ON BEDDING PLANTS. 



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The varieties suitable for bedding are very numerous, and 

 include such well-known forms as the following : 



Ordinary Zonals. — Vesuvius, having scarlet flowers . with a 

 small white eye ; one of the best and most popular. Henry 

 Jacoby, with crimson-maroon flowers ; very- compact in habit, 

 and producing an abundance of fine trusses. John Gibbons, 

 with orange-scarlet flowers. Rev. H. Johnston, with large 

 trusses of dark crimson flowers. 



Golden-bronze Zonals. — -Model, Golden Harry Hieover, and 

 Bronze Queen, with a golden-yellow disk and margin, separated 

 by a more or less brown-bronze zone, shaped like a horse-shoe. 



Yelloiv-leaved Section. — Crystal Palace Gem and Robert Fish, 

 with zoneless leaves. 



Novelties. — Happy Thought, with a creamy-white centre, and 

 green round the outside. 



Golden Tricolors. — Mr. Harry Cox, having intensely-bright 

 markings, with a well-defined zone of rich crimson, and bright 

 yellow margin. Mrs. Pollock ; an old, well-known kind. 



Silver Tricolors. — Mrs. Laing, Eva Fish, Miss Farren, and 

 Dolly Varden. 



White-Edged Section. — Flower of Spring, with cream-coloured 

 variegation. Little Trot ; leaves margined with a broad band of 

 white ; an excellent bedder, of branching habit, scarcely attaining 

 6in. in height. These fine-foliaged varieties are generally grown 

 for the sake of their leaves, and on this account are seldom 

 allowed to flower. 



Ivy-leaved Pelargoniums are suitable for covering trellises and 

 for growing in vases, where their long, trailing growths, hanging 

 over the sides, show off to advantage. They are rather more 

 tender than the Zonal kinds, and require to be kept a little 

 warmer during the winter. Numerous varieties are now advertised, 

 amongst which are La France, Masterpiece, and Mrs. H. Cannell, 

 with single flowers, and Madame Thibaut, Jeanne d'Arc, Incom- 

 parable, and Gloire d'Orleans, with double flowers. 



Perilla nankinensis. — This is a most useful bedding plant, 

 with dark mulberry-coloured foliage; it grows from ift. to 2ft. high, 

 and is generally used for edgings or for mixing with silver-leaved 

 plants, on account of its dark purplish foliage. Seed may be 

 sown about the end of February in pans or boxes, and placed in 

 heat. The seedlings, when large enough, must be pricked out 

 into other boxes, and when well established, and growing freely, 

 they should be gradually hardened off, previous to planting. 



Petunias. — These are very showy and popular subjects when 

 grown in masses in a sunny position and fairly rich soil. They 

 have showy salver-shaped flowers, crimson, purple, and white, 

 striped and blotched in various ways. They are very effective 

 when trained over hoops, fences, and trellises, as well as disposed 



