Pansy 



( 159) 



Pansy 



with all. The improvement in the plants knowu 

 in nan lutis as Violas or Tufted Pansies, has caused 

 the plants to largely supersede the Pansy for show 

 and bedding purposes. Yet vigorous seedling 

 Pansies are capital bedding plants, especially if 

 treated as biennials. It is generally admitted that 

 the florist's Pansy is derived from the native Viola 

 tricolor, though some consider it is of hybrid 

 origin. Exhibition Pansies are divided into two 

 sections, the Show and the Fancy. The fine 

 blooms given, by the latter have greatly reduced 

 the popularity of the Show flowers, which are 



summer. Pansies from seed may either be raised 

 by sowing in heat in February, pricking off into a 

 cold frame in April and planting out in May to 

 bloom in summer or autumn ; or by sowing in a cold 

 frame or in the open ground in July to flower the 

 following spring. 



Soil. Fresh, loamy soil, deeply dug and 

 manured, preferably with cow manure, will grow 

 the Pansy well. 



Other Cultural Points. For show purposes 

 Pansies require a great deal of attention. When 

 the plants are in frames aphides must be watched 



PANUANUS VEITCHII (fee p. 158). 



divided into Selfs and White- and Yellow-grounds. 

 Selfs have the flowers black, maroon, primrose, 

 white, or yellow. White- or Yellow-grounds have a 

 dark central blotch round the eye, and a band or 

 margin of maroon, purple, or bronze. Fancy 

 Pansies are distinguished by a wonderfully 

 beautiful variety of colour, and are blotched, 

 margined, or flamed. A number of fine strains of 

 bedding Pansies are in cultivation, and separate 

 colours can often be raised from selected strains, 

 Trimardeau, Peacock, and Odier's Five-Spotted 

 are good Pansies where showy flowers are wanted. 

 Propagation. Cuttings of side growths, free from 

 hollow stems if possible, are taken off below a 

 joint and put into frames of light soil in August 

 or September, where they have plenty of air after 

 being rooted and where they remain until March, 

 or they may be planted in their flowering beds in 



for; and a solution of soft soap, composed of 14 oz. 

 of soap to each gallon of water, may be applied 

 while the plants are not in bloom once a fortnight 

 or so with a syringe. In dry weather the plants 

 must be well watered, the foliage as well as the 

 roots receiving the fluid. An occasional dusting 

 of the soil with guano, soot, or other fertiliser is 

 beneficial if watered into the soil. The plants also 

 need to be shaded from scorching sun with tiffany, 

 and choice blooms- need covering with bent tin 

 or pasteboard to throw off rain and sunshine. 

 Pansies ought to be thinned, if fine blooms are 

 desired, by leaving only three or four branches on a 

 plant, with one bloom on each. Bedding Pansies 

 can be grown with less trouble, but the beautiful 

 exhibition varieties are worthy of special care. 

 The latter are usually exhibited now on tin stands 

 or trays. 



