i8Si.] NOTES. 251 



NOTES. 



One of the loveliest of all Orcliicls now in bloom is the deep rosy- 

 flowered Vanda teres — a beautiful thing truly, but with a reputation 

 of being shy in producing its flower -spikes. A Continental authority 

 some time ago suggested slitting the leaf-sheath at the nodes in order 

 to induce flowering. That may be one way, but not the best. Cutting 

 a knot is all very well sometimes, but there are cases in which it is 

 best to untie it. The case of this Vanda is that of the majority of 

 Orchids ; if it be well grown, and kept on the dry side of moistness at 

 the root, I find it easy enough to flower. Don't try to make a short 

 bushy plant of it. A good strong stem 7 feet high, trained up the roof 

 of our Orchid-house, is now producing two spikes, one above and the 

 other below last year's flowering node. Some Orchids seem to require 

 length of stem ere they bloom well and regularly year after year. 

 The Renanthera is a case in point ; and Vanda teres would be found 

 to bloom far more satisfactorily if length of stem was sought after 

 instead of a bushy habit of growth. 



One of the rarest of all wind-flowers, and one of the most beautiful 

 also — viz.. Anemone sulphurea — has just opened its flowers, and has 

 been much admired. It has delicate sulphur-yellow flowers, and finely 

 cut hairy leaves, and is one of the most distinct and striking of all the 

 species. A. fulgens is a blazing beauty for a rather dry and sunny 

 border — its gorgeous scarlet black-eyed flowers lighting up with glow- 

 ing colour the whole place where it grows. Less conspicuous, but 

 scarcely less beautiful, is the purple form of the last named, the buds 

 of which are so rich as to seem lined with purple velvet : all these 

 should be grown by all lovers of rare and lovely hardy flowers. 



Of good hardy climbing shrubs for blooming in May, there are 

 many more costly and far inferior to Clematis montana. Well planted 

 at the foot of a dead tree of low bushy habit, and allowed to take 

 possession of the branches, it with a little timely assistance will be- 

 come a thing of beauty not readily surpassed. Its white flowers are 

 produced in wreaths and festoons in the most lovely way. There is 

 a more beautiful Clematis for May blooming, but it is not so easily 

 obtained, or so easily satisfied with soil or climate, as C. montana, — I 

 allude to Clematis alpina (Atragene austriaca cserulea), which is now 

 (May 12) a mass of fresh green leafage, studded with hundreds of 

 delicate lilac-blue, four-sepalled bells, each having a soft white boss 

 of stamens in the centre, which lends a delicate charm to the whole 

 flower. 



Of all Primroses, the dainty, wee, purple-flowered Bird's-eye Primrose 

 of the Orkney meadows, P. scotica, is to my mind just now most charm- 

 ing. It is easily raised from seeds sown as soon as ripe every summer, 



