i8 7 o.] FANCY PELARGONIUMS. 447 



then stated applies with added fitness now, seeing how much improve- 

 ment has taken place in the past ten years in the way of producing 

 variation in colour and increased size of the flowers. When we re- 

 member the flowers of this class of Pelargoniums, as they appeared 

 twenty years since, with their narrow petals resembling the sails of a 

 windmill, so deficient were they in form, and compare them with 

 the exquisite symmetry of the flowers in the present day, we shall 

 then clearly perceive what the florist has accomplished in his work of 

 improvement. Time was when they were a weak and sickly race, re- 

 quiring more than ordinary care in their management; but now, 

 thanks to the enterprising exertions of the hybridiser, we have robust 

 free-growing habits and free-blooming characters, which will bear the 

 same treatment as the larger varieties. The Fancy Pelargonium is, in 

 fact, a perpetual-flowering plant. If the trusses are taken off imme- 

 diately the flowers have withered, and the plant be repotted, it will 

 come into flower again in the course of a few weeks, and continue to 

 bloom the whole of the winter, the assistance of a slight artificial 

 heat being necessary at this season. 



Our notes of the leading flowers give the following as a fine selection 

 of eighteen Fancy Pelargoniums : — Acme (Turner), purplish maroon, 

 with white throat and margin, and excellent grower; Belle of the 

 Season (Turner), French- white, with distinct rosy spots on each petal, 

 very pretty and good; Brightness (Turner), deep rosy crimson, clear 

 white centre and edges, good habit ; East Lynne (Turner), white 

 ground, lower petals heavily marked with crimson purple, upper petals 

 with bright crimson, very fine and distinct ; Ellen Beck (Turner), deli- 

 cate lilac carmine, with bright throat and edges, of dwarf robust habit, 

 and very free blooming ; Fanny Gair (Turner), rosy lake, suffused with 

 purple, clear white throat and edges — a flower of exquisite shape and 

 very fine ; Lady Carrington (Turner), soft pale peach, top petals suf- 

 fused with pale pink, white throat, very delicate and pretty ; Lady 

 Dorothy Nevill (Turner), pale rosy pink, white throat, and clear white 

 edges, a charming variety; Leotard (Turner), extra fine in quality, 

 bright cherry rose, with clear white throat and edges, remarkable for 

 the great substance and smoothness of the flowers ; Lord of the Isles 

 (Turner), deep rosy purple, white throat and margin, fine free habit ; 

 Marmion (Turner), rich crimson top petals shaded with purple, clear 

 white throat, and narrow edge of same, large and extra fine; Mrs 

 Alfred Wigan (Turner), pink, with clear white centre and edges, pretty 

 and very free ; Mrs Dorling (Turner), lilac, mottled with rose, very 

 soft and delicate, white throat and edges, form fine and habit free ; 

 Mrs Mendel (Turner), white, with delicate spots of rosy lilac, a charm- 

 ing light variety ; Pink of Perfection (Turner), a charming shade of 



