. They should have the same kind of treatment during
the summer as recommended for Camellias, allowing them to rest in some
cool, shady spot out-of-doors, during which period the flowering shoots
will grow that are to give the bloom through the winter months. They can
be taken into the house any time in the fall before freezing weather,
and they will thrive well in an atmosphere suited to the generality of
plants, although to bring the bloom out to the best, an atmosphere of
55 deg. is needed.

There are over one hundred distinct varieties, ranging from pure white
to lilac-purple, scarlet and pink, and when in full bloom the entire
plant might be easily mistaken for a large bouquet, so literally covered
is it with dazzling blossoms.

One or two varieties of Azaleas should grace every collection; almost
every florist keeps them in stock, and the price asked is but a small
consideration compared with the amount of pleasure one will derive by
having them in full bloom himself.

Florists hardly ever attempt to multiply the Azaleas from cuttings, on
account of the hardness of the wood, but the common mode of multiplying
them is by grafting on the stock of the Wild Azalea, plants being easily
and quickly obtained through this method. The Azalea will flourish best
with a rich, mucky loam, a rather shady locality, and an abundance of
water.

CHAPTER XXIII.

CAMELLIAS.--ORANGE AND LEMON TREES.

Dear reader, did you ever see a large Camellia plant in full blossom? If
you have not, I will risk my reputation by saying that all other flowers
within my knowledge, barring the rose, dwindle into insignificance when
compared with it. It excels the finest rose in doubleness and form of
its flowers, and puts the virgin lily to shame for spotless purity and
whiteness; if it only possessed fragrance, it would be unquestionably
the Queen of the floral world. What I shall have to say in regard to
this plant, I hope will have the effect of introducing it into many
homes where it has hitherto been little known. Few outside of
professional florists have undertaken to cultivate the Camellia, for the
reason, we suppose, that it is thought to be quite an impossibility to
raise and bloom it successfully outside of a green-house; this is a
mistake, although many believe it otherwise. I contend that Camellias
can be as easily and as successfully grown in the window-garden as the
Rose or Geranium.

Camellias bloom in the winter, and at