252 THE CULTURE OF FLOWERS FROM SEEDS 



not leave them alone ; they evidently regard Pansy buds as the 

 perfection of a winter salad. Their depredations can be prevented 

 by an application of water flavoured with quassia or paraffin oil, which 

 must be repeated after rain. 



PELARGONIUM 



Stores-bill. Greenhouse perennial 



ALL kinds of Pelargonium may be raised from seed with the cer- 

 tainty of giving satisfaction if the work be well done. An amateur, 

 who contributed to the production of symmetrical circular flowers 

 in the Zonal section, found that by very simple cultivation Zonals 

 began to bloom in one hundred days from the date of sowing the 

 seed, and some of those that flowered earliest proved to be the 

 finest. However, as regards this point, the cultivator will soon dis- 

 cover that there is only one rule, and that is to have seed of the best 

 and wait for results. The simplest greenhouse culture suffices to 

 raise Pelargoniums from seed. Some growers sow in July or 

 August ; others in January or February. The summer sowing ne- 

 cessitates careful winter keeping, and the flowers appear earlier than 

 those from spring-sown seed. But the spring sowing is the easier to 

 manage, and is recommended to all beginners. Any light, sandy 

 loam will serve for these plants, and it is well to flower the principal 

 bulk of them in 48- and 3 2 -sized pots, for if grown to a great 

 size the date of flowering is deferred without any corresponding 

 advantage. 



PENTSTEMON 



Hardy perennial 



PENTSTEMONS are treated as advised for herbaceous Lobelias. It is 

 not needful, therefore, to keep any of them through the winter unless 

 they will take care of themselves in the open border. As a rule, the 

 seedling Pentstemons are hardy, and will scarcely feel the winter on 

 a comparatively dry soil. 



