226 THE PRACTICAL GARDEN -BOOK 



frost. If any danger of frost is feared they may be lifted 

 into pots or boxes and taken into the house, when they will 

 bloom without a check. As with other bulbs, a sandy soil 

 will suit. 



Tuberous Begonia. A large bed of these covered 



with crimson, pink, white, or yellow flowers, ranging from 

 2 to 4 and even 6 inches in diameter, some double, some 

 single, is a striking sight. Yet such a sight is not uncom- 

 mon about the large eastern cities where the Tuberous Be- 

 gonia is now used somewhat for bedding. 



Our interior summers are more trying, and so far, few in 

 the west have succeeded so well with the Tuberous Begonia 

 as a bedding plant. It makes a fine summer-blooming pot- 

 plant, however, for the greenhouse or window, and with due 

 attention to its requirements, it may be used as a bedding 

 plant. It properly falls under greenhouse plants in its re- 

 quirements. 



C. L. Allen, writing of its culture in his work on "Bulbs 

 and Tuberous-Rooted Plants," says: "The principal point 

 learned in regard to its culture is, that it must be treated as 

 a plant and not as a bulb. The enthusiastic florist, seeing 

 the many good qualities of the plant, has 

 led amateurs to believe it could be treated 

 as a bulb, and planted out in the same man- 

 ner as the gladiolus or tigridia and kept 

 dormant during the winter in the same 

 manner. This is a great mistake, as the 

 tubers will not endure as long a period of 

 rest and cannot be exposed to the air for a 

 long time without seriously injuring their 

 Double Tuberous Begonia vitality. The tubers must be kept in dry 

 earth or sand, until they show signs of growth, which will 

 be not later than the first of March; then they may be 

 started into rapid growth. After the eyes are fully developed 

 the tubers may be divided : each eye will make a plant. 

 Then they are treated in all respects like greenhouse plants, 



