186 



THE FLORISTS MANUAL. 



ready to put into 2 Ms-inch pots and 

 should be grown on in a very light, 

 airy house. From the time they start 

 to grow in the small pots they should 

 be encouraged by a light, warm, but 

 well ventilated house, to grow as fast 

 as possible. They will soon take a 4-inch 

 pot, previous to which they should have 

 had their tops pinched out. This pinch 

 ing, or stopping, after they have made 

 about three or four eyes of growth above 

 the cutting is enough. If a larger plant 

 is wanted they can be pinched again in 

 January or February, but they will be 

 later in flower. I shall pause here to 

 say that this fall treatment is the most 

 important. We leave our zonal gera 

 niums in 2-inch pots till after New 

 Year s, and if they get hard and some 

 what stunted no matter; but the show 

 pelargoniums want the opposite treat 

 ment; grow them on as fast as you can 

 without forcing in a moist heat. 



I do not like to advocate anything 

 so antiquated as a shelf, but neverthe 

 less it is a fact that pelargoniums will 

 make a better, stouter, more thrifty 

 growth during winter on a shelf near 

 the glass than on any bench I have 

 ever seen them grown on. I don t at 

 tribute any advantage to the fact that 

 on a shelf they are nearer the light, 

 but I do realize that on the shelf they 

 get a purer, warmer and altogether bet 

 ter circulation of air, and that is why 

 these and many other plants show a 

 great improvement when raised up on 

 a shelf. By January they will be stout 

 plants with several side shoots, and be 

 fore the end of the month should be 

 shifted into their flowering pots, 5 -inch 

 or 6-inch; no more is needed. During 

 spring they will grow very fast. 



In watering they are like the gera 

 niums; during dark, cloudy, cold 

 weather they need little water, but in 

 the bright and warmer days of spring 



they will take plenty. Avoid wetting 

 the leaves if the weather is damp and 

 cool. 



The soil should be a good, coarse, 

 turfy loam, with a fourth or fifth of 

 decayed manure, and when they are 

 in 5-inch or 6-inch pots, or larger, give 

 them a crock and piece of moss for 

 drainage, as they never want a wet, 

 soggy soil. From a 4-inch to their 

 flowering pot they should be always 

 potted quite firmly; this is a matter 

 of great importance. 



Pelargoniums will thrive in a very 

 cool house during winter. I would say 

 that from the middle of November to 

 the first of March 45 degrees at night 

 was just what suited them, and 50 de 

 grees at night by fire heat is enough at 

 any time. The principal thing to avoid 

 is dampness, and in May, when in 

 bloom, if we get a cold, wet spell, es 

 pecially if there is a shade on the house, 

 you must drive out the dampness by 

 fire heat or you will lose the blooms. 

 Nothing troubles them but aphis, but 

 unlike the common geraniums they are 

 much troubled with it and must be con 

 stantly and regularly fumigated. To 

 bacco does not hurt them in the least, 

 so there is no excuse for their being 

 injured by greenfly. 



The old plants that were cut down 

 in September should be kept in the full 

 light, but quite dry for two or three 

 weeks; by that time they will have made 

 a great many small shoots or breaks 

 from the ripened wood. When the 

 growth is quite small, say in three weeks 

 from time you cut them down, shake off 

 all the soil, shorten back the long roots, 

 and repot in a size smaller pot than 

 they were growing in, and start grow 

 ing with the same treatment as you 

 give the young plants. These old 

 plants need not be stopped or pinched 

 at all, and if kept growing in a light, 



Tree Peony Queen Elizabeth. 



warm house, can be had in flower by 

 April 1. They can be used as one of 

 our Easter plants, although there are 

 many other plants that are to be pre 

 ferred. 



Pelargoniums can be rooted during 

 winter most easily, but except where 

 you are short of some variety there is 

 no need of it, as you get plenty of 

 stock when cutting down the . plants in 

 September. 



There has been a great improvement 

 in the pelargonium the last thirty years, 

 and what is known as the regal type, 

 almost a semi-double with fringed 

 petals, is very handsome, but not so 

 easily grown and flowered as the older 

 type. 



It is difficult to find a list of varie 

 ties published in any of our florists 

 catalogues, showing that these plants 

 have been supplanted in popular favor 

 by many less worthy of a fine name 

 and long description; and it is the great 

 beauty and grand qualities of the zonal 

 geraniums that have done this. 



Of the show flowers we recall: Crim 

 son King, an early red; Gen. Taylor, 

 same color, but brighter and an improve 

 ment; Desdemona, an early, free flow 

 ering white; Lord Clyde, scarlet, with 

 maroon blotch; Ketreat, rose, white 

 center. 



Of the semi-double flowers some of 

 the best known are: Capt. Eaikes, 

 bright crimson; Dr. Masters, dark ma 

 roon; Maid of Kent, white, spotted 

 rose; Queen Victoria, orange carmine, 

 white edges; Madame Thibaut, white 

 ground, richly marbled with rose, a 

 very free and beautiful variety; Mrs. 

 Sandiford is identical in habit, but a 

 fine semi-double white. 



The fancy pelargoniums have smaller 

 leaves and smaller flowers, but borne 

 in the greatest profusion. The plants 

 have a neat, compact habit, and we have 

 found them to be grand window plants. 

 They want a little higher temperature 

 than the show section. The best time 

 to propagate them is in January or 

 February from the young growths, when 

 they root most easily and will make 

 small flowering plants the same summer. 

 They want less drying off when cutting 

 back in August, and don t cut them as 

 severely as the larger growing kinds. 

 The fancy section has a longer period 

 of flowering. They are most desirable 

 plants and there is of late a returning 

 taste for them. 



There are innumerable varieties, but I 

 am not acquainted with the newer ones 

 except the grand variety Bridesmaid, 

 which with many is called the pansy 

 geranium; upper petals lavender, lower 

 white. It is a most beautiful plant 

 and we frequently see them in the win 

 dows of the village home flowering for 

 months. Any of the fancy flowers are 

 fine and the few varieties of the other 

 sections mentioned are merely what I 

 remember; there are hundreds of varie 

 ties. 



As a bedding plant the pelargonium 

 is of no use, but as a market plant, 

 to be sold to those whose gardening is 

 confined to the window, it must again 

 come into popular favor. 



