Gardening for Amateurs 



797 



Lady's Slipper Orchids (Cypripedium) in an amateur's greenhouse. 



Orchids for Amateurs 



ORCHIDS are by common consent 

 regarded as the aristocrats of the 

 floral world. Certainly some of 

 them command higher prices than any 

 other class of plants, yet many of them 

 are quite within the limits of the ama- 

 teur with a moderate purse. There is a 

 widespread idea that Orchids require such 

 special conditions and unremitting attention 

 as to be totally unfitted for the amateur 

 with only a single glasshouse at command. 

 Of course, if a house can be devoted solely 

 to Orchids a greater measure of success may 

 reasonably be anticipated, but the possessor 

 of a solitary greenhouse may grow many 

 of the simpler kinds quite satisfactorily. 

 At the present day a large number of hybrid 

 Orchids those raised by cross-breeding are 

 in cultivation, and many of them possess 

 greater vigour than the Orchids that are 

 imported. For cultural purposes, Orchids 

 are classified as Warm, Intermediate and 

 Cool House kinds. This division is most 

 essential, as attempts to grow cool and warm 



house kinds in the same greenhouse will only 

 end in failure. Although good results can 

 be obtained by growing a few Orchids among 

 a miscellaneous selection of plants, a better 

 method is to devote a glasshouse to them. 

 An Ideal House for Orchids. A moder- 

 ately low span-roofed house running from 

 north to south ought, if possible, to be 

 selected. Two stages are needed : one, raised 

 a few feet above the hot-water pipes, should 

 be covered with shingle or coke-breeze ; the 

 other may rest on pots or bricks, to bring 

 it to the desired distance from the roof. 

 They are often made of unpainted battens 

 in order that moisture may be preserved. 

 A rainwater tank offers a valuable supply 

 of soft water, and the floors should be of 

 ashes or some such material, while the bare 

 earth ought to be left underneath the stages. 

 Here may be planted such plants as Pilea 

 muscosa, ferns, etc., but they are not necessary, 

 except for the sake of appearance. The size 

 of the house depends upon the extent of the 

 collection. A single house may be divided 



