TENDER BEDDING PLANTS 321 



And the fact that they have been developed with an eye rather to 

 the winter conservatory than the summer garden must not lead to 

 the assumption that they are useless out of doors. Many of them 

 are quite suitable for the garden. 



Town and suburban gardeners are still very partial to the 

 Zonal. They grow it in their little plots and on their window 

 ledges. What braver, brighter flower is there for a box in a 

 hot place than the Zonal? What more useful plant for a sun- 

 scorched border? The country cottager uses it too, and so does 

 the farmer. The latter does not generally study flower gardening 

 very closely. He has other fish to fry. As long as he is suc- 

 cessful with his cattle, he does not mind being told that he is 

 behind the times with his flowers. He will put in a ribbon 

 border quite cheerfully to this very day. 



Let us, hoping for still more good from the bright, cheerful, 

 and enticing effect of the Zonal Geranium, take it quite seriously 

 as a bedding plant even in these days of hardy flowers. Let us 

 recognise that it is a force still eminently worthy of attention. 

 We will not suggest that beds should be filled with it, nor even 

 that ribbon borders of the time-honoured red, yellow, and blue 

 should be formed, but we will hint that a few colonies of good 

 Zonals say clumps of a dozen plants might very well be arranged 

 in mixed borders. Again, there are hot, dry borders under walls 

 which often go bare because of the difficulty of finding plants that 

 will endure the poverty and aridity. If strong, well-rooted Zonals 

 are put out and given a few waterings, the chances are that they 

 will thrive, and flower brilliantly for several months. Further, 

 there may be tubs or vases to fill. This is not exactly bedding, 

 but it comes near it. 



Zonal Geraniums are generally planted in spring, and at that 

 period they are undeniably tender, although it takes more than a 

 slight frost to kill them in autumn, when the stems have grown 

 thick and woody. The spring plants have been made tender by 



