264 
OPERATIONS FOR DECEMBER. 
There is little to be done in the flower-garden at this season, consequently our 
remarks under this head will be necessarily very brief. Beds of bulbs, &c., newly 
planted during the preceding month or two, will, if strong frosts set in, require to 
be slightly sheltered ; else, as not unfrequently happens, the growth will be seriously 
injured, if not altogether destroyed. Plants of Aloysia citriodora, Fuchsias of any 
kind, Clianthus puniceuSy and indeed every plant, whether on the border, lawn, or 
against the wall, that frosts or cutting winds threaten to injure, must have some 
efficient protection. Walls flued for the purpose of repelling the frost, &c. from 
acting on hardy greenhouse plants, or others that promise to endure the open air in 
this country, with slight protection in unusually bad weather, must be carefully 
heated, or the plants will be liable to injury, arising from overcharging the flues 
with heat in bad weather, when the wind is very cold and frost very severe ; 
injuries of this description show themselves on the plants, by inducing the young 
inert buds to swell and many to burst, only to become the victims of the succeeding 
blasts ; also the roots are liable to sufl"er from the same causes, for if the fire be 
kept very strong, the whole materials in the neighbourhood of them will become con- 
siderably heated, which speedily communicates with the adjoining soil, and destroys 
any roots that may have made their way through to the face of the wall ; for we 
know from experience, that the young growing roots will make for the face of a 
wall much in the same manner as they do to the side of a flower-pot. The way to 
prevent this, is to have the fires excited all day in bad weather, according to the degree 
of cold ; by this, the heat is equally distributed over the whole move of flue, 
without violently heating one part, before the other is sufficiently warm. When it 
is only required to warm the flues at night, the safest way is to move the fires 
early in the afternoon. Another planting of bulbs should be put in to succeed 
those that have been coming on since October. The greenhouse must be actively 
attended to in regard to giving air, keeping out frost, &c. Give air on all occasions 
when the weather will admit ; warm the flues just sufficiently to allay prevailing 
damp, and to keep out the frost. Do not let the atmosphere of the stove fall below 
65°, or that of the succulent house below 50°, while that of the greenhouse may 
come down to 40°. Damp in the propagating house, or frame, must be attentively 
watched, or it will spread to an alarming extent, particularly if the weather be 
cloudy and the external atmosphere heavy. Dressing and pruning creepers, roses, 
and shrubs, of every prunable description, should be duly thought of, and attended to 
as opportunities ofl'er; besides an overwhelming number of other little matters, due 
and timely attention to which can only be given by making the best of this and 
the succeeding month or two. 
