POPULAR GARDEN PLANTS. 



521 



also the smaller-flowered free-blooming bedding 

 Violas, or Tufted Pansies, now so much em- 

 ployed for garden decoration. It is only in 

 special cases that varieties of Pansies and Violas 

 are named and propagated by division or by 

 cuttings, but they are very largely treated as 

 annuals, and a supply maintained by successive 

 sowings. 



The Show Pansy, so long cultivated by florists 

 for exhibition purposes, is divided into three 

 sections, viz. : Yellow- grounds, having a dense 

 dark blotch round the eye, encircled by an 

 irregular zone of yellow, and then a margin 

 or belting of some shade of bronze, crimson, 

 purple, or maroon; White-grounds, having a 

 white ground, with more purple or violet in 

 the marginal markings; and Selfs, which may 

 be white, cream, primrose, yellow, or black. 

 Show Pansies are but little grown in the 

 south; the summers are too hot and dry for 

 them; but they flourish in the north, and 

 especially in Scotland, where they are largely 

 grown, and where most of the new varieties 

 are raised. 



The introduction of the Belgian Pansy about 

 forty years ago resulted in the production of 

 what is now known as the Fancy Pansy 

 (fig. 636), characterized by large flowers, heavy 

 blotches, and brilliant and striking colours. 

 The plants are more robust than the show 

 varieties, and support heat and drought much 

 better. They do well in a deep gritty soil, 

 enriched with plenty of leaf-mould. Seedlings 

 come fairly true to character, and maintain a 

 high quality of bloom, but the higher the 

 quality the less seed do they produce. 



Named varieties of Pansies are propagated 

 by cuttings of the young shoots put in in early 

 summer in a bed of sandy soil under the shade 

 of a wall or hedge, and covered Avith a hand- 

 light or small frame. When rooted, they may 

 be planted in nursery beds; they flower in 

 the following spring and summer. If the 

 plants, after they have flowered, are top-dressed 

 with an inch or so of fine potting soil, the 

 young growths root into it, and the plants 

 may be divided in autumn. 



Seeds sown as soon as they can be obtained 

 give plants which bloom in late autumn and 

 again in spring. Sown in August and Septem- 

 ber, the plants thus raised bloom in May, June, 

 and July. A sowing made in March gives a 

 succession of plants to flower in early autumn. 

 They may be sown in a prepared bed, or in a 

 box of light sandy soil in a cold frame, shading 

 when necessary. When large enough to handle, 



the seedlings should be pricked off into other 

 boxes or beds in a frame, where they may 

 remain till March, when they may be planted 

 either in borders or prepared beds. They do 

 best in soil which has been enriched during 

 the autumn with manure — cow or short horse- 

 manure. By preventing seeding — that is, by 

 picking off all flowers as they begin to decay 

 — a long succession of bloom will be kept up. 

 If the plants get affected with green or brown 

 fly, two or three sy ringings with a solution of 



Fig. 636— Fancy Pansy. 



soft-soap (2 ounces to the gallon) will kill them. 

 A top-dressing of sifted old manure or leaf-soil 

 during May or early June is a capital stimu- 

 lant, and works wonders in sustaining summer 

 bloom. 



A selection of the best sorts : — 



Agnes Mabel, A. H. Murray, Alex. Smith, David Remrie, 

 D. Morrison, Edith T. Crossley, Geo. Anderson, James 

 Campbell, Jas. M'Farlane, Jessie Ford, Jessie Eussell, 

 John Freeman, Lord Hamilton, Maggie A. Scott, Maggie 

 M'Phail, Maggie Watson, Mrs. D. Johnstone, Mrs. M. 

 Cuthbertson, Mrs. Spence, Mrs. Win. Brownlie, Mrs. Wm. 

 Watson, Pilrig, R. Jamieson, Tom Travis. 



The Bedding Viola or Tufted Pansy (fig. 637) 

 is a development of the past half-century, and 

 forms a race of compact-growing, small-flowered, 

 free-blooming Pansies, longer-lived than the 

 large-flowered race, and better able to support 

 hot dry seasons. They are therefore much used 

 for flower-gardening during summer. It is to 



