102 
THE FLORIST. 
and no less an authority than the Archbishop of Odessa said they would 
drive the English into the sea; Inkermann told a different tale. And 
now our good friends, the French colonels want to be led against “ this den 
of assassins,” perhaps to find a hornet’s nest, but assuredly to find that 
we cannot so easily be put out of the way as folks imagine. So Glow¬ 
worm, and Napoleon, and Punch and Judy, and many others, were to 
consign Tom Thumb to the dunghill; but, some way or other, he 
stands his ground, and as yet is the favourite. There is one, I am 
bound to say, however, at which I think the little fellow does grow 
somewhat pale—Scarlet Perfection—I believe, raised by Sutton, of 
Reading. It is a good bloomer, and the foliage is of a finer green than 
Tom Thumb, but it did strike me as rather inclined not to be so dwarf; 
if so, its other qualities would not compensate; however, this year I 
shall be better able to judge. 
Next of those that I have seen or grown comes Glowworm; but 
those who want merely dwarf scarlet, with good bloom, may be perhaps 
content with Tom Thumb and Scarlet Perfection. Of Geraniums of a 
larger habit I have found General Simpson and General Pelissier to be 
good varieties. The former has a good white eye and blooms very 
freely ; while the latter has large trusses of orange scarlet flowers with 
variegated footstalks, in which, however, the white predominates. 
There is, for those who admire the dark horse-shoe foliage, Baron Hugel, 
though I have been obliged to discard him, for the flowers are very 
scantily produced and are individually poor, though having a tolerably 
good white eye. Of the salmon-coloured varieties, as far as I have seen, 
Kingsbury Pet is still as good as any, though Pet superbs and others 
have been advertised to beat it; it is a tall grower, and will do very 
well against a low wall. Of rose-coloured ones I know nothing better 
than that good old variety Trentham Rose. It was said that Symmetry 
and Princess P.oyal were to be very much superior to it, but as yet I 
cannot see the superiority ; if anything, Princess Royal is a freer 
bloomer, in which point Trentham is deficient; but the latter is very 
exquisite in colour, with handsome round foliage, and blooms freely in 
the autumn. In white varieties we are still deficient; Boule de Neige is 
anything but snowlike—at least, out of doors—and Hendersoni is no 
better. And this reminds me that it is a great mistake of nurserymen 
to suppose that because flowers bloom well in the greenhouse as seed¬ 
lings, that they will do so as bedders. I am sure this is a fruitful 
source of disappointment to amateurs, who rely on what is not a false 
statement under the circumstances, but is incorrect when those circum¬ 
stances are changed. 
In variegated Geraniums there is still (notwithstanding great 
improvement), much to be done. We want the fine variegation of 
Lady Plymouth, or Mangles’, with the abundant scarlet bloom of Tom 
Thumb. Anyone who saw the chain pattern at the Crystal Palace last 
year, will at oncee agre that the older varieties are better than Flower 
of the Day and its congeners, as far as foliage goes, though their bloom 
is very insignificant. Flower of the Day has a nasty habit of curling 
back its leaves, and gets a yellow tinge in its white which spoils it, while 
its flowers are scantily produced and pale in colour. Alma is an 
