1878.] 



AND HORTICULTURIST. 



71 



Green House and House Gardening. 



COMMUNICA TIONS. 



ORCHIDS WITH OTHER PLANTS. 



BY C. H. S., BALTIMORE, MD. 



Having had considerable success in growing 

 orchids in a mixed collection of plants, I think 

 that other amateurs would be glad to do so did 

 they only know how easily it may be done, and 

 In my estimation, how much better they appear 

 •when grown with Ferns, Begonias, etc., than 

 when grown in a house entirely devoted to them. 

 I have never seen a collection of orchids except 

 one in which the plants were grown for commer- 

 cial purposes ; and any success that I have had 

 Ihas been from the study of these wonderful 

 plants in their native habitats. I remefnber as 

 well as if it was only a week ago, the first orchid 

 that I ever saw. It was on Christmas day, 1839, 

 almost forty years ago. I was a sailor boy at 

 Rio de Janerio, and having a holiday to go on 

 .shore on Christmas, I had climbed up the moun- 

 tain back of the city. Tired and hungry I sat 

 down to rest, when I observed quite a large 

 whjite flower not far from me. On examining it 

 I discovered that a limb of a tree had been bro- 

 ken off by the wind, and that the bloom belonged 

 to, a plant growing on it, but entirely distinct. I 

 think now that the flower was Cattleya crispa, 

 •or some one of the white Lalias from Rio. 



Some .six or eight years ago, circumstances al- 

 lowed me to indulge in the luxury of a green- 

 IhoiMie. I immediately commenced to collect 

 iafew orchids, and my collection of these plants 

 'has gradually increased until I have some of 

 nearly each species. They have been grown in 

 two small houses, each 12X32, heated by flue 

 :and hat Avater, the heat so regulated that when 

 •one house stood at 65° the other would be 50° or 

 less. These houses have been torn down, and a 

 'house 55X17 substituted. In these houses were 

 .•grown all manner of winter-blooming stuff, Be- 

 'gonias, Bouvardias, Epiphyllum, Tydjea and 

 other gesneraceous plants, Geraniums, &c. M}' 

 jVzalias, Camellias, and many other plants that 

 can stand as low a temperature as 35° at times 

 and still seem to bloom better for it, are grown 

 in another house. 



1 have bloomed among other orchids, in the 

 last year, Dendrobium nobile, D. heterocarpum, 

 D. monilliforme,l). moschatum, D.fimbriatum, 



Oculatum and several other Dendrobes ; Ansel- 

 lia Africana, ^Brides odoratum and A. virens, 

 Vanda teres, Cattleya Mossse, C. labiata, C. 

 Forbesii, a plant with seventy-five flowers open 

 at one time ; C. citrina, C. guttata, C. Loddigesii, 

 C. chocoensis, C. Triante, C. superba, and a 

 half-dozen other varieties ; Odontoglossum, 

 about ten varieties, with Tricopilias, Miltonia, 

 Epidendrum, Stanhopiaes, Lceliiis, Calanthes 

 Lycaste, &c. As 1 have never seen a 

 collection of orchids 1 do not know how they 

 compare with others, but friends who have 

 seen them tell me they are well-grown 

 and healthy; and as they bloom well, 1 suppose 

 they are handled about right. With these re- 

 marks I propose to give a few notes on my man- 

 ner of growing orchids. In the first place, any 

 one wishing to grow orchids with a mixed collec- 

 tion, must divest himself of the idea that the 

 house must be saturated with moisture. Such a 

 condition would be injurious to the beauty of 

 many foliage plants, and would cause the blooms 

 of many other plants to mildew. 1 grow very 

 few on naked blocks after they are once estab- 

 lished, but either in well-drained pots, buckets 

 made of cedar, (Juniperus Yirginianus) or on 

 blocks well covered with moss. 1 use sphagnum 

 moss alone, for all but the terrestrial orchids ; 

 and 1 water my orchids, as 1 do other plants, at 

 the roots when they need it, and use the syringe 

 no more than I would for Begonias and gesnera- 

 ceous plants. It is impossible in a short article 

 to give any idea of the treatment of the different 

 species, time of bloom, manner and time of 

 growth, etc. My experience is that the idea that 

 nearly all orchids should be at rest from Kov. to 

 March, is not according to their wants. I find 

 that very many Brazilian orchids, blooming 

 from Aug. to Nov., start into growth in the fall, 

 which is the spring and wet season of Brazil, and 

 at this moment many of my Brazilian orchid.s 

 are growing finely. But they need no more heal 

 than is requisite for Bouvardias and Heliotropes 

 to keep them growing and making good bulbs. 

 1 propose later to give you a few articles on the 

 different species that 1 have grown, and will then 

 try and make clearer my views given from mj' 

 experience. I would here also remark that an 

 almost universal error in growing orchids is 

 keeping them too wet, too hot, and too densely 

 shaded. I do not remember seeing manv orcliids 



