There is, perhaps, no class of plants so indispensable for bedding as
the geranium, but in selecting varieties it is important to choose sorts
which stand the sun well, for many that do well in the greenhouse, or
in a shady situation, fail to give satisfaction when exposed to the sun.
This is especially the case with some of the bronze and tri-colored varie-
ties. Baltet is a very fine, double white flowered variety. Lorraine is
the very best scarlet grown. Jean Sisley is a good one, scarlet with
white eye. Ralph has beautiful dark crimson flowers; it is a grand
bloomer, but unfortunately the petals drop very early. Jealousy is the
nearest approach to a yellow yet sent out. White Tom Thumb is dwarf
in habit, and an extremely pretty plant, having very distinct marked
zones on the leaves.
To get a nice symmetrical plant, when about four inches high, pinch
out the two uppermost leaves, which will cause the plant to throw out
lateral branches.
If you do not wish your geraniums tall, when you plant them out of
doors and wish to cover a large space with them, just peg the branches
very carefully down with a forked twig and you will have double the
bloom from them in this position. This can also be done to plants in
pots by making a little frame of laths ; fasten it to the top of the pot,
then carefully bend the limbs, little by little, and tie them to it ; the
112 FLOWERS.
plant will grow broad, wide, will soon cover the frame, and will not be
so liable to be broken by the wind or upset in a storm.
Heliotropes can also be trained in this way ; they are among the best
plants for pegging down, as their limbs will bend any way, and, like
verbenas and geraniums, their blooms grow upward. Fuchsias do bet-
ter grown as standards, as their blossoms hang downward, and would
trail on the ground and be spoiled in rainy weather. You will find by
this pegging arrangement that the buds at the joints, to all appearance
dormant, will grow and shoot out young stems ; from those you get
your bloom.
PANSIES.
Pansies prefer shade. A cool, moist situation suits them best, par-
ticularly in hot summers ; for that reason, never plant them in raised
beds, where the intense heat will rapidly absorb every particle of mois-
ture. Choose rather a bed cut in the lawn, or, better still, the shady
side of a house. Pansies produce seed very freely, which may be sowed
early in the spring, and the young plants will bloom in the autumn.
Should they produce flowers in the summer they will be small, and it is
a good plan to remove them. As the weather grows cooler they will
increase in size and beauty. It sometimes happens that if the seed ±>e
left on too long the pods burst open, and from this self-sown seed
numerous young plants wijl spring up in the autumn. If these seed-
lings be taken up any time in September or October, and planted out in
beds, they will flower the next spring. Pansies grow very readily, and
soon spread widely, but the largest and best formed flowers are always
found on young, vigorous plants.
Page 99
Presented as published in 1886. Historical recipes may not meet modern food-safety standards. Cook from the modern interpretation, not the original instructions.
AI-modernized reading of the original text
There is, perhaps, no class of plants so indispensable for bedding as the geranium, but in selecting varieties it is important to choose sorts which stand the sun well, for many that do well in the greenhouse, or in a shady situation, fail to give satisfaction when exposed to the sun. This is especially the case with some of the bronze and tri-colored varieties. Baltet is a very fine, double white flowered variety. Lorraine is the very best scarlet grown. Jean Sisley is a good one, scarlet with white eye. Ralph has beautiful dark crimson flowers; it is a grand bloomer, but unfortunately the petals drop very early. Jealousy is the nearest approach to a yellow yet sent out. White Tom Thumb is dwarf in habit, and an extremely pretty plant, having very distinct marked zones on the leaves.
To get a nice symmetrical plant, when about four inches high, pinch out the two uppermost leaves, which will cause the plant to throw out lateral branches.
If you do not wish your geraniums tall, when you plant them out of doors and wish to cover a large space with them, just peg the branches very carefully down with a forked twig and you will have double the bloom from them in this position. This can also be done to plants in pots by making a little frame of laths ; fasten it to the top of the pot, then carefully bend the limbs, little by little, and tie them to it ; the
plant will grow broad, wide, will soon cover the frame, and will not be so liable to be broken by the wind or upset in a storm.
Heliotropes can also be trained in this way ; they are among the best plants for pegging down, as their limbs will bend any way, and, like verbenas and geraniums, their blooms grow upward. Fuchsias do better grown as standards, as their blossoms hang downward, and would trail on the ground and be spoiled in rainy weather. You will find by this pegging arrangement that the buds at the joints, to all appearance dormant, will grow and shoot out young stems ; from those you get your bloom.
PANSIES.
Pansies prefer shade. A cool, moist situation suits them best, particularly in hot summers ; for that reason, never plant them in raised beds, where the intense heat will rapidly absorb every particle of moisture. Choose rather a bed cut in the lawn, or, better still, the shady side of a house. Pansies produce seed very freely, which may be sowed early in the spring, and the young plants will bloom in the autumn. Should they produce flowers in the summer they will be small, and it is a good plan to remove them. As the weather grows cooler they will increase in size and beauty. It sometimes happens that if the seed ±>e left on too long the pods burst open, and from this self-sown seed numerous young plants wijl spring up in the autumn. If these seedlings be taken up any time in September or October, and planted out in beds, they will flower the next spring. Pansies grow very readily, and soon spread widely, but the largest and best formed flowers are always found on young, vigorous plants.