136 



Commercial Gardening 



amabilis are two of the very best for market at the present time. One 

 may, however, anticipate new varieties of other shades, and mention 

 may be made of one called "La Patrie", which has large leaves, and 

 rather small but numerous flowers of an extraordinary brick-red colour. 

 One called "The King" is something like the typical Lorraine; while 

 another called " Concurrency " is a Continental sport of some merit. 



Messrs. T. Rochford & Sons have also a remarkably free-flowering 

 double form of Lorraine which remains in continuous blossom for six 

 months. 



The great advantage of the Lorraine Begonias as market plants is 

 that they are readily raised from cuttings, easily grown during the 



summer months, flower from 

 October to March and April, and, 

 being so graceful in habit and 

 pleasing in colour, they sell 

 readily. 



BEDDING BEGONIAS. Quite dis- 

 tinct from the Tuberous and Lor- 

 raine Begonias a large trade is 

 done in early summer in certain 

 fibrous-rooted kinds, one of the 

 principal being known as semper- 

 florens. There are now numerous 

 varieties of this, all easily raised 

 from seeds or cuttings. They are 

 dwarf and compact in habit, and 

 produce their rather small flowers 

 * n g reat abundance. They are 



<ig.266.-Begoniaiiex valuable for edging beds and 



borders, and for making a carpet 



in beds beneath standard or half -standard plants like Fuchsias, Heliotropes, 

 Abutilons, Acacias, &c., during the summer months. The foliage of some 

 varieties assumes deep crimson or purple shades during the season, as in 

 Vernon or Crimson Gem. Some good forms are carminea gigantea, rosea 

 gigantea, alba, Princess Beatrice, Duchess of Edinburgh, magnifica, &c. 

 Other fibrous-rooted Begonias useful for bedding purposes are Abundance, 

 pink; Afterglow, rose carmine; and ascotensis, rose red. 



WINTER-FLOWERING BEGONIAS. Although not yet a market grower's 

 plant, it is possible that in the course of time the beautiful varieties of 

 winter-flowering Begonias that have been raised by crossing and inter- 

 crossing B. socotrana with modern forms of the tuberous Begonia will 

 become so. These Begonias somewhat resemble dwarf, sturdy, and com- 

 pact-growing forms of the tuberous Begonia, with single, semi -double, 

 and double flowers varying in colour from pink to deep-purple pink, 

 rose, cerise, &c. They are all sterile, like the Lorraine section, and must 

 therefore be raised from cuttings. Some of the best forms at present 



