THE PELARGONIUM HOUSE. 
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was let out perhaps, at double the price of the common ones, but there was no demand. The trade 
had it by degrees, and it continued a marketable plant. It is even now one of the best, if not the very 
best, we have, although we believe Mr. Plant, of Cheadle, has raised some that will come up with it. 
The Potentilla is one of those perennials which give but little trouble. The border need not be pre¬ 
pared differently from ordinary perennial borders. It should not be too stiff, because that agrees with 
very few; and it should not be too rich, as that would promote large growth and little flower. There 
is a good choice of varieties for a beginner. Some of the best are :—Insignis, which is yellow; 
Brilliant, a rich scarlet; Plantii, a scarlet border, with yellow centre, very distinct and showy; Gar- 
nerianum, primrose blotched with rose; Thomasii, rich yellow; Hopwoodiana, pink and white ; 
Russelliana, crimson scarlet; McNabiana, crimson and white; Menziesii, rich crimson; Formosa, rose; 
Atrosanguinea, deep crimson; O’Brienii, orange; and Rubra aurantia, red and orange. Nothing 
would look better than a bed of these neatly arranged as to colours ; and we should certainly confine 
ourselves to a few of the best, and most remarkable; for instance : Hopwoodiana, which we think at 
the top of the list; the best yellow, either Thomasii, or Insignis; McNabiana; Pubra aurantia; 
Plantii; Brilliant ; Garneriana; and O’Brienii. They must have plenty of room or they are apt to be 
drawn up too much. Let them be in an open situation, to keep them within moderate growth, and of 
good habit. They are propagated by parting the roots, but they do very well two or three seasons 
without parting if they have abundance of room. If they are placed on a diversified perennial bor¬ 
der, they must not have tall plants close to them ; and they must be occasionally denuded of their 
withering leaves, and cleansed of slugs, earwigs, and other vermin, which always harbour in their 
thick bottom foliage. When they are parted you must be careful to have a fair portion of root to each 
piece separated from the old plant; and they must be -well watered in when the separated peices are 
planted. 
The seed may be sown in a common border, and when they are large enough to handle, they may 
be planted out a foot apart in a store-bed till they flower, when every one that is not better than we 
possess already, should be thrown away as soon as it comes into bloom. 
Properties. —The Potentilla should have round flowers, free from indentation, thick in the petal, 
smooth on the edge, and quite flat; the colour distinct, and if two colours, the contrast very decided ; 
no green to be seen beyond the edge of the flower. 
The plant should be dwarf and shrubby; the main flower stalks short, but the footstalks long 
enough to keep the flowers from touching each other; without leaves on the stems. Foliage bright 
green; flowers abundant, clear of the foliage, but no more. 
It follows from this that long straggling stalks throwing up the flowers in a straggling way like 
many of the species, with bunches of foliage about them, and mops of confined flower buds opening 
one or two at a time ; as well as flowers with great division in the outline, forming almost a five¬ 
leaved “wind-mill,” with the five petals small in proportion to the plant, and scanty in numbers according 
to the quantity of foliage, must be bad. There are some of the Potentillas little or no better than 
weeds. It behoves any one therefore to see all of them before they condemn any; for if a man’s 
opinion of the flower were founded on two or three of the worst sorts, the very name would deter 
him from trying those unseen. Certain it is that the plant has become unpopular among a large 
class, who never saw the better ones, but decided upon the merits of the family by the qualities of 
two or three members, that are really not worth a place in English gardens. 
THE PELARGONIUM HOUSE.* 
By W. P. AYKES, C.M.H.S., Brooklands, Blacrheath, Kent. 
f F the object in constructing the Pelargonium house is only to grow the plants to the greatest pos¬ 
sible perfection, then a house of very simple form will be sufficient; but if it is deemed advisable 
to build a house, which, in addition to being suitable, shall also show the plants, when they are grown, 
to the greatest advantage, then some little consideration is necessary. 
Of course a house that is suitable for the ordinary Pelargoniums, would also do for the fancy kinds. 
Such houses as we see then among the London exhibitors—who are, doubtless, the best cultivators in 
the world—are very simple in construction, being low lean-tos, with a front platform, and a stage 
within three feet of, and placed at an angle of inclination, so as to run parallel with the glass, and 
thus bringing all the plants the same distance from it. These houses, in some cases, are heated by 
* From The Fancy Pelargonium now in tlie press. 
