The Weekly Florists^ Review. 



J 



Mabch 7, 1912. 



DALE'S CATTLEYA. 



The photograph reproduced on this 

 page gives a fair idea of a unique Cat- 

 tleya Triana?, Dale's Variety, recently 

 discovered by the orchid grower for the 

 Dale Estate, Brampton, Ont. Botb in 

 size and shape this flower is a magnifi- 

 cent specimen, having great depth of 

 petal, each measuring three and three- 

 fourth inches. The whole orchid 

 measures eight inches across, the lip 

 being two and one-half inches wide, 

 with a blotch of deep purple shading 

 oflF to lavender around the margin, and 

 bright orange running well into the 

 throat. As will be seen, the flower is 

 perfect in shape, as all segments overlap 

 each other. This is the second "find" 

 during the month of February. 



SEASONABLE NOTES. 



Shading. 



Many of the orchids will now be 

 benefited by a little shade. It should 

 be light in every case, for, although 

 on some days we are now getting quite 

 genial sunshine, on -others it is dark, 

 raw and cold, and these conditions are 

 likely to continue more or less during 

 the month of March. The ideal orchid 

 shade, and one almost exclusively used 

 in Europe, is a movable one of either 

 lath blinds or cloth. The former is the 

 best, as it admits light, but breaks the 

 direct rays of the sun. On account of 

 their cost and the additional labor in- 

 volved in manipulating the shadings, 

 these have not yet become popular in 

 America, except on some private 

 estates. The general plan is to syringe 

 or paint the glass with kerosene and 

 lead, or some similar, easily applied 

 shade. In applying shade now, care- 

 fully avoid overdoing it. All that is 

 yet necessary is to streak the glass or 

 cover it with a light, cloud-like effect. 

 The orchids requiring most shade are 

 phalffinopsis, cypripediums and milto- 

 nias. Odontoglossums should also have 

 a little shade after the middle of March. 



Cymbidiums. 



Many of the cymbidiums are now 

 pushing up their spikes, and at this 

 stage the plants require a good water 

 supply. None of the cymbidiums are 

 warm house orchids. They succeed well 

 in a night temperature of 45 to 50 de- 

 grees. For compost I find fibrous loam, 

 broken but quite lumpy, charcoal and 

 fern fiber to be excellent. Three parts 

 of loam and one part of fern fiber are 

 about right, and the compost should be 

 firmly packed in the pots. Cymbidium 

 flowers have wonderful lasting proper- 

 ties, both on the plants and cut. C. 



Lowianum will easily keep a month 

 in water and three times as long on the 

 plants. Cymbidiums do not flower freely 

 until well potbound. A few good varie- 

 ties to grow are C. Lowianum, C. ebur- 

 neum, C. eburneo-Lowianum, C. Tracey- 

 anum, C. insigne, also called Sanderi, 

 C. Lowianum concolor and C. tigrinum. 



CkKlogyne Cristata. 



The several forms of Ccelogyne cris- 

 tata are now in flower, or will be 

 shortly, and care should be taken to 

 increase the water supply somewhat. 

 The plants will develop their flowers 

 even if quite dry at the root, but this is 

 a heavy tax on the bulbs and will cause 

 them to shrivel much worse than they 

 would otherwise do. Ccelogynes do not 

 require a warm house; 50 degrees at 

 night is sufficient, and they can be win- 

 tered 5 or 10 degrees cooler than even 

 this. The best form of C. cristata is 

 that known as the Chatsworth variety. 

 The bulbs are longer and more oval 

 shaped than in the case of the old type, 

 which has found bulbs and short spikes 

 of inferior flowers. It is also a much 

 shyer bloomer than this Chatsworth 

 variety. C. cristata Lemoniana, with 

 a pale lemon colored lip, is a beautiful 

 form and keeps decidedly better in a 

 cut state than C. cristata itself. C. 

 cristata alba, with its pure white flow- 

 ers, has a rather more sprawiy habit 



than the other forms, but flowers a 

 little later. 



All ccelogynes are valuable in floral 

 design work, and a few baskets or 

 pans are of great value to any retail 

 florist. When the bulbs become dense 

 the plants need overhauling. This should 

 be done after flowering. The plants 

 will not bloom much the flrst season 

 after being divided and it is therefore 

 inadvisable to overhaul all the plants 

 in any one year. 



Cattleya TriansB. 



Cattleya Trianee will bloom for a few 

 weeks yet, although the bulk of the 

 crop is now cut. As the plants pass out 

 of bloom, any which require repotting 

 should have attention. Possibly the 

 removal of a little of the surface com- 

 post and the replacing of it with some 

 new fiber will answer for some. Others, 

 which are rooting heavily over the 

 sides of the pots, should have fresh 

 receptacles. No cattleyas are in a 

 really thriving condition with their 

 roots outside, rather than inside, the 

 pots. The old idea of giving the plants 

 a long and rather severe rest after 

 blooming is to a large degree exploded. 

 As much as possible of the potting 

 should be done now, while the weather 

 is cool, and before other duties unduly 

 crowd us. Give the plants good drain- 

 age. Use the coarse brands of osmunda 

 fiber for them, and be sure to firm the 

 compost thoroughly. No orchids will 

 thrive if . loosely potted. On warm, 

 sunny days a light spraying overhead 

 will benefit all the cattleyas. Be sure, 

 however, that it dries before nightfall. 



Calanthes. 



The calanthe bulbs, which have been 

 in a dormant condition since the flowers 

 were out, are now showing new growths 

 at their base and should be shaken out 

 of the pots and started in flats of sand, 

 moss and old cow manure. I always 

 find that a little of the latter, if quite 

 old, mixed in the sand and moss, starts 

 more vigorous root action. Water spar- 

 ingly at first; an oversupply will be 

 liable to rot the bulbs and must be 



CatUeya Trianae, Dale's Variety. 



