1878.] 



AND HOR TICUL TURIS T. 



139 



five to seven on a stem. I do not know if this 

 has been bloomed in this country yet. It is con- 

 sidered in Europe the finest Odontoglot. 



0. pescatorei. This is another beautiful Xew 

 Granada plant with white flowers and rosy yel- 

 low lips. The flowers are borne on long spikes. 

 This was bloomed by a gentleman in Baltimore 

 whose plant is doing well now. 



0. radiatum and O. luteo purpureum are beau- 

 tiful New Granada plants with brown and yellow 

 sepals and petals ; lip white with brown mark- 

 ings. There are a great many more species and 

 varieties from South America, but I cannot as yet 

 recommend any from that country as of easy 

 culture ; and as I propose these articles for the 

 use of beginners in orchid culture , I can say that 

 I have found the Mexican varieties to grow well. 

 They can bear more sun than the others. This 

 remark applies to all Mexican orchids. 



GERANIUM "NEW LIFE." 



BY O. 



Last week I saw the geranium New Life in 

 flower. It is said to be a sport from the Vesu- 

 vius, which is the most popular geranium in 

 England, both for bedding and marketing, and 

 also as a scarlet for winter-blooming. 



'' Wonderful," another sport from Vesuvius, 

 has semi-double flowers. It will, no doubt, su- 

 persede its parent — bearing more persistently 

 than the single varieties, and not sufliciently 

 double to impair its free-blooming qualities. 



It is now reported there are two other sports 

 from the same source, a salmon color, and a 

 pure white. A white geranium, flowering as freely 

 as Vesuvius, will be an acquisition. It will cause 

 as much of a sensation in England as a white 

 sport from " Gen. Grant" would out here. 



Vesuvius is offered in the advertising columns 

 of the London gardening papers by individual 

 growers, by the 100,000, at eight shillings per 

 100 — less than two cents apiece — and yet we 

 are told plants are sold cheaper here than they 

 are in England I 



According to the wood-cuts which I have seen 

 of New Life, it is a sport from " Harry King !" 

 a seedling from "Jean Sisley," and sent out 

 by Messrs. iStandish & Co., Royal Ascot Nur- 

 series, England. The only difference between 

 the " cuts" of each is the stripes. The stripes 

 on the flower are not so conspicuous as they are 

 in the cut, being quite faint and irregular. If 

 the flowers I saw are a fair representation of 

 the whole stock, it is of very little value only as 

 a curiositv. 



EDITORIAL NOTES. 



LucuLiA GRATissiMA. — This is a very old 

 but very beautiful plant from Australia, with 

 large heads of Hydrangea-like flowers, and 

 which gardeners have always found' difficult to 

 keep alive. It is now- said in the London jP/on's^ 

 and Pomologist, that this difficulty has originted 

 from too much fear of its tenderness. If treated 

 more roughly — just in fact as we would treat the 

 common Hydrangea — it is a grand success. Has 

 any one this plant in American collections ? 



Oakland Cemetery, Syracuse. — We hear 

 that this progressive company intend to build a 

 " Chapel of Roses," modeled after that designed 

 by Mr. Campbell for the Forest Cemetery at. 

 Utica. 



SCRAPS AND QUERIES, 



Watering Small Plants. — W.M. G.,Niles, 

 Mich.,says : "Will you please inform me howyou 

 treat thumb pot plants on hot days to keep them 

 from wilting. Watering morning and evening is 

 not sufficient, and it is said that we must not 

 water when the sun shines, neither must we let 

 them wilt, and the same difficulty arises when 

 plants are plunged out of doors." 



[The objection against water when the sun 

 shines on the plants is a purely theoretical one, 

 and appears only in the writings of those who 

 have had but little actual experience. You may 

 take our advice, and water whenever the plants 

 need it. The only plan beyond this is in your 

 case to partially shade the plants from the full 

 sun.— Ed. G. M.] 



Culture of Medinella magnifica. — Mrs. 

 E. B. S. writes : "Will you please give me in 

 the next number of the Gardener's Monthly 

 the name of the plant to which the enclosed 

 leaf belongs and instructions for its care ? I 

 hope you will pardon my demand on your time, 

 but I do not know to whom else I can apply, 

 and I thought that as I subscribed to the 

 Monthly you would be kind enough to answer 

 my questions, and oblige Mrs. E. B. S." 



[The plant sent was Medinella magnifica. It 

 is a beautiful leaf plant, and those who possess 

 good specimens have a prize. The plant loves 

 warmth, though it can be kept over Winter in a 

 cool greenhouse, or possibly a well warmed 

 room. The pot with the plant will do very well 

 in the open air in Summer. 



