204 THE FLOEAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 



whicli it would be waste of space to name. My H. W. Longfellow 

 will be no doubt the finest bedder in this series. The colour is deep 

 salmon, with a shade of fiery red, and the habit dwarf, compact, and 

 free-flowerino;. St. Kacre is also fine. 



White. — We turn next to the whites, and the first remark re- 

 quired is, that, as bedders, none of them are first rate. Madame 

 Yaucher, White Tom Thumb, White Perfection, and Snowball do 

 not greatly differ in habit and general appearance. In a certain 

 sense they are all good, and the two Tery best among them are 

 Madame Vaucher and White Perfection. Their great failing is this 

 — if the summer is as bright as we desire it to be, and as geraniums 

 usually require for a free growth and good bloom, the flowers of 

 these varieties lose their purity, and become coloured in various 

 degrees of dirty blue, pale red, blush, and other tones for which I 

 can find no name. In 1864, there was a bed of Madame Vaucher 

 at Battersea Park, which the most experienced of geranium-growers 

 would not have identified until told the name, for the flowers were 

 all of the colour of a washed-out lilac calico, instead of pure white, 

 as they ought always to be. All these geraniums require some 

 amount of shade to preserve the pure white of the flowers, and so 

 long as they do keep pure they are extremely beautiful. There is a 

 good old variety which I still use as a bedder, and which I recom- 

 mend cultivators to procure and try fairly — it is called Galanthi- 

 flora ; the name is appropriate, for the flowers are as white as any 

 snowdrop ; and, where the soil assists it, the flowers are produced 

 abundantly. In many country places Hendersoui is the only white 

 geranium at present known. Eespecting it, all that need be said is 

 that it is about the worst geranium in cultivation. But White 

 Perfection, lately sent out by Messrs. E. G. Henderson and Son, is 

 superb, and will be preferred to Madame Vaucher, wherever it 

 obtains a fair trial. 



Hed. — There remain a few yet that deserve mention, as, for ex- 

 ample, Lady Middleton, a rather strong grower, but of excellent 

 habit, the flowers lively cerise red. Trentham Eose is so nearly like 

 it that one description serves for both. They are distinct, though 

 very few can see the distinction. Sheen Eival is an excellent 

 scarlet. Herald of Spring and Excellent are two fine varieties, the 

 colour light red. 



Of Vm'iegated-leaved Geraniums, the following are unquestion- 

 ably the best for bedding : — Alma, Flower of Spring, and Silver 

 Chain in the white-leaved section ; and Cloth of Gold, Golden Vase, 

 and Mrs. Pollock in the yellow-leaved section. At least a hundred 

 more good ones could be added to the above, but possibly these 

 will suffice for the majority of our readers. 



Shieley Hibbebd. 



