THE 
FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
INDIAN YELLOW PELARGONIUM. 
WITH AN ILLUSTRATION. 
The Pelargonium certainly stands in the first rank amongst bedding plants, 
not only on account of its more manageable habit and greater trustworthiness, 
so to speak, as compared with most other bedding-out subjects, but also on 
account of the variety of tints which is afforded by its most prolific blossoms. 
While the Verbena succumbs to mildew, red spider, or thrips, and the Calceo¬ 
laria to paralysis, the Pelargonium blooms on heedless alike of the pluvial or 
torrefying vicissitudes of weather, simply needing certain slight modifications 
of treatment, in order to checkmate, as it were, the predominant influences of 
the season. 
The acquisition of new colours amongst the varieties of so popular and 
useful a flower, cannot be otherwise than agreeable to those who follow up the 
parterre system of flower gardening. So much progress, indeed, has been 
made in this direction, that the term “ Scarlet Pelargonium” is now made to 
stand sponsor for varieties furnishing a long catalogue of colours, running 
through the various shades of scarlet, crimson, rose, pink, salmon, and white. 
With this progress the name of Donald Beaton will ever be associated in the 
annals of flower gardening. For many of the later years of his life he devoted 
himself with much zeal to the cross-breeding of the Pelargonium, mainly with 
the view of raising new varieties adapted to supply the wants of the flower 
gardener; and we need do no more than refer to Stella, Cybister, and Lord 
Palmerston, to show that his labours were rewarded by a fair share of success. 
Up to the close of his life Mr. Beaton continued these cross-breeding experi¬ 
ments, and a large number of seedlings, bloomed and unbloomed, were left at 
the time of his death. From these, starting from the vantage ground already 
gained, a great further advance was expected, and has since been realised. 
Some few choice sorts had been selected by him for distribution shortly before 
he was taken from amongst us, and among them was the variety called Indian 
Yellow, of which we now give an illustration. The whole of the seedlings 
just referred to, bloomed and unbloomed, have passed into the hands of Mr. 
W. Paul, of Waltham Cross, and it is from the plant as bloomed by him 
during the past summer that our drawing has been made ; while among the 
more juvenile batch of seedlings many choice novelties have appeared, of which 
the public will hear more in due time. Thus, from the ordinary race of 
VOL. IV. b 
