Gardening for Amateurs 



335 



A lavourite Orchid, easily grown in wooden baskets, Coelogyne cristata. 



gin ; Crippsii. silver and green ; aurea 

 elegantissima, golden and green ; and chry- 

 sophylla, green blotched with yellow. 



Lachcnalia. This bulbous plant, com- 

 monly called the Cape Cowslip, is deservedly 

 populai with garden lovers, and, being quite 

 easy to manage, should be grown much more 

 extensively by amateurs with a small green- 

 house. August is the time to make up the 

 baskets of bulbs, placing at least twenty- 

 five round the side and on the top of each 

 basket, as usually only one spike of flower 

 is produced by each bulb. Use soil made up 

 of 2 parts loam, 1 part leaf -mould and old 

 hotbed manure, adding plenty of coarse 



sand. Lachenalias grow much sturdier and 

 better under cool conditions ; a frame is a 

 suitable place for them if frost is excluded. 

 Spring is the flowering season. The bulbs 

 increase fairly rapidly. After flowering is 

 over the plants benefit if given weak liquid 

 manure. When the leaves begin to turn 

 yellow the bulbs must be gradually dried 

 off. A short period of rest is given in 

 summer and in August growth starts 

 again. The bulbs need not be disturbed 

 in the baskets more than once in two 

 years. The best Lachenalias are L. aurea, 

 L. | M -i M l ii l.i. L. Nelsoni, L. tricolor, and 

 \.-ir. <|iiadricolor. 



