134 



THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



IMay. 



sand, and some rotten manure added ; after which 

 they may be plunged out of doors, and covered 

 slightly over with some old tan or coal ashes, so 

 as to protect them a little from severe frost. In 

 the spring, the best way is to keep the pots plung- 

 ed in coal ashes, giving water through the summer 

 as required. Manure-water whilst the plants are 

 in active growth, strengthens them much. To 

 have them when grown in pots as strong as de- 

 sirable, it is necessary to give this kind of stimu- 

 lant, as when their roots are kept within the 

 limited space which a pot affords, they necessarily 

 cannot produce such large heads of bloom as 

 they would where they could have the unrestrict- 

 ed run of a good bed of soil, unless they have 

 extra stimulants to help them." 



Improved Asters. — The cultivation of the 

 Aster has for a long time occupied the attention 

 of florists and those interested in beautiful flowers; 

 and, like the chrysanthemum, it is now at its 

 height. 



We have before us a lithograph of a collection 

 of Victoria Asters, raised by Ernst Senary, of 

 Erfurt, Prussia, and they are without doubt, the 

 largest and best we have yet seen. They are of 

 all shades and colors, from a bluish white to dark 

 purple and crimson. They run in size from 4 to 

 4^ inches in diameter. 



Improvement of the Wall-Flower. — This 

 old and ever popular favorite is getting a good 

 turn from French hands, and is being improved 

 in a wonderful way. They have many classes of 



them. Under their name of " giroflee " all French- 

 men make a pet of the wall-flower. 



Another Upright Poplar.— Last year we saw 

 a new introduction that grew upnght and as close 

 as the Lombardy poplar. It is a variety of the 

 common white or Silver poplar. It appears in 

 foreign catalogues as Populus BoUeana. 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES. 



Lily Disease. — " Mrs. K.," Baltimore, Md. — 

 The Gold-banded Lily, and other lilies, "get weak- 

 er every year and finally die" because of a fungus. 

 No known cure has been discovered. It may be 

 the same or a close ally of the one that causes rust 

 in the gladiolus. 



Cedar of Lebanon in Virginia.— Mr. J. 

 Hotchkiss says: "We have a fine Cedar of 

 Lebanon growing here in Staunton on our lime- 

 stone hills. It was planted about 30 years ago, 

 and is now about 40 feet high." 



A Double Lilium sfeciosum. — A correspon- 

 dent from Ottawa, Canada, sends a photograph of 

 a lily that had twelve petals and twelve stamens. 

 This is not a double lily in the usual meaning of 

 the word ; but the double number of the usual 

 parts, without any change of stamens to petals, is 

 perhaps of still more interest to the botanist, 

 though the florist may not see as much. 



Greenhouse and House Gardening. 



COMMUNICATIONS. 



GERANIUMS. 



BY valentine BURGEVIN. 



Without entering into a full explanation of the 

 origin and home of this class of plants, which is 

 very ably described by our distinguished horticul- 

 tural writer, Peter Henderson, in his " Hand Book 

 of Plants," a work deservedly appreciated by all 

 who are interested in the kingdom of flowers, I in- 

 tend hereby to show how to cultivate, produce, 

 propagate and bloom them in a most approved 

 manner, calling to my aid my own long experi- 

 enap. There is hardly a plant which is more pop- 

 ular among all classes on the globe than what is 



generally called the horseshoe or zonal geranium, 

 "pelargonium inquinans." While fashionable plants 

 require a fortune to buy and grow them satisfac- 

 torily in large collections, the laborer and his wife 

 can enjoy the geranium, and on this account it 

 deserves to be brought before the public and per- 

 mitted to present its beauty and glory as well as 

 any of its charming sisters. The geranium is found 

 in the homes of the humble and industrious, but it 

 loses nothing of its inherent beauty on that account. 

 For where can a natural beauty be oftener found 

 than among the farmers and their daughters ? 



When I became first acquainted with the gerani- 

 um, there were only a few varieties and very im- 

 perfect ; a few shades of red, one of pink and, some 

 time after, a very poor white. The Tom Thumb 



