54 THE GARDENER. [Feb. 



being made 1 Maxillaria picta is another sweet little Orchid, and 

 flowers profusely in small pots; but, unfortunately, it does not last long. 

 Cuelogyne cristata is another suitable kind. Calanthes can also be 

 used, but the tops of the pots should be well dressed with Lycopodium, 

 Many other useful kinds could be enumerated, but one more only 

 shall be named — it is one of the oldest and best known, and doubtless 

 the most useful of all Orchids — Dendrobium nobile. What is more 

 lovely or better adapted for this purpose 1 It lasts a long time, and 

 can be readily grown in small 4- or 5-inch pots, and larger as cases may 

 demand. In two years good flowering plants can be grown from the 

 small pseudo-bulbs, which readily produce themselves after flowering. 

 A number taken ofif and placed in 3-inch pots for the first season and 

 then into 5-inch the following spring, suitable plants may be pro- 

 duced, and if ripened well will not fail to flower and be lovely little 

 objects. If not grown in small pots, one or two spikes may be cut 

 from larger plants and placed in moist soil or sand, in small pots, and 

 the surface covered with Lycopod. They last a long time in this way, 

 and cause little or no injury to the plants from which they were cut. 



Primulas and Cyclamen are invaluable plants and could not easily 

 be dispensed with for winter, being suitable for rooms. The Primula 

 lasts a considerable time, and soon recruits itself when brought out, 

 and flowers profusely again. As a window -plant for cottagers, it 

 is unsurpassed, and will bloom well in a cottage - window for six 

 months. Prunus sinensis flore pleno and triloba are also valuable, 

 and deserve to be more grown. They last nearly as long in light 

 positions in rooms as when allowed to remain in the conservatory ; 

 and no plant can be more easily forced into bloom. They are as easily 

 propagated as Deutzias from the young growths taken off with a heel, 

 and in a season or two make nice plants, varying from six to ten shoots, 

 in 5- and 6-inch pots. The treatment that suits the Peach suits these 

 Prunuses well, and when growth is completed they can be placed out- 

 side to ripen the wood. 



At no season of the year are flowers so much appreciated as during 

 the winter months when all outside is quietly at rest, and at no season 

 are they so bright and cheerful ; and perhaps this accounts in a great 

 measure for the increasing demand in winter over that of summer. 

 Flowers inside, except of a very choice nature, become common when 

 the outside borders and flower-beds are gay with a variety of plants. 

 For instance, the Zonal Pelargoniums, the most brilliant and cheerful 

 flowers that can be produced during the winter, are in summer looked 

 upon as common when they would naturally continue to bloom for 

 months in succession without much care or trouble. The same might 

 be said of many plants. The New Year is a festive season, and for 

 the occasion floral decorations are considered indispensable. Unfor- 

 tunately this is a season when flowers are considered scarce and most 

 difficult to produce. After the New Year days gradually lengthen, 



