214 



TJie Horticultiirisl and Journal 



Geraniums and Indoor Deco- 

 rations. 



BY JOHN Qt'II^L. 



GERANIUM BEDS will now look branchy 

 and uneven, especially if many varieties 

 are massed together, and I would advise those 

 interested in a showy bed of this kind to ob- 

 serve the following method, which if practiced 

 judiciously will add surprisingly to the attrac- 

 tiveness of the bed. 



Tall or uncouth branches when done bloom- 

 ing, cut as far beneath where the peduncle 

 had emanated as your judgment may deem 

 necessary. Cut away the tall unshapely 

 branches in this manner soon as the blossoms 

 show signs of decay, and the foliage and 

 branches will grow even together like a finely 

 shaped hedge. 



This will detract none from the bloom 

 whatever. The branches thus cut away may 

 be used as cuttings ; they will strike root in 

 any cool, moist, shady place during summer. 



'Tis an excellent plan to sink geraniums 

 with pots in the open ground in summer, so 

 that they may be removed at pleasure. I 

 found this scheme to work admirably. 



Indoor Decorations. — On being asked 

 to decorate part of the house on the event of 

 a social gathering, I was puzzled ; our exotics 

 were not showy enough for the occasion. A 

 pleasing sensation of relief crept over me 

 when I recollected that thirty-five or forty 

 different varieties of geraniums were in pots 

 sunk in the large bed. Imagine the effect of 

 these when grouped together at night time 

 with other foliage plants in a cheerful, illumi- 

 nated hall, gold and green, silver, bronze, 

 zoned and variegated leaves in tasteful masses 

 under a forest of blossoms of numerous colors. 



Conspicuous among those plants detailed by 

 me for indoor decorations and outdoor re- 

 cesses, is the new, scented geranium, " Little 

 Pet." The name is very appropriate and 

 should need no further comments than what 

 the name indicates. When we make new 

 acquaintances or meet with new associates. 



we cannot always judge them accurately by 

 their outward appearances. Neither can we 

 guarantee the merits of a new plant until 

 we cultivate it and see it in bloom. "Little 

 Pet " is an acquisition to the scented geranium 

 family that we cannnot dispense with, and we 

 hail it joyfully to our gardens and dwellings. 

 Branched low it forms a compact pyramidal, 

 supported on a small woody stem. Leaves, 

 coarse green, very fragrant and cut deeply 

 into six distinct lobes, edges along the lobes 

 delicately cut and ruffled ; petals handsome, 

 upright ; bright, intense carmine, sprinkled 

 with dark markings along the inner base ; 

 calyx large, thick and compressed ; panicles 

 short and wiry, scarcely throwing the buds 

 higher than the level of the foliage. Imagine 

 then the effect of from twenty to thirty ex- 

 panded buds sparkling on the surface of a 

 compact foliage like precious gems set among 

 dazzling rubies. Peduncles start numerously 

 from side and center, some bearing only two 

 buds, some four, and others five and six. 

 Cincinnati, Ohio. 



Watering Flowers in Pots. 



MANY who have the care of window plants 

 seem to think that the operation of water- 

 ing is one of the simplest items incident to 

 their care, and will hardly thank us for ad- 

 vice on this point, and yet we may safely 

 hazard the assertion that more plants are 

 injured and more fail to reach their greatest 

 perfection from an improper mode of watering 

 than from all other causes combined. 



To so water the various varieties that their 

 different wants shall all be supplied and no 

 more, is an art acquired by but few, and the 

 credit which some receive for fine collections 

 is often due to the proper observance of this 

 one item. 



It should be kept in mind that the duty of 

 the water is to dissolve and convey to the 

 roots of the plant the food which they need ; 

 some plants must have a season of compara- 

 tive rest, and if such are watered liberally 

 during this time they will keep on growing 

 and the necessary rest is not obtained. When 

 any of my lady friends tell me that they 



