482 



THE GAKDENER'S ASSISTANT. 



selection extending over a period of at least 

 a century, and new varieties are added yearly 

 by Messrs. Cannell of Swanley, Lemoine of 

 Nancy, Bruant of Poitiers, and others. About 

 700 varieties were awarded certificates by the 

 Royal Horticultural Society in the period be- 

 tween 1860 and 1890. 



Much information concerning the early sorts 

 can be obtained from Andrews' Monograph of 

 the Genus Geranium (1805), which contains 

 beautifully-drawn coloured figures of the prin- 

 cipal species and varieties then in cultivation. 

 The accidental crossing of one sort with another 

 evidently occurred in Andrews' time, who says : 

 " The introduction of the African species within 

 the last twenty years from the Cape of Good 

 Hope, whose prolific character seems to know 

 no bounds in the production of endless seminal 

 varieties, which, Proteus-like, appear in ever- 

 varying forms, and for which numerous varia- 

 tions we are indebted to the industrious bee, 

 which conveys the pollen from one plant to 

 another". Sweet's Geraniacece, a work of five 

 vols., published 1820-30, containing 500 coloured 

 portraits of Pelargoniums, nearly all of garden 

 origin, gives much information as to their early 

 history in the garden. About 170 species are 

 known. They are nearly all natives of South 

 Africa. Except in botanical collections they 

 are not recognized garden plants. 



The four races or sections of Pelargonium are 

 quite distinct from each other, and except in 

 one instance they have refused to interbreed, 

 the exception being the Zonal and Ivy-leaved 

 sections, an accidental cross between the two 

 having been secured by M. Lemoine about 

 twenty-five years ago. 



Zonal Pelargoniums. 



This section includes the bedding or scarlet 

 Geranium, Bicolor, Tricolor, and Gold Ger- 

 aniums, and the highly -developed Zonal proper, 

 usually grown for the greenhouse and conserva- 

 tory in winter. They are all supposed to be 

 descendants from P. zonale and P. inquinans. 



Cultivation. — Cuttings of these may be struck 

 at any season of the year. If, however, good 

 pot-grown plants are desired, cuttings put in in 

 February are to be preferred, as they start into 

 growth immediately, and form dwarf stocky 

 plants by May, when it will be safe to keep 

 them in a frame to be grown on for floAvering 

 from October on through the winter. AVhen 

 their flowers are about over, the plants should 

 be rested in a cool house for a few weeks, keep- 



ing them dry. This drying process tends 

 greatly to sweeten the soil. The following 

 February or March these plants should be cut 

 back, this process providing the needful stock 

 of cuttings for the spring strike. When they 

 have broken into fresh growth, they should be 



Fig. 590.— Zoual Pelargoniums 



repotted, reducing the balls sufficiently for 

 them to go back into the same size of pot. 

 Later in the season, as summer advances, these 

 older plants will require another shift. When 

 well established, they will prove useful to follow 

 the Show and Fancy sections in the conservatory. 

 Full exposure to light and air is a sine qua non 

 in Pelargonium culture ; without this the stocky 

 habit so much desired cannot be had. 



The stock for late or winter flowering should 

 be stopped up to the end of August, whilst at 

 no time previous to this should any flowers be 

 allowed to develop. AVhen coming into flower, 

 they need a slight warmth, say 45° to 50° as the 

 minimum, with a free circulation of air to keep 

 down any symptoms of damp, These winter- 

 flowering plants require careful watering, not 

 nearly so much being needed as for the plants 

 that flow^er earlier in the year. Weak doses of 

 artificial manure, alternately with farmyard 

 liquid given weekly, will assist the plants. 



