574 GERARDIA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



Geraniums are hardy, easily cultivated, 

 and grow in ordinary soil. The pretty 

 rock-garden kinds, G. cinereum and G. 

 argenteum, are charming alpine plants, 

 and, unlike stout perennials, they must be 

 associated with very dwarf rock-plants. 

 All the Geraniums are increased by seed, 

 and with the exception perhaps of the 

 G. cinereum, and G. argenteum, all are 

 freely multiplied by division. 



GERARDIA. I have never, either in 

 gardens or in the wild land or in the 

 Alpine mountains, where beauty of plant 

 life is at its highest, seen anything that 

 struck me more than a Gerardia I once 

 met with in the roadside in New Jersey, 

 growing abundantly here and there, like 

 a little tree inhabit, 15 in. to 18 in. high, 

 bearing most graceful miniature Pent- 

 stemon-like flowers, but far more refined 

 in colour and distinct in form than any 

 Pentstemon. Naturally I asked why 

 such a plant was not in cultivation, and 

 learnt that the Gerardias are mostly 

 parasites on the roots of other plants. In 

 spite of this, I brought home some seed 

 of one or two kinds and sowed it where I 

 thought it would have some chance, but 

 nothing ever came of it. There are a 

 number of kinds in America, and some of 

 the plants are pretty, but hitherto they 

 seemed to have resisted all attempts at 

 cultivation. Gerardia is a genus called 

 after John Gerard, who wrote the famous 

 Herbal in the time of Queen Elizabeth, 

 and is as a group of the highest interest. 

 I hope that some of them may be intro- 

 duced. G. temiifolia is a species long 

 known, which thrives in the open, and 

 forms charming tufts covered with pretty 

 flowers in summer. It is dwarf and bushy 

 in habit, light and graceful effect with its 

 numerous pale blue flowers. 



GERBEKA. G.Jamesoni is a curious 

 perennial, hardy in southern counties, 

 but too tender for northerly places. 

 Its leathery dark-green leaves are 

 arranged in a rosette, and the flower 

 head glowing scarlet. Where it cannot 

 be grown in the border, it should be 

 placed in pots in the greenhouse, in which 

 it succeeds well. At*Kew the plant is 

 grown in a mixture of loam, peat, and 

 sand, and is watered as one would water 

 a Cineraria. It is kept in a sunny, airy 

 greenhouse all the year round. S. Africa. 



GEUM. Dwarf handsome perennial 

 herbs, G. montanum being one of the 

 best of the dwarf kinds for the rock-gar- 

 den, and very beautiful when well estab- 

 lished in early spring. It has a compact 

 habit, the leaves lying close on the ground, 

 the erect stems of solitary clear yellow 



flowers being abundant. It likes plenty of 

 moisture. G. reptans is also a pretty rock- 

 plant, differing from G. montanum in its 

 finely cut leaves, large flowers, and in pro- 

 ducingstolons, which are absent in G. mon- 

 tanum. There is a variety, however, of the 

 latter, which is by far the most ornamental 

 plant of the European kinds. It is of a very 

 vigorous habit, with large, fine leaves, and 

 bears freely deep yellow flowers on each 

 stem. This form was cultivated in the 

 Liverpool Botanic Garden over twenty 

 years, and is said to be of garden 

 origin. 



G. chiloense. A double-flowered form 

 of this was figured in The Garden, 

 December 2 ist, 1878, under the name of 

 G. coccineum fl.-pl., an erroneous name, 

 under which it is known in many gardens. 

 A very large-flowered variety, under the 

 name of G. chiloense grandiflorum, was 

 figured in the Botanical Register, vol. xvi., 

 t. 1348. This I think is one of the best 

 single-floweredforms in the genus, and does 

 not seem to have altered much since the 

 above-mentioned plate was drawn. At 

 t. 1088 of the same work another plant is 

 figured as G. coccineum, but this does not 

 at all agree with the original figure in 

 Sibthorp's Flora Grcsca, t. 485, and may 

 be taken to represent as nearly as possible 

 the typical G. chiloense. A native of 

 Chiloe, introduced to cultivation some- 

 where about 1826. 



G. chiloense var. grandiflorum (syn., 

 coccineum grandiflorum} is a magnificent 

 border plant, its dazzling scarlet flowers 

 and bold habit making it a favourite with 

 all who love brilliant patches in their 

 mixed borders. The double-flowered form 

 of this, however, seems to be a more 

 general favourite, the blooms lasting 

 longer, though I think they lack the 

 elegance of those of the simpler form. 

 They begin to expand soon after May and 

 continue until October. 



G. chiloense var. miniatum. This 

 plant, figured in The Garden in 1890, is 

 said to have originated in the nursery of 

 Robert Parker at Tooting, and was 

 named by him G. miniatum. Another 

 plant known as the Altrincham variety, 

 or G. hybridum, was raised about the 

 same time, but unless in the flowers being 

 brighter, I see no difference. But there 

 can be no question as to the value of this 

 plant, its robust constitution standing it in 

 good stead in almost every kind of soil, 

 and enabling it to be propagated with the 

 greatest facility by cutting the tufts in 

 pieces. It flowers from April until the 

 end of July, and when doing well often 

 attains a height of from 2 ft. to 3 ft. 



