FEBRUARY 305 



until after Christmas, and are all the better for it. 

 When they go out of flower they will be planted 

 in the borders, and after they have recovered 

 themselves a little they will begin again to bloom, 

 and will continue decorative all through the 

 summer. So I am able without much effort to 

 persuade myself that it was right to grow them, 

 for they give better and longer results than almost 

 any other plants of my acquaintance. 



Another thing which is at its best is the spirea 

 longifolia, which also for a time received cold-frame 

 treatment, and is now a mass of feathery whiteness. 

 It will last in good condition in the drawing-room 

 for six weeks or more, and is a great improvement 

 on the older forms of this plant. My cyclamens 

 are an unmitigated failure, as they never show a 

 a mass of blooms at one time, and although some- 

 thing may be attributed to incorrect treatment last 

 summer, I am inclined to think that the corms are 

 getting too old to give the best results, and I shall 

 buy some fresh seedlings from a good strain next 

 August. 



Most persons are fond of dahlias and salvia 

 patens, and it will soon be time to propagate these, 

 if the stock is to be increased. If the roots are 

 started in heat they will throw up cuttings which 

 will be good flowering plants next summer. The 

 old stools have been kept through the winter in 

 the cellar. The gathering together of plants and 

 bulbs from various places of safety in the spring, 

 by a gardener who is short of glasshouse room, 

 partakes of the nature of the prophetic gathering 

 together of the dry bones of Scripture. They 



