LATER FLOWERS 



October we lift them from the large jars and pots 

 separately; then into the west end of the dining- 

 room a low window of seven lights they come, 

 where they stand on shallow zinc trays with tiny 

 drain-pipes at either end. Every visible leaf is 

 stripped from each plant, and for the summer's 

 beauty we live with these skeletons for six or seven 

 weeks in their stark condition. The worst is that 

 we breakfast, lunch, and dine beside them thus ! 

 Never were green leaves more of a solace than 

 those in this window when December brings them. 

 From that time on all is well, for the soft green 

 foliage is agreeable all the winter through. Why 

 do we not keep them in a cellar.? Why do we 

 not send them to a florist? For the very good 

 reason that because they are precious one cannot 

 take a risk. No bud but is pinched out as spring 

 approaches; in May the plants are placed in 

 their large pots and set out-of-doors on the wall; 

 and by the middle of June they are like the gera- 

 niums of which one reads as in California, on 

 the Riviera, or in Portugal, wonderfully gay with 

 flowers at every point. In warmer climates the 

 geranium is often trained to grow upright. I can- 

 not but suggest allowing it from year to year its 

 own full, rugged form. I believe we lose the 



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