September G, 1864. ] 



JOUENAL OF HOETICOXTTJEE AND COTTAGE GAEDENEE, 



193 



As aU have not had an opportunity of seeing the effect 

 of this year's drought upon those public gardens, it is 

 with pleasure that I record my humble testimony of the 

 splendid condition of the gardens at the Crystal Palace, at 

 Kew, and at Hampton Court. Their condition demonstrates 

 the ability of those upon whom the management devolves. 



One more lesson to be learned there I will bring under 

 notice, and that is the absence with one exception (Purple 

 King), of the Verbena as a bedding plant. I must not be 

 understood to say that it is altogether banished from the 

 flower garden, but a visitor at the Crystal Palace or at Kew 

 cannot fail to notice that it is not so much used there as 

 in times gone by. With me the Verbena is an especial 

 favourite, therefore it must not be inferred that I make 

 this comment purposely to lower it in the estimation of 

 others ; but my own observations justify me in saying, that 

 near the metropolis the Verbena is often a failure, and as 

 too many to their sorrow will tell us, it is usually so infested 

 with thrips that it is more often than not a source of much 

 disappointment. — J. C. Clauke, WinMedon. 



BEDDING- GERANIUMS. 



(Continued from 'gage 167.) 



The modes of managing bedding Geraniums being endless, 

 I shall only treat of one more, and that is how to dispense 

 with potting in the spring treatment of autumn-struck 

 cuttings. With this object in view they should remain in 

 the cutting-boxes until the beginning or middle of April, 

 and a pit or frame filled with ashes or any kind of rough 

 material to within 1 foot of the glass, or, failing that, a turf 

 pit to be covered with some old lights, should be in readiness 

 to receive the plants. We then provide, or rather have at 

 hand before we require it, some sphagnum, but if that 

 cannot be procured, the moss found abundantly in some 

 woods will answer admirably. Having a heap of compost- 

 before us, another of sphagnum or moss on one side, the 

 box containing the plants on the other, and some matting 

 cut into two-feet lengths, wetted, and hung up in a con- 

 venient place so as to be easily reached, we then take a lump 

 of moss, draw it out so as to be the width of both hands 

 every way, and lay it on the potting-bench on a piece of the 

 matting. We next place a little soil on the moss, and then, 

 having taken the plant out of the box, place it exactly in the 

 centre of the moss bed, and put a little more soil round it. 

 We then close the moss neatly round it, and bring the strip 

 of matting over the top, by the stem of the plant, down 

 again under the ball, I will call it, and up again, twisting 

 and turning it about until both ends are just long enough 

 to tie, when we fasten them with a knot that will draw the 

 closer the more the moss swells after watering. We have 

 then a Geranium wrapped in a moss coat, just as nursery- 

 men wrap the roots of their choice shrubs for travelling, 

 with this difference, that we put a little soil within the 

 parcel in addition to that adhering to the roots. 



Each plant when mossed is placed in a riddle, and when 

 this is filled the whole are taken to a frame, or pit, and we 

 pack them closely together, and spread about half an inch 

 of fine soil over the moss between the plants. In this way 

 we go on, watering them after the surfacing of soil till we 

 have the frame full. 



After the plants are placed in the pit nothing is required 

 but to keep the frame close for ten days, protecting from 

 sun by day and frost by night, and afterwards to give 

 abundance of light, air, and water when necessary, with 

 frequent sprinklings overhead. By the last week in May 

 or first week in June they will be all that can be desired, 

 the moss being one mass of white roots, and they may then 

 be planted in the beds. The matting is, of course, rotten 

 by this time, yet the plants move with a splendid ball, and 

 the roots are not matted by running against the inside of 

 a pot but present innumerable mouths ready to lay hold of 

 the new soil without deviating to the right or left, whilst 

 the roots of plants under pot treatment have to change 

 their course, which they sometimes do tardily, as the sickly 

 foliage too plainly testifies. 



As to old plants, which are preferable to young, from their 

 blooming earlier, besides being larger and more generally j 

 effective, I will now offer a few remarks on preserving them ! 

 through the winter. 



Most of us desire to prolong the beauty of the flower 

 garden to the latest possible period; but care should be 

 taken lest this be not overdone, especially when the plants 

 employed axe required for another year's ornamentation. 

 Sooner or later in October we must prepare for frost ; but 

 as no set time can be given, it is better to take up the 

 plants a few days too soon than wait until they are hung 

 with crystal drops, and their fleshy leaves have a glassy 

 aspect. It is too late then, for, cover them as you please, 

 the stems will rot when placed in heat. The plants may, 

 it is true, be saved for a time by being protected at night 

 by hoops and mats, or canvass, taking off the covering 

 during the day ; but to do well they should be taken up and 

 potted, or otherwise placed in safety, before the occurrence of 

 frosts of sufficient intensity to injure them. I have found 

 on a mean of the last two decades, that the 10th of October 

 is the latest period at which Geraniums can be trusted out- 

 side with safety. 



Presuming the plants to be planted out in the bed, we 

 take them up with as much root as possible, not that a large 

 root is desired, but when taken up carelessly we are apt to 

 split the stem leaving a ragged fracture which admits wet, 

 ending in the decay of the stem and the loss of the plant. 

 It is also undesirable to split the top by careless and rough 

 handling, for being very succulent the branches are easily 

 split off at the points where they spring from the stem. In 

 short, care should be taken to injure them as little as 

 possible. Choose a dry day for taking up, and this done 

 and all being in readiness for potting, we have to distinguish 

 between variegated, tender, and rather small-growing kinds, 

 and those of strong and vigorous habit. After this, we 

 trim the roots in the first instance, cutting them in with 

 a sharp knife so that a year-old plant may pass easily into a 

 32-sized pot if a small grower, or into a 24 if strong, pro- 

 portioning the size to the size of the plant. The roots of all 

 may be cut in to within 3 inches of the root-stem for plants 

 that are not required large; but where large plants are 

 desired it is not necessary to reduce the roots so much, but 

 to proportion the reduction of the root to the size of the pot 

 which the plant requires. After reducing the roots, which 

 must be done in proportion to the size of the head to be 

 left, it becomes necessary to cut in the latter. This is done 

 by removing the old shoots and thinning out those remain- 

 ing, so that they may stand clear of one another. We take 

 away the old branches because they seldom put out a pro- 

 fusion of shoots, and those which are produced by them are 

 weak, and as such undesirable. The young shoots left, on the 

 other hand, produce numerous shoots, and for that reason are 

 preferable to old shoots. They, therefore, require the same 

 treatment as to cutting-in as Pelargoniums after blooming, 

 distributing the shoots, and shortening them so that an 

 even-headed or well-shapen plant may be produced in the 

 following season. The shoots left, having been cut-in to 

 within 3 or 4 inches of the old stem, will have few if any 

 leaves upon them, but this is of no moment (though I 

 confess that I like them with a few leaves) ; and the plants 

 should then be potted in any light good loam with a little 

 sand intermixed. The soil should be in a moderately moist 

 condition in order to obviate the necessity of giving water 

 for some time. They are then to be placed in a house from 

 which frost and damp are excluded, it being immaterial 

 whether they are in the light or dark for a month or six 

 weeks, by which time they will have pushed and will require 

 light and. water to sustain their vitality. Probably the 

 young shoots will have a blanched appearance, but they 

 will become green on exposure to light. During winter the 

 plants will merely require frost to be excluded, and but little 

 water will be needed. In February or March they will be 

 growing freely, and must have more water ; and in April if 

 room can be spared, they may be potted, and afterwards 

 treated the same as the cuttings potted in the spring. This 

 treatment, it must be borne in min d, is only suitable for the 

 stronger-growing Scarlets or others of free growth ; most 

 of the Variegated, and some of the less vigorous kinds, 

 requiring a different mode of treatment, which I shall notice 

 presently. 



Some think potting old plants in autumn a waste of 

 room, considering it merely necessary to pack them closely 

 in poor earth in boxes, cutting away all the leaves and 

 the large disproportionate heads, without reducing the roots 



