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The Ivy Geranium
Pelargonium lateripes.
IVY-LEAVED geraniums have obtained less than their fair share of attention, and the consequence is their merits as decorative plants are but little known. As they have been in cultivation about a hundred years, it is time they were appreciated by the public at large, for although not the most showy, they are beyond doubt the most beautiful of all the pelargonium or geranium family. The raisers of new varieties and those who cultivate specimens for exhibition have not been wanting in attentions to this class, for they have been greatly improved, and the double-flowering varieties raised by M. Lemoine, of Nancy, approach the wonderful in their exceeding loveliness. In the open garden the ivy-leaved geraniums are useful to adorn vases and baskets, and they are available also as bedding plants. They display their fine qualities best, however, when well grown in the form of pyramids for the conservatory, and a set of the newest varieties so treated would create a sensation anywhere, save in the inner circle of horticulturists, who are familiar with their splendid capabilities. To grow fine specimens is an easy task, but demands continuous attention, for we must have a free growth without coarseness, and an abundant display of flowers.
The cuttings having been struck in the usual way, should be potted into three-inch pots in a rather light compost, consisting of equal parts of loam, leaf-mould, and sharp sand. A fairly warm house will be the best place for them at all times except in summer, when they should remain under glass, and have free ventilation. When the pots are filled with the roots, the plants must be moved into the next size of pots, and care must be taken never to repot them until they have filled their pots with roots, and to give them no more pot-room than they can occupy in a reasonable space of time. None but an expert, who needs not our counsel, should shift one of these plants from a small pot to a large one, for long ere the large pot is filled with new roots the soil will become sour, and the plant will cease growing. The rule applies generally to plants, but is of special importance in the case of ivy-leaved geraniums.
By successive shifts the plants will reach to eight or nine-inch pots, and beyond that size it is not advisable to go. When removed from the three-inch to five-inch pots the compost should be somewhat more substantial than was used in the first instance, say mellow loam from rotted turf, well-rotted old hotbed manure, and either peat or leaf-mould equal parts, with the addition of sand sufficient to render the whole porous. Should this prove too strong, the proportion of manure must be reduced at the next shift, but a certain degree of vigour is needed to bring out the beauty of the plants. When they have reached specimen size, and have flowered, they should be shaken out of the old soil and have a moderate pruning, and be potted back into smallish pots to go through the same course of culture as before. Our practice, indeed, is to plant out those that have run their course, or to throw them away, trusting to young plants for specimens.
As regards the training, care must be taken to allow the growth some degree of freedom, for the severe hard lines that are produced by tying in closely make a mere burlesque of these elegant plants. In the early stages one or two light stakes will suffice; but as the growth progresses it will be well to insert three or four, or even more, and draw them together at the top to form a kind of cone. By training the leading shoots to these stakes and leaving the side shoots in some degree free, a neat contour without any hardness will be secured. In the event of the plants becoming thin at the bottom, it will be advisable to cut them back, and as soon as they begin to grow again freely to give them a shift to the next size. If crowded up with other plants they are certain to be thin at the base; they should therefore stand apart, so that the light plays equally upon them from head to foot. As a rule they require all the light they can get, but at times when the sun is high and the heat considerable, a little shade will be useful, and the path and the stage of the house should be sprinkled with water.
The following are grand varieties of ivy geraniums, and they are well adapted for first-class specimen culture:- Albert Crousse, Comte Horace de Choiseuil, Madame J. Menorean, Candeur Sarah Bernhardt, Beaute de Lyon, La France, Gloire d'Orleans, Marguerite Jacquot. Ivy-leaved geraniums are occasionally employed with excellent effect as bedding plants, those with variegated leaves being most in favour. The best of the series for edging a bed is the Duke of Edinburgh, which has whiter leaves than any other kind, but grows freely and has a very bright appearance. Another good variety is L'Elegante, the leaves margined white and the flowers white. This is a lovely basket plant, and looks well on a tree-stump or hanging over a ledge of rock. A golden-leaved variety named Aurea marginatum will be useful where a yellow-toned edging is required. Each of these three when planted as edgings to beds will look better without than with their flowers; but when grown as basket plants the flowers add to their effectiveness.
