April 25, 18C-7. ] 



JOUBNAL OP HOBTICULTUBB AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE, 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



BEDDING PELARGONIUMS. 



AEIETIES of these are so 

 numerous, that the novice 

 who opens a catalogue to 

 find, perhaps, two or tliree 

 hundred described, must he, 

 and is, sorely puzzled ; and 

 the numberless questions that are asked on tliis point 

 surely radicate tliis perplexity. Before considering it, let 

 us see what are our requirements. We must have profuse 

 blooming : this is an essential. Many very fine varieties, 

 fine as pot plants, are comparatively useless o^-ing to their 

 not possessing this quality ; for it is of no use to have 

 either a bed or ribbon with a few flowers, however fine, 

 holding their heads up here and there^we must have a 

 mass of rich and glo'udng colour. Then wo must have, or 

 at any rate we generally require, dwarfness and compact- 

 ness of growth. Tom Thmnb won liis way iato favour by 

 these two qualities, and even now holds liis place with 

 many, notwithstanding the smallness of the trusses and 

 the bad shape of the flowers. Then the variety ought to 

 have fine large trusses ; small trusses of some ten or twelve 

 pips are not wanted. In the opinion of some it ought to 

 have plain foliage where efl'ect is to be produced by the 

 colour of the flowers ; for instance, where the scarlet is to 

 make a contrast ■nith yellow, anjihing of decided colour 

 in the leaves must take away from the efl'ect. 



What Pelargonium in the scarlet-flowered class best 

 fulfils the above conditions '? For many years I found 

 Attraction, alias Scarlet Perfection, to be the best ; but, as 

 J have before said, I tliink now that Editor, sent out by 

 JVIr. Bull, is by far the best in this way ; its profuseness of 

 bloom is very great, wlule the trusses are large, and the 

 pips also large and good. Vivid, another good sort, is too 

 gross in habit. Governor, with very fine trusses, is not free. 

 Frogmore Scarlet is a good flower, somewhat in the style 

 of Attraction. Clipper, -nith a very marked and decided 

 horseshoe, is a noble flower, but I think hardly free enough 

 in its flowering qualities. Glow is a very bright and lively 

 flower. 



Next, taking the rosy pink varieties, we have the old 

 Christine, with its rivals Helen Lindsay and Rose Ren- 

 datler. As far as my judgment goes, it is fully equal to 

 either of these, its chief fault being that it seeds so very 

 freely that the seed-pods are often very unsightly. WUt- 

 Bhire Lass, another flower in this style, came out only last 

 year, and so I have not been able to speak much of its 

 qualities as a bedder ; for last season, I tliink, defied all 

 attempts at fixing the value of any bedding plant. Beaute 

 de Suresnes is a noble flower, but I fear hardly free enough 

 in its flowering quahties. 



Of lighter scarlets with a tinge of orange in them, Dr. 



B0< 817,— Vol, XII., New Sesies. 



Lindley is a valuable kind, having a well-shaped flower, a 

 large truss, and being a tolerably free bloomer. Excellent 

 is a good Hght scarlet flower, and veiy free ; it makes ai 

 capital bed. Of the salmon-coloured varieties Madame Ren- 

 datler, Paul Ijabb(', and I'rince of Hesse are about the liest, 

 and any of them will not fail to |;ive satisfaction. They 

 are not new, but as yet I have not seen any of the newer 

 varieties, excepting, perhaps, Eugenie Mezard, wliich is 

 very good. Lucius is a bright salmon rose, and made a 

 very eflective display at Battersea. There is a lai'ge 

 number of the varieties in the Madame Rudersdorfi" style, 

 which hardly, I thmk. come xmder the designation of bed- 

 ding Pelargoniums : they are too delicate in their coloiu'ing 

 for that purpose, though admu'able for pot culture. 



I am constrained to say as to whites, that not only have 

 I as yet seen none to beat Madame Vaucher. but that I 

 think it would be perfectly easy for any one who received 

 an order for White Perfection, Madame Baiillct, Wliite 

 Tom Thumb, &c., to execute it from plants of the old 

 variety. Report speaks highly of a dwarf variety of Blr. 

 Groom's, of Ipswicli, called Floribundum Nanum, but of this 

 we have yet to judge. After all, are white-flowering Pelar- 

 goniums of any use for bedding ? They certainly are no6 

 if you want to have a white bed ; and the coloiu- is so soon 

 dashed by the raiu, that it is siu-e to look dingy if we have 

 any bad weather. 



iVmongst the Variegated bedding Pelargoniums I take 

 the Tricolors first ; and here I must own that as yet 

 notlung has come up to Jlrs. Pollock as a bedder. It ivill 

 not do in cold and wet soils and in damp situations : but 

 wherever it is light and airy, and the soil either natm-aUy 

 rich and well-drained or made so, nothing can be more 

 beautiful. It will take abundance of well-decomposed dung, 

 and should be planted closer than many other kinds if an 

 eff'ective display is wanted. Others, such as Lady Cullum 

 (Henderson), and Meteor (Saltmarsh & Son), bid fair to 

 rival ]Mi-s. PoUock ; but as yet I cannot say, as they axe 

 hardly to be looked on as bedding plants at 21.?. a-piece. 



Among the Golden-leaved varieties I think Golden Fleece 

 must bear away the palm : so any one who saw it at Bat- 

 tersea would be, I think, constrained to say. It is fi-eer in 

 its habit than Cloth of Gold, and has more of the golden 

 colour than Golden Chain, which, indeed, is more of a 

 golden-edged than golden-leaved variety. 



Of Silver-edged varieties I have as yet seen nothing 

 that surpasses Queen of Queens, Bijou, and Flower of 

 Spring. The first of these has a very bright silvery edge, 

 and the flowers are well-shaped and bright scarlet. Bijou 

 has also scarlet flowers, is very free in its habit, and for 

 strong soils perhaps a little too much so ; wliile Flower of 

 Spring is a beautifully compact-gi-owing plant, -nith a well- 

 defined silvery edge, and a bright pink well-shaped flower. 

 Although there is a large number of other varieties, I 

 know of none which as yet are to be preferred to the three 

 named. 



Of the Silver Tricolor-leaved varieties, I do not think 

 any are suitable for bedding. Many of them, as Italia 

 Unita, are very delicate in habit, and lose their dis- 

 tinguishing characteristic— the beautiful pink or crimson 

 No. 966,— Vot. XXSVII., Old Sekies. 



