JUNE. 
185 
In the course of a few years we shall find the Chrysanthemum crihhecl 
in a corner of our conservatories, or, what is more likely, handed over to 
open-air culture. Had Mr. Higgs but seen the magnificent display of 
Zonal Pelargoniums at Tortworth last autumn and winter—and they were 
equally fine in other gardens that I visited—I feel persuaded that the Chrysan¬ 
themum would have sunk 95 per cent, in his estimation. I am not opposed 
to this latter plant; on the contrary, I value it for what it is worth, but I 
refuse to give it that attention and space which ought to be bestowed upon 
others of a very superior quality. 
An uneven balance cannot be adjusted by either the freaks of fashion or 
fancy, neither can it be regulated by mere emotions, or by the imaginings 
or the varied organisation of individual minds. Whatever changes occur 
among new comers, to be durable and beneficial they must rest upon the 
excellency of an object, or a class of objects, over others ; then, and not till 
then, will they continue to exercise a lasting and determinate. influence 
over the mind. Speaking more especially of plants, whether we estimate 
more highly the grouping of colour, or the beauty of individual form, it is 
not easy to express how the innate images of fascination or dislike are 
formed, or how they operate upon the mental faculty, as we are destitute of 
language sufficiently precise to enable us accurately to define the different 
forms of thought that float through the mind. Still though undescribable, 
they can only produce pleasurable emotions when the objects that give 
them birth are harmoniously arranged. 
The request that I should offer an explanation why I value so highly 
the Zonal Pelargonium and condemn the Chrysanthemum is a very reason¬ 
able one, to which I readily accede. The difficulty is by no means great, 
nor need the vindication be long or laboured. What quality, then, does 
the Chrysanthemum possess to deserve the high panegyrics which have 
been bestowed on it ? We have a heavy mass of uninteresting foliage, 
coarse in shape, and uniform in colour, with no variation to relieve the eye. 
The branches, too, have to be supported by an endless number of stakes, 
which when accurately arranged may delight the most rigid formalist, but 
which refined taste rejects. The Chrysanthemum, moreover, possesses but 
a limited range of colour; and owing to the position of the flowers, stuck 
as they are on the pinnacle of the branches, the most ingenious contrivance 
fails in the effort to produce more than individuality. 
What are the preponderating merits of the Zonal Pelargonium ? We 
shall find at the very threshold, staring us fully in the face, such an array 
of beauty, such a galaxy of colour, as will at once rivet our feelings of 
admiration, these colours shading off into every imaginable gradation, and 
producing a harmony of effect, when properly arranged, such as no other 
class of plants can be made to yield during the later portion of the year. 
What these colours are it is unnecessary for me to describe, as that can be 
readily ascertained by reference to a florist’s catalogue. Then we may add 
further variety of colour, by introducing Pelargoniums with variegated 
foliage, or those belonging to the bi-coloured and marbled-leaved sections. 
A few plants of Centaurea candidissima, introduced here and there, will, 
moreover, greatly assist to relieve and neutralise the other colours. 
Now, I feel quite justified in reasserting, that the Chrysanthemum, 
as a conservatory plant, is fast being superseded. I know some gar¬ 
dens in which its cultivation has been already discontinued, except in the 
open ah’. 
Tortwortli Court. 
Alexander Cramb. 
