August 23, 1866. ] 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



157 



WEEKLY CALENDAR. 



ZONALE AND NOSEGAY PELARGONIUMS. 



HE articles which have re- 

 cently appeared in the Jour- 

 nal on " Zonale and Nose- 

 pay Pelargoniums " I have 

 read with interest, and while 

 agreeing generally with the 

 views of the respective writers, it has struck me that there 

 is yet a great deal left unsaid which might be said of these 

 beautiful plants. 



"With regard to the Pelargonium. I confess myself a 

 disciple of the late Mr. Beaton : the mere florist's view 

 would never have made me a cultivator ; it is as a decora- 

 tive plant that I look at and value it. I would as soon 

 buy a horse from the shape of its head alone as a Pelar- 

 gonium from the shape of its flower : as the one might 

 have a head of perfect shape, and be a thorough '" s< rew ;" 

 so the other might have a most symmetrical flower, and 

 be utterly worthless for decorative purposes. 



The seedling Nosegay and Zonale Pelargoniums of the 

 last three years have been so numerous and ss varied that 

 we now look in vain for any plant that even rivals them 

 for decorative purposes, either in or out of doors. "With 

 all deference I submit that the old and familiar term 

 " Scarlet Geranium " should now be dropped ; fur. however 

 much we may love tilings and names that are old and 

 familiar, it. would be rather " Irish " to speak of a " white 

 scarlet," a "pink scarlet," or a "purple scarlet" Geranium. 

 Well, thanks to the industry, perseverance, and skill of the 

 late Mr. Beaton and other cultivators, we have not only 

 these colours but numerous intermediate shades — bicolors. 

 tricolors. Ate., and promises of even greater variations in the 

 future. The aspect of the numerous recent seedlings is 

 indeed so diverse that a new arrangement must be made 

 at no distant .late to enable those who have to deal with 

 them to understand each other. In the matter of leaves, 

 there are the plain-leaved, the zone-leaved, the variegated- 

 leaved, with their numerous shades and combinations of 

 silver, gold, black, and crimson : as to the truss, there 

 are the true zonale and the nosegay; and as to the habit, 

 there are the ordinary, the dwarf, and the giant. 



Leaving this aspect of the question thus briefly dwelt 

 on, because it appears tome that the time for a satisfactory 

 generalisation has hardly yet arrived — assuming that we 

 had better delay this work till the new paths recently 

 opened are pushed a little further into the unknown be- 

 yond — I shall conftne myself in the present paper to two 

 broad and distinct lines of thought — 1, Nosegay and Hy- 

 brid Nosegay Pelargoniums: 2. Zonale Pelargoniums. 



1, The "Nosegay" and "Hybrid Nosegay" Pelargo- 

 niums are hi my view pre-eminent for bedding purposes 

 and for general out-of-door decoration, because they flower 



No. 283.— Vol. XL, New Series. 



so continuously and for such a lengthened period. I have 

 one truss of Sir J. Paxton, bright orange, now before me 

 15 inches in circumference, and another of St. George, 

 chestnut, shaded with black, with 120 flowers on it ! While 

 Verbenas and Calceolarias are beautiful now and then, 

 these Pelargoniums are always in condition. Perhaps it 

 required a wet and windy August, such as we have just 

 experienced, to demonstrate tliis. There are here nearly 

 three hundred varieties of Zonale and other Pelargoniums' 

 gathered from all parts of England and abroad, and planted 

 out side by side in order to test their powers of battling 

 with sun, wind, and rain, and never was the pre-eminence 

 of the " Nosegays " for out-of-door work more clearly esta- 

 blished. Even the seedlings, of which there are several 

 thousands. "Zonales," "Hybrid Nosegays," and "Nose- 

 gays," the latter furnish fresh evidence in favour of that 

 conclusion. Your Dr. Lindleys, Beaute de Suresnes, 

 Floras, Madame Barres, and others, beautiful as they are 

 viewed from the point of form and under glass, will not 

 stand comparison out of doors with the Amy Hoggs, the 

 Salmon, Peach, and Orange Nosegays, the St. Georges, 

 and Stellas. Fine drawing-room and conservatory gentle- 

 men are the former, but hardly suited for the rough-and- 

 ready work of out-of-door life : hence when I see the florist 

 judging a Pelargonium, whose chief value is for decorative 

 purposes out of doors, by a truss or a single flower, and 

 condemning it in toto because the flower does not realise 

 his idea of form, I set him down as a man of " one ides, ' 

 and wish I could induce liini to look without prejudice on 

 the glorious masses of Nosegays and Hybrid Nosegays of 

 all hues on which I am now looking, and which gladden me 

 while I write. It does not. in my judgment, require much 

 foresight to predict that these Pelargoniums have a glorious 

 career before them. Fashion, which has been against 

 them, is fast coming round, and this once established, 

 " interests " and " prejudice " must change or stand aside. 



Of the Nosegay ami Hybrid Nosegay Pelargoniums 

 which I have seen, I believe the following to be the best: — 



Alexandra. — Bluish purple; large flower; dwarf and 

 compact ; free-flowering ; leaves slightly zonate. Distinct, 

 and very beautiful. 



Amy Hogg. — Purplish rose ; trusses large and abundant, 

 standing well above the foliage ; leaves slightly zonate. 



Arehbisiiop. — Bich scarlet crimson : large compact truss : 

 petals large and broad ; leaves zonate, of a beautiful pale 

 green. Habit good. 



Banneret. — Crimson scarlet and purple ; beautifully 

 shaded : trusses abundant : leaves plain. 



Bicolor. — Bluish rose, orange blotch in upper petals, 

 quite new in colours : leaves plain. 



Crimson Queen. — Intense crimson, the darkest of Nose- 

 gays ; trusses abundant : leaves zonate. 



Cgbister. — Very bright orange scarlet; trusses large and 

 plentiful ; leaves zonate. 



Duchess of Sutherland. — Cerise scarlet; trusses very 

 large and numerous ; leaves slightly zonate. 



Dr. Hogg. — Deep rosy pink, much darker in colour and 

 broader in the petal than Amy Hogg ; truss fair size and 

 abundant, very bright and beautiful : leaves zonate. 



No. 935.— Vol. XXXVI OLn Series. 



