1882 .] 
NEW PELARGONIUMS.-TULIP SHOWS. 
97 
NEW PELARGONIUMS 
[Plate 565.] 
f HE lovers of Pelargoniums are indebted 
to M. Victor Lemoine, of Nancy, for 
the two distinct and handsome varieties 
figured in the accompanying plate. 
Their distinctness will he evident at a glance, 
and their beauty when well grown is equally 
pronounced. 
Mignonnette (fig. 1) is a seedling raised 
by M. Lemoine in 1877. It belongs to the 
class with undulated petals — Regal Pelar¬ 
goniums as they are termed in this country— 
and was noticed as a novelty of merit at the 
Paris Universal Exhibition of 1878. It was 
shown from Chiswick at the meeting of the 
Floral Committee in July, 1881, and was 
then awarded a First-class Certificate. M. 
Lemoine describes it as producing regular 
flowers with undulated petals having goffered 
edges; the colour a marbled carmine rose, 
with the upper petals blotched with maroon 
and the centre white. 
Belle de jour (fig. 2) is also a seedling of 
M. Lemoine’s. It is, as we learn, “a seed¬ 
ling of the variety named Lucie Lemoine 
crossed by the old double album plenum 
(Lady Victoria Ker), and was sent out in 1880 
under its French name Belle de jour ( Con¬ 
volvulus tricolor ) since its flowers resemble 
those of a double-flowered Convolvulus.” 
The flowers are very pure white, broad, semi¬ 
double, and regularly shaped, like those of a 
Convolvulus, whence the name ; they grow on 
stiff erect stems, and are very abundant, but 
as only a few trusses open at one time, it has 
a habit of continuous flowering which makes 
it very useful for cutting purposes.—T. Moore. 
TULIP 
E have this year had the privilege of 
assisting at two of the principal 
Tulip Shows of Lancashire and 
Yorkshire, namely, that of the Royal 
National Tulip Society held in the Botanical 
Gardens at Manchester on May 27th, and that 
of the Wakefield Amateur Tulip Society, held at 
the Brunswick Hotel, Wakefield—the forty- 
seventh annual show—on May 29th. The 
sight was one of much interest beyond that 
arising from the intrinsic beauty of the flowers. 
How little, comparatively, of the enthusiasm 
which seems to mark the northern florist, 
is met with in the south. Doubtless the very 
necessity of fighting with the elements on 
behalf of his floral pets which the northern 
man experiences, deepens his love and regard 
for them, and leads to all those gentle and 
genial attentions by which he deserves and 
usually secures success. We were particularly 
struck with this on being warmly welcomed to 
see the garden of Mr. G. Gill at Wakefield, 
where we found two long and crowded tulip beds 
in all their glory, the plants vigorous, and the 
blossoms as thick as buttercups in a meadow, 
forming a most enchanting and attractive 
picture. But over and beyond all this was to 
be noted the arrangement which witnessed a 
loving regard for the flowers—a love which we 
SHOWS. 
understood had endured through at least four 
succeeding generations. Mr. Gill is by trade 
a shoemaker ; at one corner of his garden plot 
—not a very large one—stands his cottage, 
and at the other an apartment in which his trade 
is carried on. Over against the window of 
this one-story workshop are the two principal 
beds of the magnificently grown tulips above 
referred to, and through this opening Mr. Gill, 
while pursuing his daily occupation, can feast 
his eyes on the beauty of his flowers, the long 
vista formed by the path between the two beds 
being exactly opposite to it. No doubt the 
progress of the plants, from their first appear¬ 
ance above ground till the consummation of 
their glorious inflorescence, is closely watched, 
while sole and upper are being welted to¬ 
gether, and no doubt a rich reward of satis¬ 
faction is thus day by day secured, while the 
necessary sw T eat of the brow is securing the 
daily bread. What source of satisfaction could 
possibly be purer and more ennobling ? How 
could labour be sweetened by more ravishing 
and dainty delight? 
Turning to the Exhibitions above referred to, 
we must note that the Royal National Society’s 
Show was not equal to that of last year, owing 
to uncongenial climatic conditions. The great 
change of temperature which took place during 
G 
