ON GERANIUMS 179 



ing its stems throughout the year, whereas the true 

 Geraniums are herbaceous, dying down to the root in 

 autumn. The leaf had the distinguishing band, and the 

 flowers were scarlet. But the form was very different 

 from that which we see in the best modern varieties. If 

 the reader examines the flowers of a Pelargonium species 

 he sees that the petals vary in size and are narrow ; the 

 upper petals are larger than the lower ones. Such were 

 the flowers of the first scarlet Geranium. Compare the 

 old type with the modern variety. All the petals in the 

 latter are so nearly equal in size that it is impossible to 

 see any difference between them ; they are rounded, they 

 overlap each other. Thus, instead of a " truss " (for 

 such the flower head is called) showing gaps, it is an 

 unbroken ring. The beauty of the plant is enhanced 

 greatly by the change, which has been brought about 

 entirely by the efforts of the florists. They have patiently 

 selected good types and raised improved varieties by 

 cross-fertilisation year after year, until they have given 

 us an altogether superior plant. 



In due course the public began to take an interest in 

 the improved Zonal Geraniums. Gardeners discovered 

 that the plant had a great fund of vitality, which made 

 it grow in almost any circumstances short of frosty 

 weather, that it bloomed with remarkable persistence, 

 and that the colours were very brilliant. So they began 

 to fuss over it. At first, no doubt, they valued it as a 

 greenhouse plant, and they would like it more and more 

 when they discovered how well adapted it was for winter 

 flowering. But presently they tried it as a summer 

 bedding plant, and found it extremely useful in the open 

 air, where, so long as the weather was warm, it grew and 

 flowered for several months without a break. A craze 

 for "bedding out" and ribbon borders followed, and 



