ON GERANIUMS 183 



mainly, if not wholly, from Pelargonium lateripes, a 

 species with light purple flowers, which was introduced 

 in 1787. They form charming bedding plants, as the 

 foliage is attractive, the plants ramble freely, and the 

 flowers are brilliant. They may also be grown in stone 

 vases and baskets. Few things look better in pedestal 

 vases on steps or terraces. They are also admirable for 

 pot culture. 



Zonal and Ivy-leaved Geraniums alike grow too 

 strongly to bloom well in rich soil and shady situations. 

 They should be grown in unmanured, or very lightly 

 manured, soil, in order to keep down their inclination 

 to rankness. As a chalk-soil gardener I cannot but 

 consider them with gratitude, and would not be without 

 them. Even in a narrow south border under a house 

 wall I can have months of beautiful blossom by the 

 simple expedient of taking out a foot of chalk, and 

 substituting loam from decayed turves loam none too 

 good in quality, and by no means calculated to satisfy 

 an aspirant to exhibition honours with Roses and 

 Chrysanthemums, but fertile enough for the Geraniums. 

 These accommodating plants will grow, indeed, almost 

 anywhere, and it is a foolish gardener who refuses to 

 admit them, for no other reason than that somebody 

 else grew too many of them twenty years ago. 



From Seed. Can Zonal Geraniums be grown from 

 seed ? Assuredly, and flowered in four months to boot. 

 All the larger seedsmen sell selected strains, which will 

 give flowers of good form and colour. The seed could 

 be sown in a pan or box of sandy soil in spring, and 

 placed on the shelf of a warm greenhouse, or in a 

 heated frame. When the plants were an inch high 

 they could be set out, four inches apart, in a shallow 

 box, and kept close to the glass. When they began 



