April 



THE GARDENERS' CHRONICLE 



253 



■roadside, making a pyramid of white flowers, 

 whilst S. nemorosa is such a showy plant with 

 its blue flowers that one wonders why it is not 

 more cultivated at home in borders, for the 

 flowers last a long time, and the coloured calyx 

 remains after the corolla falls. In stony places 

 4ind waste ground Cnicus Casabonae, well known 



variety of Rosa alba; the perfume from this 

 variety is not so good as that from the red Rose. 

 Around Kasanlik the Rose bushes are grown 

 in rows, forming hedges about 100 yards long 

 and 6 feet apart in the rows; when full grown 

 they are nearly 6 feet hi eh. New 

 tions are formed 



ORCHID NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 



by 



C3 



cutting 



down 



planta- 

 the old 



ORCHIDS AT BELSIZE COURT, II AMP- 

 STEAD. 



The interesting collection of Orchids in the 

 gardens of J. S. Bergheim, Esq. (gr. Mr. H. A. 

 Page), at Belsize Court, Hampsi id, embraces 

 numbers of pretty and uncommon species. Mr. 

 and Mrs. Bergheim make a journey annually to 

 some tropical country, and usually bring back 



with them Orchids as mementoes of their visit. 

 Last year they brought from Trinidad a very in- 

 teresting collection of plants which flowered very 

 satisfactorily, the Catasetums seeding and the 

 seedlings coming up among the surrounding 



plants. 



Fig, 114. — Bulgaria: VITOSHA mountain. 



as a bedding plant, was seen frequently just 

 coming into flower. 



I visited Vitosha, which rises to a height of 

 about 9,000 feet, in company with M. A. 

 Delmard and Mr. H. Cowley. Several interesting 

 plants were met with (see fig. 115). In moist 

 places colonies of Saxifraga rotundifolia, 10 yards 

 across, were very beautiful, while Myosotis alpes- 

 tris covered several acres with its beautiful, blue 

 flowers. Salix Lapponum gave some of the 

 b°ggy places quite a silvery appearance, whilst 

 Geranium macrorrhizum was common among 

 boulders; this last-named is a favourite flower 

 with the Bulgarians. Veronica austriaca ; 

 Pedicularis, Genista sagittalis, and dwarf 

 Cytisus abound, while a most interesting and 



Columbine 



stumps 

 November. 



and dividing them in October or 



A 



its 



plantation is in its prime 

 five years after planting, and, if carefully tended, 

 will continue productive for 15 or 20 years. The 

 Roses are gathered from the middle of May to 

 the middle of June, and the flowers are picked 

 before the heat of the sun is upon them, other- 

 wise they yield much less attar. A hectare of 

 land (2.5 acres) produces about 3,000.000 Rose 



up among 

 At present, JEpidendrum Hartii, a rare 

 species with branched spikes of gi nish flowers ; 

 E. oncidioides, and several other Epidendrums 

 are in bloom. Recently a very large specimen of 

 Ansellia africana, from Fernando Po, was a 

 grand sight with a dozen showy heads of bloom, 

 and now, out of the West African plants, Mega- 

 clinium Bufo, M. falcatum, M. minutum, and 

 other Megacliniums, also 1 lvstachya bracteosa, 

 with its curiously-flattened pseudo-bulbs, are in 

 bloom or bud. One block, as collected, has a very 

 interesting lot of plants growing together, includ- 

 ing Polypodium irioides, one or two species of 

 Peperomia, Liparis guineensis and Polystachya 

 bulbophylloides (both in bloom) and Megaclinium 

 minutum, with many flower-spikes. Dendro- 

 biums grow remarkably well at Belsize Court, 

 although the district is so near to London. Mr. 

 Page adopts the method of affording them a warm 

 temperature and moist atmosphere during their 

 growing season, keeping the houses closed, espe- 

 cially when cold winds prevail, no matter how 

 the temperature may rise by sun-heat. Dendro- 

 biums under these conditions make strong 

 growths, and flower profusely. A fine show of 

 blooms of D. Phalaenopsis, D. bigibbum, and D. 

 superbiens is just over; one specimen of D. 

 superbiens with four spikes lasted two months in 

 bloom. At present the nigro-hirsute section has 

 the best show of flowers, one beautiful specimen 

 of D. infundibulum having 55 large, white blos- 



flowers, yielding one kilo, of attar, so that it .,, „ b A , * a r 



J 5 , ' - soms with yellow centres. Another, of the form 



takes about 100,000 Roses to make one ounce of 

 attar. C. F. Ball, Glasnevin. 



(To be continued.) 



of D. Jamesianum, known as D. Donnesiae, has 

 a fine head of bloom, and the still larger D. 

 formosum giganteum is also well represented. 



uncommon 

 {Aquilegia 



plant 



is the 

 which 



yellow 

 differs 



from its 



lutea), 



American relative in having very short spurs. 



The "Honey Balm " (Melittis Mehssophyllum), 



with its large pink flowers, was very striking. 



In company with Mr. Pierce O'Mahony we also 



visited the King's beautiful gardens at Vrana, 



an interesting dry limestone hill near Stara- 



Zagora, and spent two days on the Belmaken 



Mountain near Kostenetz. On this mountain we 



found a quantity of the true Rhododendron 



jnyrtifolium S. and K., an Eastern species rather 



like a small half prostrate form of R. hirsutum 



and quite distinct from the plant which is 



grown under the name of R. myrtifolium in 

 gardens. 



Attar of Roses. 



We also visited the Shipka Pass and Kasanlik 

 or the Valley of Roses, where Attar of Roses is 

 Prepared. Kasanlik lies on the Plain of Thrace, 

 and like many other of the Bulgarian plains, is 

 absolutely flat and shut in by high and precipit- 

 ous mountain ranges. The valleys give the im- 

 pression of being dried lakes. This is the biggest 

 Kose garden in the world, and is 80 miles long ; 



1'0 villages are devoted to the culture 

 Roses. The 



■ 



■ 



of 



soil 



a 



is sandy and porous, well 

 watered by numerous rivulets, but it has 

 peculiar quality in that the Roses grown upon it 



£ Ve T> 1 lg . h yield of attar - The Rose cultivated 

 ^Bulgaria and E. Roumelia is a variety of 

 «om > damascena, the red Damask Rose. Around 

 wie borders of the plantation either a single or 



doubl 



e row of a white Rose is usually planted, a 



imoiogrupk by C. i*. Bail, 



p IG tI c WILD FLOWERS IN BULGARIA I MELITTIS MELISSOPHYLLUM, SAXIFRAGA ROTUNDIFOLIA t 



AND GERANIUM MACRORRHIZUM GROWING WILD ON MOUNT VITOSHA. 



