Zonule Geraniums. 163 



for ribbon-lines or for massing. Garibaldi., which we place next, is the' 

 most dwarf of any scarlet we have seen ; rarely exceeding six inches in 

 height, but retaining its foliage and vigor in the hottest weather : the flow- 

 ers are equally compact, and are borne on footstalks so short, that they 

 seem to be enveloped in the leaves, giving to this variety an appearance 

 particularly rich and novel. It is unsurpassed for pot-culture. 



Crimson. — There are fewer varieties of this shade, perhaps, than of any 

 of the others ; and, in profusion of bloom, they are hardly equal to the 

 scarlets. Leondis is one of the best, being short-jointed, with small foliage ; 

 flowers light crimson, very large, and of fine substance, borne in dense 

 corymbs five inches in diameter. Napoleon is of a darker shade, partak- 

 ing a little of the nosegay type : the flowers are conspicuously marked with 

 a white spot at the base of each petal. Ossian, a well-known variety of 

 great merit ; flowers bright crimson, large, and finely formed : this variety 

 is one of the best winter-blooming sorts. 



Double Varieties. — These have been introduced for the past three seasons, 

 but 5'et only number four or five sorts, of great similarity in growth and in 

 the color of the flowers. Rariunailc^/iora, one of the first, is perfectly 

 double, of a dark shade of scarlet. Triomphe de Gregoritta is a dazzling 

 light scarlet, but only semi-double. Glorie de Nancy., the finest of the 

 class, is a crimson ; flowers double and symmetrical, one inch in diameter. 

 All the double varieties yet belong to the coarse-growing, large-foliaged 

 section ; and partly for this reason, and partly, perhaps, from their 

 double character, they are comparatively \alueless as effiective bedding- 

 plants, but have been greatly prized as curious novelties. Should we be 

 fortunate enough to obtain double varieties from the dwarfer types, — which 

 there is good reason to hope, — we may anticipate far better results. 



Striped Varieties. — It is a curious circumstance, that in almost all florists' 

 flowers, such as dahlias, petunias, verbenas, the striped varieties only appear 

 after all other conditions of marking have long been introduced. The 

 zonale geraniums seem to be no exception to this rule ; for although we 

 have had for many years every shade of color from white to red, with many 

 styles of centre-marking, yet 1866, for the first time, developed a striped 

 flower of carmine and white, which has been named Incomparable. Others 

 of different shades of striping were raised last season in England, but all 



