COMPANION TO THE FLORAL MAGAZINE. 
25 
BEDDING GERANIUMS. 
As the question is often asked—which kinds do you consider the best 
for bedding purposes of the vast number of Geraniums now out?—and as 
I have had some considerable experience in them, I may perhaps be be¬ 
nefiting some of your readers if I give the names of those I have found 
to be the best. Lists have so multiplied, that I fear purchasers are often 
more puzzled than informed, by a perusal of catalogues; (while there are 
many persons, doubtless, who are never satisfied unless with a large va¬ 
riety ; thus I myself every year receive a large number of novelties, and am 
glad to try them, in order to see if they are really improvements on the 
older sorts;) yet I feel that in recommending to others, it is far better to 
give the names of only just the best in each class; novelty is a great 
charm, and one of the great advantages of floriculture, is that it affords 
unceasing pleasure by its constant variety, but novelty without improve¬ 
ment is not desirable. The Geranium of the Zonale, or horseshoe sec¬ 
tion, as it is called, has now branched off into many classes, all of them 
pretty, and many of them very desirable for forming variety in the flower- 
garden :— 
I. Tricolour-leaved golden varieties. 
Mrs. Pollock : a beautiful variety, free, and robust in habit, edge yellow, 
ground of leaf-green, and a beautiful reddish-crimson horseshoe. It 
was beautifully figured in the last volume of the f Floral Magazine/ 
Sunset: another somewhat similar, but not quite so robust in habit, and 
with smoother leaves. A bed of either or both these varieties would be 
very effective. 
II. Tricolour-leaved silver varieties. 
I do not consider these valuable for bedding purposes, as they are apt 
to lose the crimson or pink horseshoe, which gives them so pretty an ap¬ 
pearance; as pot plants, we would recommend The Countess, Hotel de 
Clung, and Perfection. 
HI. Gold-edged varieties. 
Cloth of Gold: a rich golden-yellow leaf, with a green disk; in the house 
it becomes very green, but when planted out, gradually acquires the 
golden tinge; the flowers are deep scarlet, and it decidedly is the best 
of this class. The old Golden Chain is very pretty, but then it is bad 
in growth, and the flowers are very poor. 
IV. Silver-edged varieties. 
Bijou : this I believe, after many trials, to be the best bedding Geranium 
in this class, the habit is good, the flowers are large and well-formed, 
and the variegation of the leaves excellent. 
Mangles’ Silver Bedding, or variegated: a useful variety for ribbons or 
chains for its trailing habit. Frequenters of the Crystal Palace will 
not fail to recollect how admirably it is brought in there. 
D 
