May 21, 1910 



HOKTICULTURC 



76 



Growing Orchids 



A FEW HINTS TO THOSE WHO CONTEMPLATE STARTING A COLLECTION OF ORCHIDS. 



LiBKAi. 



NEW V() 



BOTANIC 



QARDfil 



Muc]i has been ivrittcii abo\it orchids in rerent ^cars 

 in various magazines and newspapers and this, together 

 with the various liortieultural exhibitions in whicli 

 orchids have figured has aroused the euriosity of the 

 general public to no small degree. The word "Orchid"' 

 alone seems to have something fascinating about it, due 

 perhaps to the many weird tales which have been told 

 about or in connection with them. The public is 

 evidently very much interested in orchids and anxious 

 to see and learn more about them. The coming ex- 

 hibition of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society will 

 accomplish a good deal in that direction, and is cer- 

 tainly a very commendable undertaking; but it will not 

 and can not be of any great benefit except to those who 

 are fortunate enough to be able to attend the exhibi- 

 tion. The great mass of people can not be reached in 

 this way. What we need is more collections of orchids 

 on the many private estates throughout the country. 

 Orchids ought to be well represented in any establish- 

 ment where several greenhouses are at the disposal of 

 the gardener and should there be but one house, a place 

 can be found in it for at least a dozen or more repre- 

 sentatives of this interesting and beautiful section of 

 the floral kingdom. 



"Wliere there is a will there is a way" and any 

 gardener who can successfully .grow the regular run of 

 greenhouse plants can. if he will tiy, leam to grow 

 orchids too. It will not be absolutely necessary to have 



specially built houses for them, for orchids can be 

 grown in any greenhouse, no matter what its con- 

 struction or heating facilities may be. so long as the 

 temperature can be kept above the freezing point in 

 severe cold weather. There is such a great variety of 

 orchids to be had from all parts of the tropical and 

 semi-tropical countries where they may be found grow- 

 ing in the hot and dry lowlands, near the seashores, in 

 the forests and up the sides of the great mountains to 

 within a few feet of the snowline, (a collector in Costa 

 Rica and adjoining countries used to tell of gathering 

 Odontoglossum Schlieperianum growing on the sunny 

 side of big rocks and a few feet away in the shade, the 

 ground would be frozen hard,) that it is obvious that 

 some variety or other can be successfully grown in any 

 greenhouse where the temperature does not go below 

 40 degrees during winter. I have often had the tem- 

 perature in my cool house go down as low as 34 degrees 

 during a spell of severe cold weather without any harm 

 beingdone to the various orchids growing therein, but 

 I would not advise to let the temperature go below 45 

 degrees in any house if it can be helped. A great 

 varietv of orchids can be grown under one roof and if 

 several houses with different temperatures can be had, 

 it will be all the better. 



AN EXTENSIVE COLLECTION IN SMALL QUABTEES 



For the benefit of those who would like to make a 

 beginning towards getting up a collection of orchids and 

 who have had no previous experience in growing them 

 I will try to show how I manage to grow quite an ex- 

 tensive collection (without the aid of special orchid 

 houses and without sacrificing too much room needed 

 l3y the regular selection of plants grown here) by find- 

 ing suitable places for the different species and 

 varieties, naming the most important as I go along. 

 The houses here are small, consisting of two curved 



