinths in bloom at the 

 end of November, but the main supply came in 

 about a fortnight ago. I have a blue basin, in 

 shape and size rather like a shallow wash-basin, 

 but of a good porcelain, and having the design 

 painted all over the outside. It is sixteen inches 

 in diameter, and holds about eighteen or twenty 

 bulbs. We first fill the basin half full of sand, 

 then dig up with great care from the box of 

 hyacinths all those bulbs whose flowers are on the 

 point of expanding. The roots are preserved as 

 nearly intact as possible, and are dipped in luke- 

 warm water to cleanse them from the soil, before 



