The common wild Cranesbill (Geranium maculatum) improves under cultivation, and is an attractive plant when it stands in front of taller foliage.
Gilia. Low-growing hardy annuals, good for front borders or rockwork, growing from seed very quickly and continuing in flower a long season. They will do well in light soil. Sow seed in the fall or early spring where plants are wanted. Gilia tricolor, blue, white and yellow, is the best, but there are excellent white and red sorts.
Gladiolus. A popular summer-flowering bulbous plant, thriving best in moist, sandy loam, that has had an application of well rotted manure the previous year. No manure should be used the year of planting, as it has a tendency to rot the bulbs. Plantings may be made from the time the ground is in condition to work in the spring until late in June. In planting, the bulbs should be set 3 inches deep and 8 to 10 inches apart, unless they are to be grown in groups, when they may be planted five or six in the space of 1 foot. Stakes should be furnished each plant to support the flower-spike. When in groups, one stake may be used, setting it in the middle of the circle.
Gladioli are increased by bulblets formed around the old bulbs (or corms), or they may be grown from seed. The bulblets should be planted in drills in April or May, and will grow to flowering size in one or two years. In the same way, seed sown early in drills, grown through the summer, the little bulbs taken up and stored through the winter and again planted out, will often make bulbs large enough to flower the second year.
Care should be taken to lift all bulbs before freezing weather, as most varieties are tender. They should be harvested with the tops on, and laid away in a cool, dry place to ripen. The tops are then cut off and the bulbs stored in a dry place (fit for potatoes, but drier) until wanted the following spring. [See Bulbs.]
Glaucium, or Horned Poppy. The kind most cultivated (G. luteum) has bright yellow flowers in July and September. The flowers, contrasting with the deep cut glaucous leaves, make a fine effect in the mixed or ribbon border. Seed may be sown in the open ground where wanted. Thin to 12 inches apart. Height 12 to 20 inches. Perennial; but treated as a hardy annual.
Gloxinia. Choice greenhouse tuberous-rooted perennials, sometimes seen in window gardens, but really not adapted to them. Gloxinias must have a uniform moist and warm atmosphere and protection from the sun. They will not stand abuse or varying conditions. Propagated often by leaf-cuttings, which should give flowering plants in one year. From the leaf, inserted half its length in the soil (or sometimes only the petiole inserted) a tuber arises. This tuber, after resting until midwinter or later, is planted and flowering plants soon arise. Gloxinias also grow readily from seeds, which may be germinated in a temperature of about 70°. Flowering plants may be had in a year if seeds are sown in late winter or early spring. This is the usual method. Soil should be porous and rich.
Godetia. Very free-blooming annuals in fine colors, harmonizing well with the California poppy. Many of the varieties are beautifully blotched with contrasting colors. They are very satisfactory plants for solid beds or border lines, blooming from June to October. Seed may be sown in heat, and seedlings planted in open ground at a distance of 18 inches apart when danger of frost is over. A rather poor soil will cause them to bloom better than one very rich, as they are inclined to make a rank growth. Height 1 to 2 feet.
Golden Feather. [See Pyrethrum.]
