88 A GARDEN DIARY 



JANUARY 20, 1900 



r I ""HE wind this morning was excruciatingly 

 -* cold, with a hungry whistle, that belied 

 the pale sunrays, which were doing their best 

 to redeem the situation. On such a morning 

 the good gardener's thoughts, even before going 

 out, fly to the younger and weaklier amongst 

 his plants, and his imagination towards devising 

 new shelters, and, if possible, more efficient ones. 

 Creepers are, as a rule, easily protected ; either 

 there is a wall, against which mats can be laid, 

 or, at worst, some post that they can be fastened 

 to. It is shrubs in the open that present the 

 greatest difficulty ; nightcaps of sacking, or tents 

 of matting not adding to the picturesqueness 

 even of a winter garden. 



Our more recently planted rhododendrons look 

 anything but happy, and I have just been begging 

 Cuttle to bestow a good shovelful of nourish- 

 ment about the roots of each of them. It is not 

 protection that they need, for they are hardy 

 enough, but they sicken in this thin, dry soil, 



