THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 371 



but are unfortunately rather expensive. A. hilohum blooms in JSTo- 

 vember, and A. ehurneum virens in December and January ; but the 

 grandest of all, for those who can aftbrd it, is the beautiful A. ses- 

 quipedah, with its maf^nificent white flowers. Barlceria Skinncri ia 

 especially valuable, it flowers with the greatest freedom throughout 

 the winter, and does well in an intermediate house. We have some 

 nice plants of Calantlie vestlta that I should not like to be without, for 

 they produce a fine lot of flowers during the winter, and are more- 

 over easy to grow, and valuable for choice bouquets ; both varieties — 

 pink-eyed and yellow-eyed — are good. The grand Cattleya lahiata 

 blooms in October and November, and therefore scarcely comes 

 within the precincts of this paper, but its lovely flowers are produced 

 at such a dull season that no orcliid-house ought to be without it. 

 Exactly the same remarks apply to the lovely Vandci ccsrulea, with 

 its large spikes of delicate blue flowers, which blooms at the same 

 time as the Cattleya. Por a white-flowered winter orchid nothing 

 can equal the charming Coelogijno crlstata, which flowers in February 

 and March : half-a-dozen specimens is not one too many in a collection. 

 Two or three of the other species of Caelogyne flower in the winter, 

 but, in my opinion, none can equal C. crlstata. The old C>jprij)edmm 

 insigne still maintains its place as a good useful subject, for it 

 flowers freely throughout the winter ; it can be grown well in a 

 greenhouse, and lasts in perfection a long time. Another good mid- 

 winter subject is Dendrohiitm moniliforme, the flowers are bright rosy 

 lilac and white, and freely produced. The Epidendruni vitelUmim. is 

 valuable for the winter, as its bright scarlet flowers quite light up 

 the house when well done. The individual flowers of Goodi/era 

 discolor are not particularly remarkable, but large specimens well 

 flowered have a pretty eft'ect intermixed with the other plants. I 

 grow several large pots for that purpose. Amongst the Lcelias we 

 have some grand winter flowers, L. acuminata, L. alhida, and Z. 

 anceps, being about the best. They are all suitable for cutting, but I 

 set too much store by mine to cut them. Li/caste Skinneri is also 

 fine for winter, it is remarkably easy to grow, does well in a cool 

 house, and the flowers remain good for a long time. In the Onci- 

 diums we have 0. bicaUosicm, 0. Cavendishii, 0. leuchocJiiliun, 0. un- 

 gidcuJatum, txW. good and easy to grow. Forming a fine contrast to 

 these, we must not forget the beautiful Sophronites (/randljloya ; its 

 lovely scarlet flowers render it one of the most attractive 1 have yet 

 named. The last plants that I shall name are the Zygopetalums ; I 

 could not possibly conclude with better subjects, lor Z. crlnitum 

 coerideum and Z. Mackaiji are two of the most charming winter 

 orchids v^^e have. 



Tiiere are several other good kinds (besides those I have enume- 

 rated) that flower in winter, but 1 have drawn these notes from my 

 own collection, which enables me to speak with confidence. 



