THE FLOEAL WOELD AND GAEDEN GUIDE. 203 



mac, Miss Parfitt, and others of what we may call the crimson sec- 

 tion. But the moment a grower of these things has seen Black 

 Dwarf, he pronounces all of the Imperial Crimson class to be 

 second-rate ; and with Black Dwarf alone he might be content, for 

 its thumping trusses of crimson flowers are magnificent. Another 

 beauty of this class is Glowworm, which has the top petals salmon^ 

 and the bottom petals vivid crimson, with just a tinge of purple to 

 make the flower glow with a sort of raetalhc lustre. Glowworm has 

 Just the same fault as Madame Barre— the petals fall much during 

 wind or rain. All the shaded crimson kinds are more or less shy. 

 One, called Magenta, which is most exquisitely coloured, blooms so 

 poorly that I cannot recommend it ; a round dozen others, which I 

 should be glad to name because I like them, must be passed over 

 for the same reason. I may here place Mr. W. Paul's Eebecca, the 

 colour of which is red with violet shade. It is one of the finest 

 bedding geraniums known, and one of the best legacies to the 

 British public of the late Mr. Beaton, who w'as the raiser of it. 



Yellow. — The greatest contrast that can be made with geraniums 

 alone is to be accomplished by placing masses of crimson and purple 

 kinds, such as Amy Hogg and Black Dwarf, in juxtaposition with 

 kinds that have a predominance of yellow in their flowers. I may, 

 therefore, appropriately turn now to what may be called the yellow 

 section, and respecting which it must first be said that we are as 

 destitute of a true yellow as we are of a true blue ; but the nearest 

 approach to it is Indian Yellow, the colour of which may be de- 

 scribed as a mixture of salmon, red, and drab. It is not at all 

 attractive, and its colour, at the best, is very impure ; yet, if a line 

 or bed of this, and another line or bed of Amy Hogg, were put side 

 by side, the contrast would be admirable. Indian Yellow would 

 look more yellow, and Amy Hogg would look more blue, by the 

 help of tbe complementary, than would be the case were they 

 separated far asunder, so as to be viewed irrespective of the in- 

 fluence of contrast. Hibberd's Pet is still valued in some places for 

 the large predominance of orange in the flowers ; but it is not here 

 recommended, for it is rather too robust in habit, and the flowers 

 are small. Harry Hieover and Harkaway, both of them very old 

 varieties, are much valued for their orange tints ; and, as they are 

 both of very small, wiry habit, they may be used for edgings with 

 eftect wdiere an orange tone of red would be appropriate. Orange 

 Nosegay promised to be useful in this class, but I thought it rather 

 a poor thing every time I passed it with other kinds in my collec- 

 tion, which comprises now about 600 kinds. 



Salmon. — Again, we make a transition to the salmon-coloured 

 section ; and here the best bedder is undoubtedly Jean Valjean.. 

 Another superb bedder is Eugenie Mezard, which is also known as. 

 Madame Kudersdorft'. This is a first-class exhibition geranium, and 

 when grown in pots under glass, the flowers are white, with a beau- 

 tiful oculate painting of clear salmon flesh. But, when planted in 

 the full sun, the flowers come self-coloured, and a very pleasing^ 

 shade of salmon. It is first rate for either pots or beds. There are 

 very many bad varieties in this section, such as Kingsbury Pet, etc., 



