170 



iXD (;.ia'/)/':.\/:a'\s moxthi v 



\ fun,\ 



nuii.x <>l ( aiilfvas, Dt'iidrdhiimis.C'vpriprdiiims, 

 An<;niH-ijms, Vaiulus, \i'., air exceptionally 

 lariro. Health and viuor are evei\ where appar- 

 ent. Tlie liny hut eiiannini; Sopln-onites wert- 

 lit tlieir host. Most all of them were attaehfd 

 to earthernware hloeks. on wliicli tliey siuMued 

 quite at home. S. grandillora has tiie hir<;e.st 

 and hrightest scarlet Uowers ; cermia, red to 

 orunLre red ; and violacea, mauve to purplish 

 violet. Oncidium ornilhorhyncum. growinii; on 

 .•similar hloeks and in a cool house, had many 

 mas.'tive spikes of delieiously fratrrant blossoms; 

 and mats of Odontoirlossum Kossii majus, with five 

 blooms on a spike, also depended in the Camellia 

 house. Massive specimens of the ever-blooming 

 Cypripedium RoezU'i had many llower stems, 

 and specimens of C. cariciuum in 18-inch pans were 

 grow iiiLT like sedtie-grass in a swamp. A plant of 

 Angnecum eburneum showed nine flower-spikes, 

 and near it was a pan containing a Peristeria 

 elata that showed the ends of three flower-stems 

 whicli Mr. Taplin says were six feet high when 

 in perfection. He mentioned that he gave these 

 plants plenty roof-room and a rich spongy .soil. 

 The display of Calanthes was fine. 



Here, that most beairtiful Cape of Good Hope 

 Orchid, Disa grandiflora, is better grown than I 

 know of anywhere else, either in this country or 

 any other. I saw them in perfection in 187G. but 

 when I was there this season it w^as too late, — 

 the Disas had done blooming. In England, five 

 blooms on a spike is good, and seven is excellent ; 

 but Air. Taplin grows pans of it with from seven 

 to nine blooms on a .stem, and several, I forget 

 how many, stems to a pan. It is no mean variety 

 either, for the blooms are of a bright scarlet to 

 crimson color, and 4 inches across. 



At Mr. Rathbun's— just beside South Amboy 

 depot — is a very fine collection of Orchids in ex- 

 cellent health and rigid cleanliness. I noticed 

 about a score of plants of Oncidium Papilio in 

 bloom, also a very excellent variety of that most 

 beautiful of butterfly Orchids— O. Kramerianum. 

 O. Rogersii had 149 flowers, and Lailiaanceps and 

 autumnalis were nicely in blossom. A few 

 varieties of Lycaste Skinnerii were opening their 

 blossoms, and there was a goodly show of 

 Cypripediums, notably insigue, and a nice little 

 plant of niveum. Mr. R. has some fine plants 

 of Dendrobium Falconerii — one of the loveliest 

 exotics in existence ; and Mr. Clements, the gar- 

 dener, is now resting it in a cool house ; he ex- 

 pects it ought to bloom pretty well this year. 

 Mr. C. tells me that Odontoglossum citrosmum 



is one of tlie finest and easiest grown species of 

 the genus growing very I'reely. and to a cer- 

 tainty prfiducing annually in early Summer, its 

 Ioiil: arcliing spikes of lovely white flowers; and 

 ^iili-lantially corroborates his statement. 



1 never saw so many lartre i)lants together of 

 Cypripedium insigne as I did at Bennett's nur- 

 series, at Flatbush, L. I.; there were several 

 scores of them, and all in bloom. Mr. B. also 

 grows I)endrol)ium nobile in great (piantity, for 

 furnishing cut flowers for market. At Mrs. 

 Gardner Brewer's, at Newport. R. I., is a 

 famous collection of Orchids. The plants, par- 

 ticularly the Cattleyas, are small, but tludr clean 

 fresh leaves and j)seudo-bulbs and solid fleshy 

 roots permeating to almost matting the lumpy 

 peat the pots contain, fon'tell what we may ex- 

 pect as the result of Mr. IlilTs practical care. 

 Mr. H. was one of the most noted Orchid groweis 

 in England, and apparently his labors are to be 

 as .successful here as they were — to my own 

 knowledge — at Manchester. "Wandsworth, and 

 Blandford, in England. Here Oiu-idium Ro<:- 

 ersii has three spikes — two small and one me- 

 dium-sized, and some 150 blooms and O. verru- 

 cosum is likewise prettily flowered. The beauti- 

 ful Cattleya Eldorado splendens is also in bloom, 

 and there is quite a display of Calanthes and 

 Cypripediums. 



FOLIAGE PLANTS FOR WINDOW 

 CULTURE. 



BY JirvS. R. 15. K., MKLUOSE, MA.SS. 



Premising that among the readers of the 



Monthly there are some who like to turn aside 



! from the beaten track, wherein grow Callas, 



j Geraniums, Abutilons, &c., to '' rarer fields and 



I pastures new," I give herewith a brief sketch of 



! xwy success with some of the less commonly 



grown window plants. And for ease of culture 



and showiness of foliage, I consider the Croton 



at the head of the list. I have a Croton inter- 



ruptum, which I bought of Mr. Saul one year 



, ago last May, then a very small plant, and to- 



i day it is thirty inches liigh by as many broad, 



finely branched and richly colored. I do not, how- 



' ever, think interruptum nearly as handsome as 



some of tjie others; indeed, pictum, though an 



old variety, is more showy. 1 have one of the 



I last, which is very lovely, with its gold and crim- 



■ son markings. Of the newer varieties, Youngii, 



Veitchii and undulatum are splendid species. 



In my opinion the latter is the prettiest, though 



. all are magnificent. Crotons require strong sun- 



