April 28 1870. ] 



JOURNAL OF HOBTICULTUBE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



BEDDING PELARGONIUMS. 



ONTINUING my remarks on bedding Pelar- 

 goniums (see page 27;-!), I will begin with the 

 darker kinds, as Waltham Seedling, Inter- 

 national, Eclat, Le Grand, Bayard, and 

 Black Dwarf. 



Of these Waltham Seedling is to my mind 

 still the best, and quite a type of what a bed- 

 ding Pelargonium ought to be. It is dwarf, 

 of free habit, has a large truss, with a stiff 

 footstalk, and throws its dark crimson flowers 

 well above the foliage. I do not like any Pelargonium 

 that grows coarse with good treatment, and my own expe- 

 rience is much in favour of dwarf Nosegays, which will 

 stand good soil. It is certainly a mistake to have to starve 

 a plant into flowering, and much as I admire as pot plants 

 many of the Zonal Pelargoniums, for instance, Clipper, 

 Dr. Lindley, William Underwood, Rival, and that much- 

 overrated one Lord Derby, yet, in spite of incurring the 

 censure of florists, I do not think they are so good for 

 bedding purposes as the Nosegays ; and I venture to pre- 

 dict the time will come, now that the breed of Nosegays is 

 so much improved, that very few of the true Zonals will be 

 used as bedders. 



Le Grand is very good, with a fine truss, but inclined to 

 be too strong a grower. Eclat has a still liner truss than 

 Le Grand, and International is of a very fine distinct 

 colour, but, I think, will not be so free a bloomer as either 

 of the above ; but I have not given Eclat and International 

 a sufficient trial. 



Bayard I have received from Mr. Pearson, and I have a 

 good stock of it this year, but I question whether it is so 

 good as Waltham Seedling, as the truss is not so large, 

 though it is a rich crimson, and a free bloomer. Another 

 very promising variety which I have for trial this year is 

 R. K. Bowley ; it has certainly in a pot one of the finest 

 trusses and the most vivid crimson colour I have yet seen, 

 and, I believe, has received a first-class certificate from the 

 Royal Horticultural Society. 



Next comes the Scarlet section, as Cybister, Lady Con 

 stance Grosvenor, Multiilorum, &c. 



I discard, to begin with, all the Zonal Scarlets, as Clip- 

 per, Dr. Lindley, &c , as having too upright a habit, and 

 hardly ever branching, unless they are constantly pinched 

 back ; besides which I have never seen any that would 

 equally well stand both dry weather and wet weather. I 

 still think Cybister, though rather too coarse a grower, one 

 of the very best, as it always blooms freely in proportion 

 to its growth, and though in some places it may grow too 

 tall, it never looks all leaf as Punch and others of that 

 class. Lady Constance Grosvenor has beautiful foliage 

 and habit, but it is a late bloomer, and the flower-stalks 

 are not strong enough, so that the flowers are apt to 

 straggle about the bed, much the same as with Black 

 Dwarf. Multiflorum is a great favourite of mine, dwarf, 

 with a branching habit, and very free-blooming ; the truss 

 is not, however, quite large enough, though the individual 

 blooms being so fine help to make up for this. 

 No. 171.— Vol.. XVIII, New Susies 



The next section includes such as Lord Palmerston, 

 Duchess of Sutherland, Mrs. Laing, Godfrey, Grand 

 Duke, &c. 



Of these I am afraid Lord Palmerston has had its day ; 

 for though a very fine free bloomer, still its footstalk is 

 too slender, and the heads of bloom are apt to be dashed 

 about with rain, and look badly in wet weather. Duchess 

 of Sutherland is a free-blooming sort, of a soft pleasing 

 shade of colour more nearly approaching cerise, but not 

 quite stiff enough in the footstalk. Godfrey lias more 

 orange in the flower than the above, with a very fine truss, 

 is a free bloomer, and, I think, promises exceedingly well. 

 I see it is one of those which are reported favourably of at 

 Chiswick, without actually getting a first class certificate, 

 Mrs. Lane approaches more to a true red, much like King 

 of the Nosegays, and both of them are worthy of further 

 trial, but I had not quite enough of them last year to 

 decide upon their merits. Grand Duke is one of the 

 finest and most promising of the large- flowered Nosegays, 

 with one of the largest trusses I have ever yet seen, and 

 well thrown up above the foliage. It may prove too strong 

 a grower, but the truss is so fine that it will always, I 

 think, have sufficient bloom, but I had not enough of it 

 last year to make a separate bed of it. 



Among the Bed Zonals which I bedded last year were 

 William Underwood, Miss Martin, Herald of Spring, and 

 Roi d'ltalie. 



Of these William Underwood, one of the seedlings of 

 Mr. Pearson, of Chilwell, was the best, and at one time 

 made a very good bed indeed, but as the season advanced 

 it became too leggy and upright ; still, I can strongly re- 

 commend it to anyone who has light soil. Roi d'ltalie 

 has a very fine individual flower and a dwarf habit, but 

 the truss is not large enough. Miss Martin does not stand 

 dry weather, and grows too coarse in wet. The same may 

 be said of Herald of Spring; in fact, as I have before 

 stated, though I have tried a great many Zonals, I have 

 never found one that came fully up to my standard of 

 perfection as a bedder. 



The next section I come to are the Nosegays of the 

 cerise and violet cerise shades, as Amy Hogg, Violet 

 Hill, &c. 



By far the best of them, and the best bedder I have yet 

 seen in any section, is Violet Hill. It is of very dwarf, 

 spreading, and short jointed habit, has large compact 

 trusses, and is very free blooming ; it requires only good 

 soil and good treatment, when it will well repay all trouble. 

 It is so dwarf and short-jointed that it is difficult to obtain 

 a stock of it, and it is not, consequently, a favourite among 

 nurserymen, so that it has hardly found a place in many 

 catalogues ; in fact, though I have now tried it for four 

 years, I have had so many demands for cuttings that I 

 have not more than eighty or ninety plants of it, and have 

 saved every old plant. I put it out in full bloom in May 

 last year, and it continued in flower till the winter frosts 

 compelled me to take it up out of the ground. At the 

 time of our annual flower show (July 27th). it was re- 

 marked by every gardener who saw it, and by many who 

 asked me for the name of it, but they have been since 

 No. 1126,-Vol. XLIII., Old Series. 



