ON GREENHOUSE PLANTS. 



717 



take cuttings in early summer and grow like Zonals. They are 

 also useful for training over pillars or on the roof of the 

 greenhouse; when so utilised they should be cut back at the 

 end of every year. Sorts : Souvenir de Charles Turner, Madame 

 Crousse, Jeanne d'Arc, Abel Carriere, and Albert Crousse. 



(4) Sweet-scented Leaved Pelargoniums. — These are grown chiefly 

 for the delightful scent of their leaves, but they also flower freely. 

 They are best treated as large trained plants, and flower during 

 the summer. Cut back, shake out old soil, and repot in autumn, 

 and then grow same as the show varieties. Sorts : P. quercifolium 

 (Oak-leaved), P. odoratissimum lobatum, P. denticulatum Shotten- 

 ham Pet, and P. capitatum. 



With regard to these 

 plants, it is very interesting 

 to note the insignificance 

 of their first parents, and 

 how they have been 

 evolved and gradually 

 improved during compara- 

 tively recent years, until 

 their present state of per- 

 fection has been reached. 

 They admirably illustrate 

 the progress of the gar- 

 dener's art, showing what 

 can be done by hybrid- 

 isation, cross-fertilisation, 

 care, patience, perse- 

 verance, and intelligent 

 selection. 



The Zonals of to-day 

 were obtained originally 

 from the small and insig- 

 nificant P. inquinans (Fig. 

 463), which is really a 

 shrub with scarlet flowers, 

 and the species P. zonale 

 (Fig. 464), also scarlet. The Ivy-leaved section were obtained 

 from P. peltatum (with tuberous roots, and, as the name implies, 

 peltate- leaves) and Zonal varieties, thus obtaining the leaf and 

 habit of the one and the flowers of the other; while the beau- 

 tiful Show varieties were obtained from P. grandiflorum, a 

 shrubby species with red and white flowers. 



Petunias. — The double varieties of these (Fig. 465) are fine 

 and effective, and can be propagated by either seed or cuttings. 

 Sow seed in the warm pit in March, and grow in the cool pit or 

 in a frame in light sandy loam. Save only the smallest seed- 

 lings, as they produce the best double flowers. Strike cuttings 



Fig. 464. — Pelargonium zonale. 



