THE AMATEUR’S FLOWER GARDEN. 
81 
to water geraniums after they are planted out, but ot necessity 
if the weather is particularly hot and dry immediately after 
planting, they must be assisted for a week or so. It is also 
bad practice to put them out full of flowers; in fact, they 
ought not to flower even while in the house, or in pits or 
frames. But trusses will show themselves, and should be 
pinched out before they open, and if they occur on shoots that 
rise a little above the general contour, those shoots should be 
at once cut back a few inches. The result of these precautions 
will be to defer the first show of bloom in the beds some¬ 
what, but when it appears it will be more solid and con¬ 
tinuous than in the case of plants allowed to present odd 
trusses in their own way from the month of February onwards. 
All the varieties should be propagated in June, July, and 
August, and be housed in good time, to prevent the rank 
sappy growth that the warm autumnal rains are likely to 
produce if they are left out too long. Winter them rather 
dry, with abundance of light and air, and never give heat 
beyond what is barely sufficient to keep out frost. Geraniums 
and calceolarias will bear 5° of frost without harm in ordinary 
cases ; therefore the thermometer in the house or pit appro¬ 
priated to these plants may sink to 27° safely. We have, 
indeed, had thousands of seedling geraniums in a somewhat 
sappy state through being grown from the first under glass 
frozen to the extent of 10°, and have not lost a dozen in 
consequence. Bub it is not well to expose plants to extreme 
conditions, and the amateur cultivator is advised to maintain 
the temperature of the geranium pit at all times a few degrees 
above the freezing-point, for it costs little to be safe, and it 
may cost much to go in the way of danger. It will not sur¬ 
prise the reader to be told that as geraniums differ in habit 
and constitution, so they differ as to their requirements. 
The differences, however, are slight, and may be disposed of 
in a few words in connection with the several groups. 
Single Bed Zonals .—In this class we place all the scarlet, 
pink, and purple varieties, whether they have broad or 
narrow petals. In other words, we do not need a class for 
nosegays. It is equally unimportant w T hether the leaves are 
actually marked with zones or “ horseshoes,” or are wholly 
green. The cultivation of these has been sufficiently de¬ 
scribed, and it remains, therefore, only to present a list of a 
few of the very best for bedding. In selecting these, form is 
