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BIG BUG OF THE 



BEDDING PLANTS 



-4s bedding plants and as inexpensive pot plants for spring holiday 

 sale, geraniums have had a strong demand this spring. In planning to grow 

 them another year you will want the assistance of the cultural information 

 in this article. Keep it for reference after you have read it. 



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EEANIUMS have been 

 what is colloquially known 

 as "good property" this 

 spring. For reasons not 

 easily ascertainable in a 

 time of depression in all 

 other lines of business, 

 bedding plant sales have 

 been the best ever en- 

 joyed by florists. They 

 are, the country over, cleaned up as 

 closely as the trade could wish. Nor 

 was the supply markedly short, except 

 in comparison with a strong demand. 

 Though the demand for cut flowers has 

 caused some growers to begrudge space 

 to plants for bedding, nevertheless the 

 number of inquiries concerned with the 

 culture of geraniums 

 in particular which 

 have been received 

 this spring in the office 

 of The Review indi- 

 cate that many new 

 hands were engaged in 

 preparing batches of 

 .stock for this season's 

 business. To satisfy 

 many requests, general 

 cultural directions for 

 this most popular bed- 

 cling plant are pre- 

 sented here. 



Types. 



The geranium needs 

 no introduction, for if 

 there is a plant known 

 universally, it is the 

 geranium. Within 

 thirty years an im- 

 m e n s e improvement 

 has taken place, both 

 in the habit of the 

 plant and in the form 

 and color of the flower. 

 The earliest double 

 ones were a Curiosity 

 when they first came 

 out, but they were so 

 double that they were 

 of little use, and now 

 a form called semi-double has entirely 

 displaced them. The semi-doubles have 

 this advantage, that the petals are not 

 knocked ofE by a rain storm. But they 

 liave also a disadvantage: Some of the 

 varieties, although excellent growers 

 and remarkably free-flowering, become 

 unsightly by the inner florets' losing 

 color or decaying before the outside 

 florets have opened. 



The single varieties are still most use- 

 ful for bedding. The ivy-leaved sec- 

 tion has been improved as much as the 

 zonals, kaving beautiful semi-double 



flowers, and now we have double flowers 

 on the bronze and variegated type. 

 Some of the variegated kinds, such as 

 the useful Mountain of Snow, are as 

 vigorous as the zonals, and so are the 

 yellow and bronze varieties, but those 

 of the tricolor type are less robust. 



Mme. Salleroi is a type of itself, form- 

 ing no stems, but a mass of short shoots 

 spring from the crown and the plant 

 makes a compact little clump, especially 

 suitable for edging. 



Propagation. 



All the geraniums are botanically 

 known as pelargoniums, but the name 

 geranium is so firmly and popularly as- 

 sociated with these plants that it would 



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Geraniums that Make a Grower Glad. 



be absurd to write of them under the 

 much less familiar name of pelar- 

 gonium. 



When planting out for your own 

 stock, give the plants plenty of room 

 to grow. If you crowd them, the 

 growths will be soft and unsuitable for 

 cuttings. Unless the season is excep- 

 tionally dry, geraniums seldom want 

 water, but, if you must water, give them 

 a thorough soaking and then hoe before 

 the ground bakes. Keep all flowers 

 picked off as soon as they are fully 

 developed; the removal of the flowers 



will encourage the plants to grow. 

 About September 1 take off the first 

 batch of cuttings and pot them firmly 

 in 214-inch pots. A coldframe will do 

 for the cuttings, but an ordinary bench 

 IS just as good and less liable to be 

 neglected. They should be shaded dur- 

 ing the hottest hours of the day only, 

 and that can be done with newspapers! 

 which are better than any fixed shad- 

 ing, because on dull days a shading 

 would be injurious. 



Potting firmly with a good, sifted 

 loam IS an important point. Don't 

 thumb the top of the soil, but get your 

 finger and thumb down by the side of 

 the cutting like a wedge, and make the 

 soil around the base of the cutting firm. 

 The watering will take 

 care of the surface 

 without your wasting 

 any time with your 

 thumbs. 



Treatment. 



Geraniums should 

 have a good, thorough 

 watering when first 

 potted; after that 

 they should be watered 

 only when decidedly 

 on the dry side. More 

 geraniums turn black 

 and rot from heat and 

 moisture than from 

 dryness. In a month 

 most of them will be 

 rooted. When they 

 commence to make new 

 leaves, they should be 

 stood over, the dry 

 leaves rubbed off and 

 the surface of the soil 

 stirred. From then on 

 you will have to treat 

 them barbarously to 

 keep them from thriv- 

 ing. 



Why yoH should wait 



till September 1, or 



about that time, before 



propagating is because 



earlier propagation in a hot spell in 



August is not safe. Any kind that you 



are short of can be propagated earlier, 



but it would be safer to put them in 



the sand. 



By taking off all the leading shoots 

 this early you will usually by the mid- 

 dle of October get another good lot of 

 cuttings, which root still more certain- 

 ly. If you don't have time for another 

 batch, these plants are in excellent 

 shape to lift and pot and propagate dur- 

 ing winter. 



Many growers, for lack of space, pre- 





