THE CULTURE O 



that is represented ; it bears large golden bells in pro- 

 fusion. 



I might specify many more beautiful plants, admira- 

 bly adapted for box and pot culture, but I consider no 



PELARGONIUMS. 771 



window garden complete without the bulbous flowers, 

 hyacinths, freesias, etc., etc., not to omit the Chinese 

 sacred lily, a most interesting plant in its way. 



ya)-moiilh, Ml-. Mary D. Wellcome. 



THE CULTURE OF PELARGONIUMS. 



HAVE been quite successful 

 in the cultivation of the pelar- 

 goniums, and think if their 

 needs were better understood, 

 that they would be more often 

 seen in the window-garden. 

 Many err in giving them too 

 much pot-room, and also in 

 keeping them in too high a temperature. 



A four-inch pot is sufficiently large for almost any 

 pelargonium, though I occasionally put a large two- 

 year old plant into a five-inch pot. 



Another mistake is to give too much water during the 

 fall months. A room having a temperature of 40° to 

 50° suits them and in such a room I keep them till the 

 ends of the branches look thick and stout and buds be- 

 come visible. Then I remove them to the warm tem- 

 perature of the sitting-room, where they are placed in 

 the broad sunny bay-window to be forced into bloom. 

 Some stimulate with liquid manure when buds first ap- 

 pear, but this is wrong, as it induces growth at the 

 expense of blossoms. 



Now I have learned to wait until the plants are well 

 in bloom before stimulating and obtain much better re- 

 sults. 



A good, well-behaved pelargonium should remain in 

 bloom and be a " thing of beauty " for six weeks, and 

 some have remained beautiful for two months. With 

 me the early varieties commence to flower in Decem- 

 ber, and then others follow till in April and May they 

 are making a fine showing. I have had some of the 

 dwarf varieties literally covered with flowers, and have 

 counted nearly forty clusters of buds and blossoms on 

 one plant, at one time. 



I am convinced that one can raise pelargoniums suc- 

 cessfully without a greenhouse. Indeed the best and 

 finest ones I ever saw were raised by a friend, from cut- 

 tings, kept through the fall and early winter in a cool 



room ; and when buds appeared they were forced for- 

 ward in a warm and sunny bay-window. 



She started them in July in small pots, and when the 

 pots were full of roots, pinched back the top, to induce 

 side growth, and then re-potted in pots a size larger, 

 say three, or three and a-half-inch ; then again into 

 four-inch pots when they needed it, pinching off the 

 ends of refractory branches to make the plants sym- 

 metrical. This last re-potting was usually done in No- 

 vember. The dwarf varieties are always of good shape, 

 but it is more difScult to get the large varieties to grow 

 symmetrically. During the blooming time my friend's 

 bay-window was a bower of beauty. It was always 

 pretty with its trailing vines, lovely ferns, bright blos- 

 soms and foliage plants, but while the pelargoniums 

 were in flower, it was the delight of all beholders. All 

 stopped to admire it in passing. 



I had a strange experience with a plant of Freddie 

 Heinl last spring. I raised it the year before from a 

 cutting, and its first season's blooming was quite cor- 

 rect ; but last spring, when about two years old, it be- 

 haved strangely. It had six main branches — three of 

 which bloomed like the parent — pure white, with rose- 

 colored blotches, but the other three had much darker 

 flowers, resembling Freddie Dorner in color. The 

 same plant I kept for another season's blooming, though 

 I do not generally keep them more than two years — 

 this is three years old. The plant is now budded and 

 I await the result with interest. 



The above named varieties are the earliest to bloom. 

 I have sometimes had blossoms in December ; and they 

 bloom for months, unlike the other varieties. 



There is one difficulty in the culture of the pelar- 

 gonium. They are often troubled with aphides, but 

 frequent smoking with tobacco will keep away the of- 

 fenders, and an occasional washing and sprinkling is 

 also beneficial. They will be esteemed fully worth the 

 little trouble it really is to grow them carefully. 



Massachuiflls. Mrs. M. J. Giddings. 



