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CASSELL'S POPULAS GAEDENING. 



plants. Many of the yarieties are of Continental 

 origin. The colours of the flowers are in not a few- 

 instances bright and striking, and some of them have 

 the petals handsomely fringed. These are very at- 

 tractive, and great favourites. Their robustness of 

 habit is greatly in their favour, and we may truly 

 say of them that they are all good growers. There 

 are a few double or semi-double varieties, and these 

 possess this advantage, that they are much more 

 durable while in flower than those having single 

 blossoms. 



Those of our readers who have attended one of the 

 large summer exhibitions of the Royal Botanic 

 Society in the. Regent's Park, or the exhibitions of 

 the Royal Horticultural Society at South Kensington, 

 or at the Crystal Palace, will have noticed the fine 

 specimens of Large-flowered, Fancy, and Decorative 

 Pelargoniums, sometimes measuring four and five 

 feet in diameter. These are from two to five years 

 old. They are grown by experienced cultivators 

 who give them daily attention; the shoots are 

 carefully tied out as they lengthen, and the utmost 

 care is taken to keep them in the very best condition. 

 Light and airy houses are required in which to grow 

 them. "When one of these fine plants is cut down, 

 at the end of the summer, the frajne of the specimen 

 is some two feet or So across. It then breaks into 

 growth, is taken out from the pot, the soil is quite 

 removed from the roots, they are carefully trimmed, 

 and re-potted in smaller pots, and a dash of silver 

 sand is placed about the roots. These cleansed roots 

 put forth fine fibres, and the plants are made new 

 again. 



It is not an uncommon practice, in order to insure 

 large and vigorous-growing specimens of Fancy 

 Pelargoniums for exhibition, to graft them on free- 

 growing stocks of large-flowering varieties. Grafting 

 is done early in September, the stock being in 

 advance of the scion in respect of growth, and the 

 grafted plants are stood, on a shaded border until 

 union is complete. Grafting when done by an ex- 

 perienced operator is invariably successful. 



During autumn and winter the plants will need 

 special attention by occasionally stirring the surface 

 of the soil, and keeping them free from green-fly, 

 and in all respects healthy. But little fire-heat will 

 be necessary except the weather is very severe ; as 

 much air as possible must be given on all favourable 

 occasions, and everything should be done that will 

 tend to keep the plants sturdy, short-jointed, and 

 the wood stout and robust. We have already stated 

 that the Fancy varieties require more warmth during 

 the winter. The cultivator need not be alarmed at 

 losing a few of the bottom leaves, as this is a sign 

 of the wood ripening, and the more thoroughly the 

 stems are ripened so wUl the quality of the flower 



be improved the following season. "We cannot 

 attach too much importance to the thorough ripening 

 of tho wood when the plant goes out of flower and 

 loses its leaves. 



Now let us revert to the plants in four-inch pots. 

 "We will assume that they have been grown care- 

 fully, kept clean from vermin, and that they have 

 flowered well. Then they should be stood out of 

 doors to thoroughly ripen theit wood. "When this 

 is accomplished they should be cut back, leaving a 

 symmetrical " bottom," as the growers term it, and 

 then kept rather short of water for a time. Then 

 they will break into growth, and as soon as they 

 show their first two leaves, the plants should be 

 turned out of the pots, the roots trimmed, and the 

 plants potted in pots only just large enough to take 

 the roots. The plants should be placed in a gi-een- 

 house, and as soon as they are established the 

 shoots wiU grow. They should be stopped, and soon 

 after shifted into a twenty-four or sixteen size pot, 

 according to the dimensions of the. plants, doing this 

 about the end of October or early in November. The 

 plants should now be placed on a light, airy shelf in 

 a green-house, where they can be preserved from 

 frost. They must not be allowed to be stopped any 

 more. By-and-by, in spring, the shoots should be 

 tied out to stakes so as to keep a good shape to 

 the plants; and as the days lengthen and become 

 wanner, they should be lightly syringed over, and 

 some weak liquid manure given occasionally. Those 

 who require to have their plants in bloom at the end 

 of June and in July would do well to re-pot again in 

 December, and stop them once more in January. 

 These plants must be kept as cool as possible, and 

 after April be frequently syringed. During the time 

 they are in bloom the plants must be shaded from 

 the sun, plenty of air given, and any injury from 

 damp must be guarded against. All dead leaves and 

 flowers must be kept removed from the plants 



Zonal or Bedding Pelargoniums. — The various forms 

 of Zonal or Bedding Pelargoniums are from P. zonale, 

 the Horse-shoe or Zonal Stork's Bill, introduced to 

 this country about 1710 ; and no doubt the blood of 

 P. inqiiinans, introduced four years later, has been 

 found of great assistance in imparting fresh and 

 decided characters to seedlings. They have been 

 found of great value for bedding pm-poses and pot 

 culture, and hundreds of varieties have been raised, 

 named, and distributed. At the present time there 

 must bo several hundred varieties in cultivation ; and 

 new forms are announced every year, though not so 

 numerously as a few years ago. Then this very 

 useful plant took a surprising hold upon the public 

 mind, and for several seasons it was all the rage. 

 It was largely used for masses and ribbon lines in 

 flower gardens; but since the system of bedding out. 



