614 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. PELARGONIUM. 



this is unnecessary if the plants are 

 merely for planting out in the parterre. 

 If the plants used for seed be all of 

 the same sort, the seedlings will be 

 tolerably true i.e., the same variety 

 as the parent. The pots should be of 

 convenient size (say 6 inches in dia- 

 meter), and filled to within inch of 

 the rims with light turfy soil ; the 

 seed may be sown rather thickly, 

 gently pressed into the soil, and 

 slightly covered with it. Water with 

 a fine rose, cover the pots with a piece 

 of glass, and place them in a tempera- 

 ture of about 65 ; the seeds will soon 

 vegetate, and the piece of glass should 

 then be removed ; the plants when 

 large enough should be pricked off 



this form they are sometimes effective, 

 for the drawing of sustenance through 

 a slender stem induces a very free- 

 flowering habit. Strong stakes are 

 needed to support the heavy heads, 

 and the principal branches should be 

 secured to circular hoops. Single varie- 

 ties may also be grown into standards, 

 and in their case seedlings are likely 

 to form specimens sooner than plants 

 from cuttings. Before frost, all stan- 

 dards should be well cut back, taken 

 up, and repotted in pots not larger 

 than may contain the roots ; they 

 should be staked and afterwards placed 

 in a temperature not under 60 until 

 they root. Treated thus annually, 

 such plants are often in perfect health 



Pelargonium Dr Andre. 



into seed-pans and kept near the glass 

 in a reduced temperature during the 

 winter. Early in the following March 

 they should be potted singly into 

 3-inch pots and placed in a cold pit, 

 or a similar structure where frost is 

 excluded, until the time arrives when 

 they may be safely planted out. 

 During the first part of the season such 

 plants may bloom less freely than 

 those from cuttings, but their neat 

 habit and healthy foliage will com- 

 pensate for this. 



Many sorts remarkable for their fine 

 flowers are so poor in habit as to be 

 useless for bedding-out ; and few of 

 the many beautiful double varieties of 

 Zonals can be recommended for out- 

 door culture, unless as standards, with 

 clean stems, 2| to 3 feet in length. In 



even when twelve or fourteen years 

 old. 



Next in importance to the Zonals for 

 outdoor culture are the Ivy-leaved 

 kinds, or the varieties of P. lateripes. 

 More particularly is this the case 

 since their crossing with the Zonal 

 varieties, which has produced many 

 beautiful sorts useful for outdoor 

 culture. They should be treated like 

 the Zonals, but being rather more 

 tender they need a little more warmth 

 in winter. 



The following are a few of the many 

 Zonal varieties suited for outdoor 

 culture or for massing in the flower 

 garden or elsewhere : Beckwith's Pink, 

 Crimson Crampel, Salmon Crampel, 

 Comber's Pink, Maxime Kovalesky, 

 Henry Jacoby Improved, King Edward 



