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THE FLOWER GARDEN. 
Tricolors the most difficult; they are so apt to rot in winter. 
The cuttings should be inserted singly in 2|in. pots in gritty 
soil early in August, and the pots placed in a cold frame. The 
sashes should be kept off the frames in fine weather. Towards 
the end of September remove the plants to a shelf in a heated 
greenhouse and only give enough water to prevent the soil 
getting dry. In spring transfer the plants to 3m. pots, keep 
near the glass, harden off in frames in May and plant out in 
June. In the event of any difficulty being found in striking 
Tricolors adopt the following plan : Take two small pieces of 
stick, say small worn-out wood tallies for example, tie one 
of them across the cutting, about the sixteenth of an inch above 
its base, with a strip of bast or worsted. Tie the other length- 
wise to the cutting, so that it projects two inches beyond the 
base, and overlies the crosspiece. Now, if the upright stick 
is thrust into the earth until the base of the cutting just touches 
the soil, the cutting will be held firmly in its position, and in 
due time will throw out roots, which may be covered with a 
sprinkling of the mixture the bed is made of. By this mode 
of procedure an enormous number of soft shoots may be struck 
during winter, and the losses by damping will be “ next to 
nothing.” In no case should flowers be permitted to grow on 
the foregoing plants. Silver-leaved pelargoniums have their 
leaves margined or blotched with silvery-white ; Tricolors, zones 
or bands of golden, carmine, red, crimson or white, three 
colours on each leaf; Bronzes, the leaves more or less suffused 
with a bronzy tint ; Golden Bicolors, leaves with two colours, 
golden and green. Old plants of the Tricolors should be 
lifted in September, potted and grown on to produce cuttings 
in spring, or grown again in beds. Silvers and Bronzes may 
be treated in a similar way. 
Ivy-leaved Pelargoniums. — These have become very 
popular of late years as edgings to beds, massing in beds, or 
for draping vases and window boxes. There are double and 
single varieties, and both are exceedingly beautiful, as they 
flower so freely. Varieties of a trailing habit are best for this 
purpose. The erect growing kinds may be used for clothing 
the bare stems of standard roses and similar objects. These 
should be planted out late in May or early in June, and in the 
case of those grown in beds, have their shoots pegged to the 
surface of the soil as they grow. A month or so after planting 
the plants will be literally covered with gay blossoms. A pretty 
way of growing these in beds is to use them as a carpeting to 
tall fuchsias, variegated maize, etc. Cuttings should be struck 
in the way advised for the Tricolors. Old plants may also have 
their shoots shortened, and lifted and potted to supply cuttings 
in spring, or to be grown on to make larger plants. 
