154 



CASSELL'S POPULAE OAEDENma. 



THE FLOWER GARDEN. 



By William Wildsmith. 



THE PROPAGATION AND WINTERING OF SUMMER 

 BEDDING PLANTS. 



IF the various methods of propagation needed for 

 the different sections of bedding plants, and the 

 best time of year to propagate a given species, be 

 well understood, there will rarely be any difficulty 

 about getting a sufficiency of stock — of course, 

 always supposing that appliances, cuttings, and 

 labour are ample. To the saving of the latter, 

 and also to avoid occupying unnecessarily valuable 

 room in houses and pits dm'ing the winter, a rough 

 estimate of the numbers of each plant likely to be 

 wanted should be made at the commencement of the 

 propagating season, which period is the beginning of 

 August. We will take first the kinds that are best 

 "struck in quantity" in the autumn. By this is 

 meant kinds that give less trouble than were their 

 propagation deferred till spring. 



Pelargoniums. — First on the list are Felargo- 

 niums, of all sections, as they can at that time be 

 struck readily on a sunny border in the open air, the 

 only preparation necessary for reception of the cut- 

 tings being that the soil be light, with plenty of vege- 

 table or leaf -moidd mixed with it, that the plants may 

 lift with plenty of fibre when ready for pottiug or 

 boxing. The cuttings should be the shortest-]oi-n.tedi, 

 or, in other words, the sturdiest that can be 

 spared from the beds, and not less than five inches 

 long for the dwarf growers, while they may range as 

 long as nine inches for the more vigorous zonales. 

 They should be cut cleanly to a joint, for if hacJced, 

 or the stems bruised, the probabilities are that they 

 will damp off. Insert them with a pointed stick 

 about thi'ee inches apart, taking care to well " finn " 

 them in the soil. If the weather be di-y a good 

 soaking of water should be given as soon as the cut- 

 tings are put in, but no other watering "rtII be neces- 

 sary unless the weather be excejDtionally hot and dry. 



Another mode is to put the cuttings in pots, pans, 

 or boxes direct, a plan that in wet seasons, or wet 

 districts, is to be commended, as then they can be 

 afforded shelter from hea\"y rains imder lights, and 

 yet have exposui'e to full sunshine at every chance, 

 an element essential to a healthy growth and safe 

 wintering. If the cuttings are intended to be struck 

 in this latter fashion, greater care is needed in pre- 

 paring the scil, as it must be remembered that the 

 plants have not only to be struck in it, but wintered ; 

 hence, whilst the constituents for striking must be 

 present, there must also be food for the plants, and 

 that too without ha\dng frequent recurrence to the 

 water-pot, during the dullest weeks of winter. The 



following compost, if made moderately firm in the 

 boxes, insiu-es these conditions : — One part sand, one 

 part leaf-mould, and two parts of ordinary potting 

 loam. Also sift thi'ough a half -inch sieve, and place 

 a thin layer of the siftings of fibre over the crocks ; 

 the plants lay hold of this fibre with such tenacity, 

 that when they have to be potted off they move with 

 such a mass of roots that the check to them is all 

 but nil. 



Plants struck out of doors require to be potted up 

 by the third week in September, but shoidd contiaue 

 to have all the exposm-e possible till the advent of 

 frost rend.ers it unsafe to leave them out acaj longer. 

 A watery, spindl}' gi-owth at the commencement -^ill 

 neither winter successfully, nor ever make satisfac- 

 tory progi'ess afterwards ; hence the injunctions to 

 give exposui'e, which conduces to sturdiness, from the 

 beginning. It is necessary that plants struck after 

 either mode should be well cared for in the matter of 

 keeping them clear of deca^nng leaves, the flowers 

 picked off, and the points pinched out of any that 

 manifest a tendency to run up without branching at 

 bottom. 



As to ivi)dering the plants, of course the best place 

 is a Hght airy house where a minimum temperature 

 of 40° in the severest weather can be maintained; 

 more often, however, rough structures have to do 

 duty for good houses, and therefore it is in reference 

 to these that a remark or two is needed. Damp is 

 more fatal to the plants than cold — at least, any 

 short of actual frost — consequently drips from the 

 sashes, splashing about of water, or an over-dose of 

 it to the plants being preventible, their avoidance 

 should be insisted on. When watering is needed, 

 choose a drying day when the lights can be opened, 

 and fii-e applied to expel damp, and only a sufficiency 

 of fire to keep out frost and keep the air diy should 

 ever be used. Given these conditions, the plants will 

 thiive well, needing increased space both at root and 

 top by the middle of March. At that time all the 

 rarer, such as tricolour and variegated kinds gene- 

 rally, should, if space admits of it, be potted suigly 

 into sixty-size (thi^ee-inch) pots, but others may be 

 planted out in cold pits, where the lights are mov- 

 able, that the plants may, as it were, be turned 

 outside at all favourable times. Till the plants are 

 re-estabhshed in the new soil, but only till that has 

 taken place, is a little warmth and a closer atmos- 

 phere necessary. 



If, as sometimes is the case, certain kinds of 

 cuttings of Pelargoniums cannot be had in sufficient 

 quantity in the autumn, recoiu'se may be had to 

 spring propagation, which is as follows : — The stock 

 plants should be placed in warmth by the end of 

 January, and as soon as they have well started into 

 growth, so far that cuttings three or fom- inches long 



