Gardening for Amateurs 



377 



flll About the Pansy 



THE Pansy, or Heartsease, of our 

 gardens is a descendant of Viola 

 tricolor, a familiar wild plant often 

 found in the cornfields of our own country. 

 From such a small beginning the florists, 

 through years of patient toil, have given 

 us plants of great beauty and useful- 

 ness that are valuable in large and small 

 gardens alike. As the Pansy is a per- 

 fectly hardy plant, its cultivation provides 

 a hobby for the possessor of a small garden, 

 where, without even the aid of a frame, 

 flowers may be enjoyed from April until 

 November, or even longer providing the 

 weather is favourable. The fortunate pos- 

 sessor of a frame and several bell-glasses or 

 hand-lights can tend and cultivate the Show 

 and Fancy Pansies to perfection. There 

 are three distinct sections of the Pansy : 

 the Show, or English Pansy ; the Fancy, or 

 Belgian Pansy ; and the Bedding Pansy, or 

 Viola. The last-named flowers are dealt 

 with in a separate article. 



The Show Pansy. The Show Pansies 

 are divided into three classes those of self- 

 colouring ; those marked with colours on 

 a white ground ; and others with colour 

 markings on a yellow ground. The Selfs, 

 as the name suggests, are those having 

 blooms of one colour ; this may be white, 

 yellow, blue, black, or of any intermediate 

 shade. The white ground varieties are 

 white or cream, with a large dark centre, 

 and edged with blue, purple, maroon, or 

 some allied shade of colour. The yellow 

 grounds have a large dark centre, surrounded 

 by some shade of yellow and an edging of 

 reddish-maroon, bronze, or orange-red. The 

 following is a selection of the best varieties 

 of Show Pansies : Selfs : Allan Primrose, 

 primrose ; Beauty, dark plum ; Fame, 

 cream ; Alexander Scott, blue, dense blotch ; 

 Harry Paul, mauve purple ; Isabel, dark 

 blue ; James Bell, yellow ; Major Ferguson, 

 dark maroon ; Maud Stewart, pure white ; 

 Thomas Ritchie, dark purple ; William 

 Fulton, dark maroon. In giving the colours 

 of the yellow grounds and white grounds 

 it is only necessary to mention the colour 



of the belting, the other part of the flower 

 being white or yellow as the case may be, 

 with a dark centre. White Grounds : Con- 

 stance, rich violet ; Cupid, purple ; Liberty, 

 plum purple ; Miss Jesse Foote, purple ; 

 Miss Jeannie Xicol, purple ; Mrs. Malcolm 

 Stewart, purple ; splendida, purple. Yellow 

 Grounds : Busby Gem, purple ; Charm, 

 chocolate ; Dr. Campbell, purple ; Emin- 

 ence, bronzy -chocolate ; Evelyn, bronze ; 

 Juno, bronzy-crimson ; Ladysmith, choco- 

 late ; Maceo, bronzy-red. 



The Fancy, or Belgian Pansy. Varieties 

 of this are more popular at the present day 

 than those of the Show section. The name 

 Belgian Pansy still clings to this section, 

 owing to the fact that the first sorts were 

 raised in Belgium and France about fifty 

 years ago. Most of the leading modern 

 sorts of Fancy Pansies have been raised in 

 this country. Named varieties are numer- 

 ous ; a representative collection such as 

 catalogued by a dealer who makes a speciality 

 of these flowers would contain at least two 

 hundred names. Fancy Pansies are noted 

 for their large size and rich and varied 

 colours. The several shades in one flower 

 associate to produce blooms of exquisite 

 beauty and rich tinting. As will be noticed 

 in the following descriptions, the shades of 

 colour are extremely varied, white, yellow, 

 gold, orange, chocolate, purple, blue, mauve, 

 crimson, red, maroon, and violet all being 

 represented. 



The Best Fancy Pansies. A. H. Mur- 

 ray, black blotches, laced rose and white, 

 top petals crimson and white ; Amelia H. 

 Martin, pale yellow ground, purple blotches ; 

 David Wilson, crimson purple blotches, 

 edged crimson and white ; Emmie Bateman, 

 yellow ground, brownish-purple blotches, 

 upper petals purple ; James Dodds, violet 

 blotches and markings, white ground ; John 

 .Mylrs dark blotches, laced crimson and 

 white, upper petals crimson and white ; 

 John Picker, dark blotches, edged bronzy- 

 yi'llow and rose ; Marmion, violet blotches, 

 I-M-V-U hit<- lacing, top petals lavender tinted ; 

 Miss A. B. Brown Douglas, dark blotches, 



