GARDEN FLOWERS. 117 



rain is over the blossoms open as bright as if there had been no 

 rain, and seem to look with surprise on their bedraggled neighbors. 

 Last summer I bedded out about fifty varieties, amongst them 

 Pearcei, which I had never seen outside the greenhouse. I never saw 

 such fine plants of that variety. The}^ were literally covered with 

 the lovely blossoms, which stood well above the handsome foliage. 

 I cannot see wh}^ this class of begonias is not more generally 

 grown for bedding purposes, except that they are rather new. I 

 protected mine with newspapers and cloth until the last week in 

 October. Then I lifted them in boxes and let them ripen off. 

 The tubers maj' be kept in sand during the winter, being ex- 

 amined once in a while to see that they do not get so dry as to 

 wither, or so wet from any cause as to decay. In the spring they 

 may be planted quite close together in a box of earth, where they 

 will start without anj' heat. As I said before, they will stand a 

 great deal of cold. We all remember the hard frost the latter part 

 of last May. I trembled for my begonias, which had been planted 

 out only a few days before. I had protected them with flower- 

 pots from the sun in the hottest part of the day and from an}' 

 change that might occur at night. Over these I put some carpet- 

 ing, and the}' were not affected in the least by the extreme cold. 

 I speak of my experience thus minutel}' to show how valuable I 

 consider them for bedding. Another important fact is that they 

 commence to bloom when quite small, and flower without inter- 

 mission through the season. 



I cannot stop to enumei'ate the annuals, biennials, and greenhouse 

 plants, that help make up our gardens, nor shall I touch on shrubs, 

 as the}' form a subject by themselves. 



It seems as though some new plague in the way of disease, 

 worm, or bug made its appearance every year. The last two 

 years have been no exception. I thought last year that I had 

 every worm or insect injurious to plant-life, known or unknown, 

 in my garden. 1883 brought the aphis on 'lilies, which in many 

 instances destroyed them entirely. Last season I determined to 

 experiment with tobacco water. I have several beds of lilies, 

 comprising perhaps twenty-five varieties. One bed I mulched 

 about three inches thick witii tobacco stems that had been steeped 

 to syringe rose bushes. I threw them wet about the stalks and 

 let them remain through the season. Although the plants were 

 perfectly covered with the pests the previous season none came 

 last year. The others were as bad as they could be, and I doubt 



