222 GA RDENING BY M YSELF. 



S-iicl in New York, that the double Neapo- 

 litans would not bloom south of Twentieth 

 street for love or money. 



Then winter roses. If you can keep a set 

 of them in pots through the summer, or even 

 from the early fall, giving them the best of 

 ca.e and attention, so that the pots will be 

 full of working roots, i. c, the little white, ten- 

 der rootlets which are the very power of a 

 working plant ; and if you can give the 

 roses abundant moisture overhead, and 

 50° by night and 65°-7o° by day, — and if 

 you have the right kinds, — then you may 

 have plenty of bloom all winter. 



If this is not possible for you, as it rarely 

 is for me, then be content with substitutes. 

 Take forget-me-nots, when the violets fail ; 

 and when those pass away, enjoy the beauty 

 of your blue lobelias. And for the roses, — 

 3^ou must learn to love even the leafless 

 twigs, and to wait. Bulbs will give you 

 colour, and sedums will give you soft green 

 to contrast with your darker ivy ; and 

 Solanum jasminoides will climb over your 



