34<5 LECTURE ON SPRING FLOWERS. 



Ixora coccinea, and Monochaetum ensiferum. Orchias : 

 Ccelogyne cristata, Cattleya Mossiae, Skinneri, and others ; 

 Cypripedium caudatum, villosum, and others ; Dendrobium 

 densiflorum and D. nobile, in variety; Lycaste Skinneri, 

 Odontoglossum Pescatorei, Phalaenopsis grandiflora and 

 Schilleriana ; and Vanda insignis. 



LEOTUEE ON SPEING-FLOWEEING PLANTS. 



\Delivered by the request of the Council of the Royal Horticultural 

 Society at South Kensington, 26th March 1867.] 



THE task assigned to me to-day is to give you a 

 popular account of this Exhibition. I shall pur- 

 posely avoid all scientific details ; my remarks will be 

 chiefly cultural ; working on the conception that some 

 present would like to hear how these plants are produced 

 would like to see such in their own gardens I shall 

 content myself with showing in as concise a manner as 

 possible how that object may be attained. 



It is true there is a short road to the possession of 

 these plants, namely, to buy them as at present exhibited. 

 But by purchasing a plant when in the climax of its beauty 

 one does not realise all the pleasure and satisfaction de- 

 rivable from cultivating it from an early period of growth. 

 It will, I think, be allowed that every stage of progress in 

 a plant is perfect in its way, and there is a freshness, 

 change, and beauty in its gradual development. 



I shall commence my observations by bracketing 

 together Hyacinths, Tulips, Narcissi, and Crocuses, which 

 are usually spoken of collectively as Dutch Bulbs. Be it 

 observed, these bulbs are among the least costly, most 

 easily cultivated, and most effective of early flowers. Al- 

 though called Dutch Bulbs, the original Hyacinths and 

 Tulips are natives of the Levant, and have been known in 

 this country for nearly 300 years. Now, however, their 



