96 
THE FLORIST AND POMOLOGIST. 
for immediate effect. As Mr. W. Paul remarks in the January Number of the 
Florist and Pomologist (page 6), “The certainty with which they accom¬ 
plish the work allotted to them, their freedom and continuity of bloom, the 
gorgeous masses of colour which they produce, and their comparative inde¬ 
pendence of the changes of the weather, place them without rivals in their own 
peculiar walk.” 
Most of the stronger-growing kinds of the plain and zonate-leaved Pelargo¬ 
niums, which are grown principally for their flowers, require different treatment 
from the weaker-growing kinds of the variegated sections. Nothing takes so 
much from the effect of flower gardens as to see some beds badly filled, whilst 
others near by are, as may sometimes be seen, masses of luxuriant growth. 
It occurs to me that a few remarks on the subject may not be altogether 
unacceptable at the present season to the younger portion of the readers of this 
periodical. * 
The last season was a remarkable one, the like of which may not again 
occur for some years. It was, on the whole, highly favourable for bedding 
Pelargoniums. The long continuance of fine, warm, sunshiny weather was all 
that could be desired for Pelargoniums, particularly those of the plain and 
zonate-leaved sections. The coming season may be very different. If dull, wet 
weather should prevail for any length of time, the stronger-growing kinds of 
the plain and zonate-leaved sections will run too much into growth and foliage, 
especially if the beds are highly enriched—an error into which the inexperi¬ 
enced sometimes fall. The method I adopt with them is simply this : The 
beds, which contain ordinary garden soil of a sandy nature, are dug from 12 to 
14 inches deep before planting. I then have some leaf soil or some very rotten 
dung spread over the surface. When the plants are being planted this is put 
into the holes around the balls with the fingers and trowel. The plants make 
fresh roots in this immediately, and soon start into a nice healthy growth, 
Later in the season, as they strike deeper, the roots get into the poor soil, and 
a profusion of flowers instead of rank growth is the result. With good strong 
plants of the very vigorous kinds it is a good plan to plunge them in the pots, 
taking care that there is not a great depth of soil at bottom for the roots to 
strike into. When masses of flowers are the principal object aimed at, every¬ 
thing tending to late growth should be guarded against. Young plants, when 
put into highly enriched soil, run too much into growth towards the end of the 
season, even in fine weather. 
Nearly the whole of the variegated varieties require to be planted in beds of 
highly-enriched soil of good depth. When I say highly-enriched soil, I do not 
mean that the bed should contain a mass of strong unfermented dung—far 
from it; the soil should consist of one-half good turfy loam, one-fourth part peat 
or leaf soil, and one-fourth part very rotten manure, the whole well mixed up 
together with a good sprinkling of river sand. The bottom of the beds should 
be thoroughly drained, and the depth of the above compost should be from 
16 to 20 inches. If the plants are well rooted—and this is a very material 
point to be attended to—they may be planted-out towards the end of the month. 
If the weather be dry after they are planted, they will require watering a little, 
until they begin to root freely into the fresh soil. After this they will take 
care of themselves if left alone. 
There were numerous complaints last season about variegated Pelargoniums 
not growing freely, particularly some of the golden-leaved varieties. I believe 
the greater part of the failures arose through planting badly-rooted plants in 
shallow beds of poor soil. In visiting a place last season, where I first saw 
Sunset and Mrs. Pollock after they were let out, I was very much surprised 
not to find Sunset bedded-out, especially as Mrs. Pollock was very largely 
