598 Cultivation of Plants. 
7. Culture of Tender Perennial Bedding Plants. 
A garden is scarcely considered furnished during the 
summer months without some Pelargoniums, Calceolarias, 
Verbenas, Heliotropes, Lobelias, Ageratums, Dahlias, and several 
other things. To raise and winter these plants a small green- 
house or warm pit is indispensable. Calceolarias are nearly 
hardy, and cuttings taken early in the autumn and bedded in 
thickly together will throw roots and merely require the pro- 
tection of a frame during winter. Next in point of hardiness 
are the Pelargoniums: these likewise are propagated from 
cuttings in the autumn, either out of doors or cevera] together 
in pans. They may be left in the beds or pans with ample 
protection from frost until the end of February or beginning of 
March, when they should be potted singly to enable them to 
form strong plants. The principal point to guard against during 
the winter, especially if they are stored where the temperature 
is low, is superabundant moisture. The beds: or pans should 
be well drained, and water almost. entirely withheld in severe 
weather. All dead leayes and decaying matter should be 
removed as soon as observed, or the young plants will be liable 
to damp off. Lobelias, as we have already mentioned, are raised 
by preference from seed, which should be sown early in the year. 
Verbenas, Heliotropes, etc., being rapid-growing plants, and 
rather tender, the simplest plan is to store a few old plants 
to obtain cuttings from in the spring. A little more heat 
should be applied about the beginning of Murch to stimulate 
the old plants into making new growth, and as soon as the 
shoots are two or three joints long, they may be taken off and put 
into the cutting pots, a hot-bed having been previously prepared 
for their reception. If healthy, and fhe hot-bed quite sweet, 
they will soon strike, when they should be potted off before the 
roots become matted together. A great deal depends upon 
their being kept free from parasitical vermin and mildew. 
Dahlia tubers should be stowed away in a moderately dry place 
where no frost can reach them. The beginning of March is 
the best time to start them into growth, the more gently the 
better. They are propagated by division of the tubers and 
from cuttings. Our concluding remark is, Do not turn out bed- 
ding plants too early, or without being properly hardened off. 
