THE GROWING OF THE ORNAMENTAL PLANTS
INSTRUCTIONS ON PARTICULAR KINDS - Continued
Fuchsia.--Well-known window or greenhouse shrub, treated as an
herbaceous subject; many interesting forms; late winter, spring
and summer.
Fuchsia is readily grown from cuttings. Soft green wood should be used
for cuttings, and it will root in about three weeks, when the cuttings
should be potted. Take care not to have them pot-bound while in growth,
but do not overpot when bloom is wanted. Given warmth and good soil,
they will make fine plants in three months or less. In well-protected,
partially shady places they may be planted out, growing into miniature
bushes by fall.
Plants may be kept on from year to year; and if the branches are well
cut back after blooming, abundant new bloom will come. But it is usually
best to make new plants each year from cuttings, since young plants
commonly bloom most profusely and demand less care. Fuchsias are amongst
the best of window subjects.
Geranium.--What are commonly known as geraniums are, strictly
speaking, pelargoniums. (See Pelargonium.)
The true geraniums are mostly hardy perennials, and therefore should not
be confounded with the tender pelargoniums. Geraniums are worthy a place
in a border. They may be transplanted early in the spring, setting them
2 ft. apart. Height 10 to 12 in. The common wild cranesbill (Geranium
maculatum) improves under cultivation, and is an attractive plant when
it stands in front of taller foliage.
Gladiolus.--Of summer and fall-blooming bulbous plants, gladiolus
is probably the most widely popular. The colors range from scarlet and
purple, to white, rose, and pure yellow. The plants are of slender,
erect habit, growing from 2 to 3 feet high.
Gladioli dislike a heavy clay soil. A light loam or sandy soil suits
them best. No fresh manure should be added to the soil the year in which
they are grown. They should have a new place every year, if possible,
and always an open sunny situation.
The corms may be covered 2 inches deep in heavy soils, and 4 to 6 in
light soils. They may stand 8 to 10 inches apart, or half this distance
for mass effects. For a succession, they may be planted at short
intervals, the earliest planting being of smaller corms in the early
spring as soon as the soil is dry enough to work; later the larger are
to be planted--the last setting being not later than the Fourth of July.
This last planting will afford fine late flowers. The plants should be
supported by inconspicuous stakes.
The successive plantings may be in the same bed among those set earlier,
or they may be grouped in unoccupied nooks, or portions of the border.
The plants may stand as close as 6 inches from each other. The earlier
planting may be a foot apart to admit of later settings between.
Late in the fall, after frosts and before freezing, the corms are to be
dug, cleaned, and dried in the sun and air for a few hours and then
stored away in boxes about 2-1/2 inches deep in a cool, dark, and dry
place. The tops should be left on, at least till completely shriveled.
The varieties are perpetuated and multiplied by the little corms that
appear about the base of the large new corm which is formed each year.
These small corms may be taken off in the spring and sown thickly in
drills. Many of them will make flowering plants by the second season.
They are treated like the large corms, in the fall.
Gladioli are easily grown from seed also, but this method cannot be
depended on to perpetuate desirable varieties, which can be reproduced
only by the cormels. Some of the best flowers may be cross-pollinated,
or allowed to form seed in the usual manner; the seed sown thickly in
drills, and shaded till the plantlets appear, then carefully cultivated,
will afford a crop of small corms in the fall. These may be stored for
the winter, like the other young corms, and, like them, many will flower
the second season, affording a great variety and quite likely some new
and striking kinds. Those that do not flower should be reserved for
further trial. They often prove finer than those first to flower.
Early-flowering varieties of gladioli may be forced for late winter or
spring bloom.
For bouquets, cut the spike when the lower flowers open; keep in fresh
water, cut off the end of the stem frequently, and the other flowers
will expand.
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