692 OPHIOGLOSSUM. THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



ORCHIS. 



OPHIOGLOSSUM (Adder" s-.tongue}.- 

 O. vulgatum is a native Fern not often seen 

 in gardens ; found in moist meadows ; and 

 the best position for it therefore is in 

 colonies in the hardy fernery or the moist 

 stiff soil in the rock-garden. O. lusita- 

 nicum, a dwarf variety, is interesting, but 

 capricious, and difficult to cultivate. 



OPHIOPOGON (Snakes-beard}. Her- 

 baceous perennials, about i ft. high, the 

 flowers, usually small, lilac, appearing 

 late in summer and in autumn in spikes, 

 2 to 5 in. long, rising from grassy tufts of 

 evergreen foliage. They thrive in borders 

 or margins of shrubberies in sandy loam, 

 but are scarcely ornamental. O. japoni- 

 cus, Jaburan, spicatus, Muscari, and longi- 

 folius are the best known, and usually in 

 botanical collections. In Italy they are 

 used to form green turf, in lieu of Grass, 

 which perishes from the heat. Division. 

 Japan and India. 



OPHRYS. Small terrestrial Orchids, 

 singularly beautiful, and among the most 

 curious of plants. Many have been in 

 cultivation, but these being tender plants, 

 chiefly from S. Europe, they must have 

 protection, and require much attention. A 

 few native species, however, can be grow r n 

 in gardens, and of these one of the most 

 singularly beautiful is the Bee Orchis (O. 

 apifera). This varies from 6 in. to more 

 than i ft. in height ; it has a few glaucous 

 leaves near the ground ; flowers in early 

 summer, the lip of a rich velvety brown 

 with yellow 7 markings, bearing a fanciful 

 resemblance to a bee. It is usually con- 

 sidered difficult to grow, but it may be 

 easily kept on dry banks in the rock- 

 garden, in a firm bed of calcareous soil, or 

 of loam mixed with broken limestone. It 

 thrives best if the soil be surfaced with 

 some very dwarf plant, or with an inch of 

 Cocoa-fibre and sand, so as to keep it moist 

 and compact about the plants. Other in- 

 teresting species for a collection of hardy 

 Orchids are O. muscifera (Fly orchis), 

 arachnites, aranifera (Spider orchis), and 

 Trolli. 



OPUNTIA (Prickly Fig}. There are 

 several of these succulent plants in culti- 

 vation, but few are hardy enough for the 

 open air in our climate. The hardiest are 

 O. vulgaris, missouriensis, humilis, brachy- 

 antha, and Rafinesquei ; the finest be- 

 ing O. Rafinesquei, an evergreen well 

 worthy of culture, bearing in summer 

 large showy yellow blossoms on fleshy 

 branches. It thrives in a sunny corner 

 of the rock-garden in good dry soil, 

 sheltered from any passing danger to 

 the stems, for it is rather fragile, and 

 anything brushing against it would in- 



jure it, but by the skilful placing of a few 

 rough stones, it is easy to prevent injury 

 without shading the plant. To prevent 

 splashings, the ground might be surfaced 

 with a dwarf mossy Saxifrage or Sand- 

 wort. Snails and slugs are fond of this 

 plant, and in the spring, and even in mild 

 winters, may destroy it. A dressing of 

 soot will keep away these pests. To in- 

 crease the plant, the cutting, a single joint, 

 is potted in sandy soil, and the pot placed 

 in a sunny airy spot under glass and 

 watered very sparingly, and in a short 

 time it will form roots, and commence to 

 push out young shoots. The hardier kinds 

 are from N. W. America, where the 

 winters are severe. 



ORCHIS. These terrestrial Orchids are 

 beautiful, and well worth cultivation among 

 hardy flowers. Those who do not want a 

 full collection will find the species men- 

 tioned below easily grown if placed under 

 good conditions at the outset ; some of our 

 native Orchids are worth a place, but few 

 succeed with them, chiefly because the 

 plants are transplanted at the wrong 

 season. The usual plan is to transplant 

 just when the flowers are opening, but at 

 this period of growth the plant is forming 

 a tuber for the following year, and, if this 

 is in any way injured, it dies. If, instead 

 of this way, the plants are marked when in 

 flower and allowed to remain until August 

 or September, when the tubers are matured, 

 the risk of transplanting is lessened, pro- 

 vided the plant be taken up with a deep 

 sod. The ground where the plants grow 

 may be surfaced with such plants as the 

 Balearic Sandwort, Lawn Pearlwort, and 

 the mossy Saxifrages. The situation for 

 Orchids should be an open one, and the 

 soil a deep, fibry loam in a drained border. 

 The following are the kinds most worthy 

 of culture : 



0. foliosa. A handsome Orchid, one of 

 the finest of the hardy kinds, I to 2 ft. or 

 more in height, with long spikes of rosy- 

 purple blossoms in May, lasting long in 

 bloom. It delights in moist nooks at the 

 base of the rock-garden, or in the bog- 

 garden in deep light soil. Madeira. 



0. latifolia (Marsh Orchis). A fine 

 native kind, i to \\ ft. high, with long 

 spikes of purple flowers in early summer. 

 It thrives in damp boggy soil, in peat or 

 leaf-mould. There are several beautiful 

 varieties, the best being prsecox and ses- 

 quipedalis ; the last being one of the 

 finest of hardy Orchids, about \\ ft. high, 

 and a third of the stem is covered with 

 purplish-violet flowers. 



0. laxiflora is a pretty species, i ft. to 

 1 8 in. high, with loose spikes of rich 



