THE GERANIUM 



the habit of this plant to bloom only on its new 

 growth; therefore there will be but one truss 

 of bloom to a branch at a time, and the plant 

 that has few branches is limited in its capacity 

 for flower-production. The necessity for keep- 

 ing up branch-production until the foundation 

 of a good flowering plant is formed will there- 

 fore be readily understood. 



The owner of a Geranium ought not to lose 

 sight of the fact that proper training should 

 be given while the plant is developing. You 

 cannot take it in hand, after it has been grow- 

 ing for a year or more to suit itself, and make 

 a satisfactory plant of it. With many other 

 plants this can be done, but the Geranium is 

 not tractable enough for that. It must be 

 trained as it goes along. 



The idea seems to prevail extensively that 

 only young plants are desirable for winter 

 flowering. Such is not the case. Young plants 

 are good, as far as they go, but they don't go 

 far enough. In other words, they haven't 

 enough branches to give the effect this plant is 

 capable of when at its best. Plants two, three, 

 and four years old are far superior to young 

 ones for winter use. This is because of their 

 many branches, which means greater flowering 



178 



