THE FLORISTS' MANUAL. 



179 



wetting the leaves if the weather is 

 damp and cool. 



The soil should be a good coarse, 

 turfy loam, with a fourth or fifth of 

 decayed manure, and when they are 

 in 5 or 6-inch pots, or larger, give 

 them a crock and piece of moss for 

 drainage, as they never want a wet, 

 soggy soil. From a 4-inch to their 

 flowering pot they should be always 

 potted quite firmly; this is a matter 

 of great importance. 



Pelargoniums will thrive in a very 

 cool house during winter. I would 



quite small, say in three weeks from 

 time you cut them down, shake off all 

 the soil, shorten back the long roots, 

 and repot in a size smaller pot than 

 they were growing in, and start grow- 

 ing with the same treatment as you 

 give the young plants. These old 

 plants need not be stopped or pinched 

 at all, and if kept growing in a light, 

 warm house, can be had in flower by 

 April 1st. They can be used as one 

 of our Easter plants, although there 

 are many other plants that are pre- 

 ferred. 



Peperomia Saundersii (P. arifolia argyreia). 



say that from middle of November to 

 first of March 45 degrees at night was 

 just what suited them, and 50 degrees 

 at night by fire heat is enough at any 

 time. The principal thing to avoid 

 is dampness, and in May, when in 

 bloom, if we get a cold, wet spell, es- 

 pecially if there is a shade on the 

 house, you must drive out the damp- 

 ness by fire heat or you will lose the 

 blooms. 



There is nothing troubles them but 

 aphis, but unlike the common gera- 

 niums they are much troubled with it 

 and must be constantly and regularly 

 fumigated. Tobacco does' not hurt 

 them in. the least, so there is no ex- 

 cuse for their being injured by green 



fly. 



The old plants that were cut down 

 in August or September should be 

 kept in the full light but quite dry 

 for two or three weeks; by that time 

 they will have made a great many 

 small shoots or breaks from the 

 ripened wood. When the growth is 



Pelargoniums can bs rooted during 

 winter most easily, but except where 

 you are short of some variety there is 

 no need of it, as you get plenty of 

 stock when cutting down the plants in 

 August. 



There has been a great improvement 

 in the pelargonium the past thirty 

 years, and what is known as the Regal 

 type, almost a semi-double with 

 fringed petals, is very handsome, but 

 not so easily grown and flowered as 

 the older type. 



It is difficult to find a list of varie- 

 ties published in any of our florists' 

 catalogues, showing that these plants 

 have been supplanted in popular favor 

 by many less worthy of a fine name 

 and long description; and it is the 

 great beauty and grand qualities of 

 thie zonal geraniums that have done 

 this. 



Of the Show flowers we recall: 

 Crimson King, an early red; Gen. 

 Taylor, same color, but brighter and 

 an improvement; Desdemona, an 



early free flowering white; Lord Clyde, 

 scarlet, with maroon blotch; Retreat, 

 rose, white center. 



Of the semi-double flowers some of 

 the best known are: Capt. Raikes, 

 bright crimson; Dr. Masters, dark ma- 

 roon; Maid of Kent, white, spotted 

 rose; Queen Victoria, orange carmine, 

 white edges; Madame Thibaut, white 

 ground, richly marbled with rose, a 

 very free and beautiful variety; Mrs. 

 Sandiford is identical in habit, but a 

 fine semi-double white. 



The fancy pelargoniums have small- 

 er leaves and smaller flowers, but 

 born in the greatest profusion. The 

 plant has a neat, compact habit, and 

 we have found them to be a grand 

 window plant. They want a little 

 higher temperature than the Show 

 section. The best time to propagate 

 them is in January or February from 

 the young growths, when they root 

 most easily and will make small flow- 

 ering plants the same summer. They 

 want less drying off when cutting 

 back in August, and don't cut them as 

 severely as the larger growing kinds. 

 The Fancy section has a longer period 

 of flowering. They are a most desir- 

 able plant and there is of late a re- 

 turning taste for them. 



There are innumerable varieties, 

 but I am not acquainted with the 

 newer ones except the grand variety 

 Bridesmaid, which with many is called 

 the Pansy Geranium; upper petals lav- 

 ender, lower white. It is a most beau- 

 tiful plant and we frequently see them 

 in the windows of the village home 

 flowering for months. Any of the 

 Fancy flowers are fine and the few 

 varieties of the other sections men- 

 tioned are merely what I remember; 

 there are hundreds of varieties. 



As a bedding plant the pelargonium 

 is of no use, but as a market plant, to 

 be sold to those whose gardening is 

 confined to the window, it must again 

 come into popular favor. 



PEPEROMIA. 



This is a very large genus contain- 

 ing hundreds of species. Those best 

 known and most useful to the florist 

 are P. maculosa, P. marmorata, P. 

 pubifolia and P. Saundersii (often 

 known as P. arifolia argyreia). They 

 are from tropical South America, 

 which stamps them as plants that like 

 heat, but they endure a greenhouse 

 temperature for weeks without any ap- 

 parent harm. A pan of these beautiful 

 little plants is very attractive and their 

 fleshy, succulent leaves enable them to 

 withstand the dry air of a living room 

 better than the vast majority of our 

 plants. 



They need shade in the summer but 

 none in the winter and should never 

 be kept too wet. A lumpy loose soil 

 with a mixture of broken charcoal, or 

 even broken crocks, will suit them 

 well, and a pan three or four inches 

 deep is better for them than a deep 

 pot. The best specimen of P. maculosa 

 I ever saw was growing on a rock- 



