August 7, 1868. ] 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



97 



BEDDING PLANTS. 



yNQUIRIES respecting the 

 propagation and after-ma- 

 nagement of bedding plants 

 have been made by " An 

 Am miii: <• utDENEB " and 

 " A Young Amateur," and 

 the reply to them will doubtless be useful to others having 

 an equally limited amount of accommodation for the pro- 

 tection of their stock in winter and spring. The one has 

 a two-light frame, and the other has, in addition, a brick 

 pit of four lights, and they wish to know what plants they 

 can raise and winter for bedding-out. In neither case is 

 there a greenhouse, and notliing is said as to the means 

 for making up a hotbed and for protection from frost, but 

 in offering the following remarks I shall presume that 

 leaves and litter, as well as mats, can be obtained. 



Pelargoniums. — Indispensable as the bedding kinds may 

 be for the decoration of the flower garden in summer, it is 

 to be regretted that they cannot with certainty be wintered 

 in a frame or pit, for though rendered safe from frost by 

 covering the lights and banking up the sides, damp and 

 darkness, combined witli a badly-ventilated atmosphere. 

 are so fatal that a pit or frame is practically valueless for 

 their preservation. Although, however, the frame or pit 

 may be useless for preserving the plants, it is not so clear 

 that neither will be available for the plants at some stage 

 of their growth. That bedding Pelargoniums can be pro- 

 duced in quantity where there is nothing but a common 

 frame and ordinary pit I hope to be able to show, and as 

 a substitute for a greenhouse the windows of the dwelling 

 must be called into requisition. 



The way to proceed is to have boxes made of sound 

 three-quarter-inch red deal, or of the best Baltic timber. A 

 nine-inch board the width of the window will do fir the 

 bottom, and for the sides and ends one of these boards 

 should be cut up the middle. The sides and ends are to 

 be nailed on the bottom (not to its sidesi, witli two-inch 

 clip nails, and a plane ran over the edges will take away 

 the sharp cutting angles of the boxes. Two coats of green 

 paint will then render then- appearance passable. When 

 the paint is dry, place at the bottom of the boxes an inch 

 deep of the riddliugs of a compost consisting of two-thirds 

 sandy loam and one-tliird river sand, to serve as drainage, 

 affording the water a free passage to the joints of the 

 boxes, which, being put together in the rough, will allow 

 of the water escaping. The boxes having been filled with 

 compost to within half an inch of the top, are to have half 

 an inch of sand placed over the surface of the soil, and are 

 then ready for the cuttings. There may be some difficulty 

 in procuring the loam, I may therefore state the practice 

 of a man who was very clever at surmounting a difficulty ; 



No. 230— Vol. XI., New Series. 



he being recommended to put in his cut lings in notliing 

 hut virgin loam and pure sand, and having neither, took 

 a barrowful of the soil of his garden, a rather strong but 

 not a clayey loam, and placed it under cover, a barrow- 

 ful of pieces of soft bricks pounded and made tine, and a 



half-barrowful of sand which had I a washed down a hill 



by rain. The whole was mixed and sifted with a sieve 

 having quarter-inch meshes, the rough portions were placed 

 at the bottom of tin' boxes, and these were filled up with 

 the sifted soil. The result was that scarcely a cutting 

 failed to root and win fely, though the means were 



limited to a spare room, and the kitchen during very severe 

 weather. 



The boxes having been prepared, the cuttings are to be 

 made from the first to the fourth week in August. Shoots 

 having three good joints and not very far apart are to be 

 cut transversely below the lowest joint with a sharp knife, 

 and the leaf there removed, and probably that at the 

 joint next above it as well, but that will depend on the 

 length of the cutting and closeness of the joints. The 

 cuttings may be from 4 to fi inches in length, and a joint 

 and the growing point should be left after trimming, retain- 

 ing a good joint below that for insertion in the soil to the 

 depth of a couple of inches, or up to the lowest leaf. Insert 

 the cuttings 1 inch from the sides of the box and 1| inch 

 apart every way, and up to the joint of the cutting whence 

 the leaf was not removed. Give a good watering, and set the 

 box in an open situation in the full sun, and if there is a 

 place hotter and more exposed to the sun than another 

 give that the preference. Do not give more water than is 

 sufficient to keep the soil moist, and none if the weather 

 be at all wet or showery. As to shade do not think of 

 it, for the sun will assist in making the cuttings hard for 

 the winter. 



When the large leaves have become dried up and 

 withered, pick them off, and towards the end of September 

 remove the boxes to a sheltered wall or fence where the 

 plants can receive the full benefit of the sun, and be pro- 

 tected by mats or other coverings from any frosts that may 

 occur previous to November. So long as the cuttings do 

 not flag they should not be watered, but if they do so, and 

 the wood seems disposed to shrivel, give enough water to 

 show itself through the openings of the joints of the boxes. 



Early in November the boxes are to be placed in their 

 winter quarters ; any unoccupied light airy room having a 

 southern aspect will answer, and so will the inside sill of a 

 window, except in the case of severe weather, when they 

 must bo placed in a room from which frost is excluded — a 

 kitchen, for instance, keeping them there as long as the 

 - ivere frosts last, but giving the plants the benefit of a fine 

 day by placing them near the light, and admitting a little 

 air. Until April they merely require the lightest and 

 most airy situation possible consistent with their safety 

 from frost and the exclusion of cm-rents of cold air. As 

 to water, it is sufficient that the leaves do not flag, and if 

 they turn yellow' and otherwise show symptoms of decay, 

 pick them off at once. If, however, the leaves flag and 

 show other signs of a deficiency of moisture at the root, 

 then it will be well to give during mild weather enough 

 No 932.— Vol. XXXVL, Old Series. 



