orchids: how to grow them successfully. 105 



Good established plants of this Orchid should be purchased for 

 about b!- per leading ^-owth, l)ut I reconini(?nd purcliasing newly 

 imported plants which have anived in the spring, such j^lants are 

 likely to give much greater satisfaction, and they should then be pm-- 

 chaseable in extra strong pieces at from 3 '6 to b'- per leading growth. 



L.i:lia A^X•E^s. From Mexico. 



This is a very lovely and easily cultivated Orchid which comes 

 into flower in November and December, producing freely flowers 

 of a charming rose colour, with the labellum richly coloured and 

 much darker than the sepals and petals — in short, the colour varies 

 t'lom liglit rose to very dark rosy crimson, and the most valuable 

 of the varieties, excluding the white, are those which are verj' 

 dark in colour. 



This Orchid may be grown in pots on the stage or in baskets 

 suspended from the roof, and they should be repotted during the 

 month of March, using peat and sphagnum in equal proportions, 

 flrst half filling the pot with drainage and keeping the compost 

 moist, but not too wet, for about five or six weeks afterwards, 

 when they can be watered more freely ; in fact, well soaked by 

 dipping in the tank, especially when the sphagnum has a whitish 

 appearance. When the growth is finished in the autumn, watering 

 may be again reduced, but the plants miist not be allowed to suffer 

 from di-ought until they have finished flowering, then only enough 

 water is required, until March, to prevent shrivelling. 



If it is possible to give a small portion of the house full 

 sunlight by not shading it, but not allowing other plants to 

 suffer, this Orchid really thrives better if fully exposed to the sun 

 with plenty of air than it does when too much shaded, and it also 

 flowers more freely. Plants may be pm'chased either established, 

 or newly imported, but I prefer the latter, always selecting those 

 masses which have good foliage, for a loss of leaves means a pro- 

 portionate loss of strength, which materially affects the vigour of 

 the plant when making new growth. When repotting newly 

 imported plants a large portion of their roots should be rather 

 severely cut away — of course using discretion in doing so — as they 

 only take space which good compost should occupy, and in a short 

 time would become a mass of wet and cold decomposed matter. 



Plants may be purchased for about 3 - per leading gi'owth, or 

 about 10 - for masses having probably five or six leads. 



