370 



The Weekly Florists^ Review* 



JANUARY 27, 1S98. 



about a foot apart in the bed. They 

 bush out from the bottom and soon 

 All up the intervening space. When 

 the plants are in 2VL' inch pots an oc- 

 casional one may send up a straight 

 shoot, and in such case the tip is taken 

 out, but no other pinching is required. 

 The plants bloom well all summer and 

 are excellent where variety or a change 

 is wanted. 



The bed is bordered with Alternan- 

 thera latifolia aurea. It is a taller 

 grower than Alternanthera aurea nana, 

 growing about 8 inches high, but col- 

 ors up quicker and holds the color 

 much better than the last named va- 

 riety, which has been practically dis- 

 carded by Mr. Stromback on account 

 of its failure to color well. A. latifolia 

 aurea has a slight rose color mixed 

 with the yellow in the top leaves which 

 brightens its decorative effect. It is 

 propagated from cuttings taken about 

 the middle of August from bedded 

 plants and carried over winter in the 

 same way as Alternanthera parony- 

 chioides. The latter variety has also 

 been discarded by Mr. Stromback for 

 failure to color up till late in the sea- 

 son. He has substituted Alternan- 

 thera rosea, which colors early and 

 holds color well through the summer. 

 With him both aurea nana and par- 

 onychloldes have been growing less 



and less satisfactory for years, and he 

 has now discarded them altogether, 

 though their dwarf habit made them 

 very useful in carpet bedding. A. rosea 

 is propagated in the same way as its 

 predecessor. 



Back of the bed of pentstemons is 

 seen a bed of the yellow coleus Peter 

 Henderson, with plants of Celosia cris- 

 tata nana scattered through them, the 

 whole having a border of Cineraria 

 maritima candidissima. The culture 

 of the celosias is about the same as 

 that of Vincas alba and rosea, previ- 

 ously described. The cinerarias are 

 grown from seed sown in February or 

 early March, and the after treatment 

 is about the same as for pansies. When 

 large enough, the heart is pinched out 

 to make the plant bushy. They are 

 kept in 2% inch pots till time to bed out 

 and are then planted about eight inches 

 apart. 



On the terrace is seen a bed of 

 Florence Vaughan cannas, with a 

 border of crimson zinnias. The zin- 

 nias make a very good border and are 

 good for variety's sake. Side of the 

 steps is a short row of Berberis Thun- 

 bergii. The vases on the steps are 

 filled with geraniums, vincas, mauran- 

 dyas and tropaeolums, with a Dra- 

 caena indivisa in the center. 



VANDA COERULEA. 



The Blue Orchid. 



This is one of the most handsome and 

 remarkably distinct species of the 

 genus, and when you consider how eas- 

 ily it is grown, and the fact that it has 

 been in cultivation for more than sixty 

 years, it is surprising that it is not oft- 

 ener met with. I understand that any 

 or all of this species that finds it way 

 into the hands of the florist is readily 

 sold at a good figure, and the blue 

 orchid is invariably asked for. Al- 

 though this beautiful plant in indige- 

 nous to tropical India, it requires com- 

 paratively cool treatment, as it is found 

 in its native haunts at an elevation of 

 from 3,000 to 4,000 feet, and when I de- 

 scribe the conditions under which it 

 exists you may perhaps hit upon the 

 right mode of artificial treatment. 



It is found growing upon tall trees, 

 fully exposed to the sun and the full 

 force of the elements at the above men- 



tioned elevation on the Khasia hills, 

 Bengal. The Khasia hills are situ- 

 ated about 200 miles from the Bay of 

 Bengal, rising very abruptly to a great 

 height almost from the sea level, and it 

 is here that the heaviest annual fall of 

 rain in any known part of the world is 

 registered. It generally averages 600 

 inches, not because it is always rain- 

 ing, as there are months when there is 

 not a cloud visible or a drop of rain 

 falls, but the monsoons, peculiar to 

 that country, attend to the irrigation 

 of plants that perhaps would otherwise 

 suffer or become extinct through lack 

 of moisture. 



In the intervening space between the 

 hills and the bay is a vast low, inhos- 

 pitable region of jungle swamps and 

 marshes. Consequently there is a con- 

 tinuous evaporation, to which may be 

 attributed the almost incessant growth 

 of the vegetation in the vicinity of 

 those mountains. It is when the mon- 

 soon springs up from the southwest, 

 charged with the vapor taken up from 



those swamps and a vast expanse of 

 ocean, that those beauties referred to 

 get a thorough sprinkle, although not 

 always in the most tender fashion. 



To be successful with this lovely 

 vanda you must grow it in baskets, 

 which may be suspended from the roof, 

 where they will be greatly benefited by 

 the best air currents available, and as 

 already explained, they require but lit- 

 tle shade. Give abundance of water 

 when in active growth, with the addi- 

 tion of a little weak stimulant after 

 you see the flower spike; and you can 

 improve upon nature by removing the 

 plants to a cooler and drier atmos- 

 phere just before the flowers expand. 

 If handled in this manner the flowers 

 will retain their beauty for six weeks. 

 During the resting period, which is 

 after they have flowered, they must be 

 watered very carefully and should not 

 be dried off. Keep them in a tempera- 

 ture of 50 degrees, and remember that 

 too much water in this stage is liable 

 to blemish the foliage, when the inex- 

 perienced would be very liable to think 

 that some dreadful blight had struck 

 them. However, any one that will ex- 

 ercise a little forethought may obtain 

 good results. J. Robertson. 



A FEW ORCHID GEMS. 



Some lovely flowers are before me, 

 kindly sent by Mr. H. Clinkaberry from 

 the superb collection under his charge. 

 i\ peerless, spotless gem is a flower of 

 Cattleya Trianae alba, fine in size and 

 proportions, as white as the snow with- 

 out, saving the characteristic yellow 

 blotch seen in all albinos, guiding 

 lines, as it were, to attract insects and 

 mark the way to the flowers' secretive 

 parts. 



Another albino Is seen in Laelia an- 

 ceps alba, an exquisite flower, delight- 

 fully odorous. Laelia anceps Dawsoni, 

 the "Simon-pure," as the sender re- 

 marks, is a great beauty, pure white in 

 sepals and petals, but with a lip show- 

 ing wonderful pencilings of color, pur- 

 ple lines radiating upwards and 

 branching out, but leaving a broad un- 

 spotted margin of white around the 

 two lateral lobes. The expanded por- 

 tion of the lips, which forms the front 

 lobe, is tipped with rich, rosy purple, 

 narrowly margined with white and 

 having the characteristic yellow crest 

 in front of the column. 



Phalaenopsis Brymeriana. a variety 

 of intermedia, is a dainty little flower, 

 sepals and petals white, but flushed 

 with rosy lilac from their base towards 

 the center, the lip three-lobed, the lat- 

 eral lobes erect, overlapping the col- 

 umn, the front lobe heart-shaped, of an 

 amethyst hue in varying tones, accord- 

 ing as the light falls upon it. 



A flower of Cypripedium Prewetti is 

 truly giant, its dorsal sepal nearly 

 three inches deep and the same in 

 width, lined and spotted In dark pur- 

 ple brown, overlying a yellow green 

 ground, broadly tipped with white. The 

 petals are three inches in length, one 

 and one-half in width in their broad- 



