CULTURE OF FAVORITE PLANTS. 



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)LA tricolor, from the triple color of the blossoms, is the 

 ■.Liciititic name of the Pansy, which itself seems to have been 

 tleiived from the French pensee, a thought, from its habit of hanging 

 Its head as if in a pensive or thoughtful attitude. They are among 

 oui earliest spring flowers, and are sometimes forced in hotbeds for 

 m.u ket long before the grass makes its appearance. They are sold 

 in pots to decorate window boxes, but in the house they do well only 

 -hoit tnne, as their juicy leaves soon become feasting field- for the green- 

 iich IS very hard to subdue on these dwarf plants. To be at all success- 

 must have all the air that can be admitted, and not too much sun. To 

 jate from seed for spring blooming, they should be sown late in August 

 or early in September; for midsummer and tall blooming, they should be 

 sow 11 In spring. To produce large flowers they require a rich soil and a partially shaded 

 -.itiuitioii where thev will escape the noonday heat and receive a few hours of the morn- 

 ing or afternoon ravs. They mav be increased or propagated bj- cuttings, layers, or 

 divisions of the root. Cuttings are taken about the second spring or fall month. These 

 arc much better than the older plants, which are usually woody and hollqw, and are best 

 rooted in light, sandy soil in a shady place, being covered with a bell-glass or oiled paper. 

 They should be set an inch or more deep, with the earth firmly placed around them. 

 The varieties are numerous, amounting to several hundred. Seeds should be sown soon 

 after gathering, as thev deteriorate in keeping. Layering is done as described elsewhere. 



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^^^ ELARGOXIl'MS (from the Greek pdargos, a stork, because of 

 ^ the resemblance <if the beaked seed to a stork's bill) are plants allied 

 to the Geraniums, constituting a genus of that family and embrac- 

 ing three hundred species, and are occasionally called Fancy Gera- 

 niums, of which one of the most popular is known as the Lady 

 Washington. All the Pelargoniums are shrubby or hard-wooded, 

 .pi the shoots that bear the blossoms. The flowers, which appear in trusses, 

 \ariiui-l\ iiiarkc-il, either ilarkly \eiiic(l. or with the upper petals differing 

 lower, or sliaded from a deep tone to a lighter, as from almost black 

 to scarlet, and so on through cherry, crimson, lilac, white and pink. They 

 are among our handsomest, most delicate and showy flowers. So singularly 

 picturesque arc the markings in different varieties of the Pelargoniums that they have 

 been named Clown, Pantaloon and Harlequin, the flowers resembling the typical costumes 

 of these well-known, popular characters. They never thrive so well when placed in the 

 garden, except when retained in the pots in which they are grown, and plunged in the 

 ground; for, if the roots get too much room, the plant grows almost entirely to foliage. 



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