L>9G THE GARDENER. [July 



bell-shaped flowers of a purple or white colour. The only secret in 

 their culture is to plant in a deep rich border ; and while they should 

 never be disturbed in the autumn or winter, they may be cut into bits 

 in April just as they start into growth, and every bit grows away 

 without the least check whatever. These fine-leaved plants are now 

 most effectively used in the London parks, and should henceforth find 

 their way into all good private gardens. 



Anent the price of Orchids, I hear of two plants of Cattleya Mendeli 

 having recently been sold for £'2()0 each. This is a lovely Orchid, and 

 these especial plants were exceptionally fine forms, of course. Then 

 Sir Trevor Lawrence gave £bO for a plant of Cattleya exoniensis the 

 other day with seven leads — a good specimen, in fact. Then that 

 lovely pure white variety of Coelogyne cristata exhibited by Mr Titley 

 of Leeds the other day, was so much admired in London that Mr Bull 

 secured it for his patrons, the new plant buyers, at a cost of £200. 

 At this rate, Orchids offer to the careful and experienced buyer as 

 good a rate of interest as pictures or other works of art. 



Cattleya labiata — the true old autumn-blooming variety collected in 

 Brazil many years ago, and first bloomed by the late Mr Cattley of 

 Barnet — is still rare, and so costly. Mr Day's plants fetched from £20 

 to £40 each. When it cannot be obtained, however, a good form of 

 C. Warneri may be sufficient for one's appetite in that way. I have 

 now two forms in bloom, and one, a native seedling now blooming for 

 the first time, is little, if anything, inferior to C. labiata in size and 

 colour of the flower. 



A very distinct and effective hardy rock-plant, now in full beauty, is 

 Onosma taurica. It is sometimes called the " Golden Drop," and bears 

 its pure yellow Erica Cavendishii-like flowers on a twin-forked, l^afy 

 spike, 1 foot in height. It is not at all a common plant, but may be 

 increased by cuttings in April. Either for open-air culture or for cut- 

 flowers it well deserves a place in all gardens. 



Nearly all Gladioli are beautiful, but one pure white kind now in 

 bloom is especially lovely, and welcome for cut-flowers. I allude to 

 G. Colvillei albus — sometimes called "The Bride" in bulb cata- 

 logues. About eighteen months ago we planted a few dozen bulbs of 

 this kind out in a deep rich sandy border close to a low wall, which 

 affords them shelter. They bloomed well the first year, but this sea- 

 son they are very much stronger, and so more floriferous. The long 

 spikes of pure white flowers are peculiarly attractive for large drawing- 

 room vases. The only other flower I know which can compare with it 

 for this purpose is the large .St Bruno's Lily (Anthericum liliago), 

 which comes in a fortnight or three weeks earlier. Those who have 



