228 



JOURNAL OP HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. [ September 22, 1870. 



of Light are both very good in point of colour, but delicate in 

 habit. 



Of those I have not tried, but seen elsewhere, I prefer Mr. 

 Turner's May Queen, an exceedingly effective variety, and 

 Waltham Bride and Avalanche, which have the advantage of 

 white flowers. 



I turn next to the Bicolor or Gold and Bronze section, which 

 in the hands of Mr. Laing, at Stanstead Park Nursery, made 

 such rapid advances last year ; and though we hear very con- 

 flicting statements as to their merit in the flower gardeD, yet 

 I anticipate that when such sorts as Imperatrice Eugenie, 

 Crown Prince, and Brilliancy become better known they will 

 be largely employed. I have tried a great number of sorts this 

 year> — Beauty of Oulton, Beauty of Calderdale, Model, Princess 

 Alice, and one or two others raised by Mr. Wills ; Ebor, 

 Messrs. Backhouse's ; Egyptian Queen (Carter) ; E. G. Hender- 

 son, Mrs. J. Todd, Duke of Edinburgh, Her Majesty, Golden 

 Sceptre, and Bronze Queen, most of which, I believe, were sent 

 out by Messrs. Henderson ; and Kentish Hero, Black Prince, 

 Brilliancy, King, Charming, Countess of Kellie, Mrs. Allan 

 Lowndes, Fairy Ring, Princess of Wales, Mrs. Lewis Lloyd, 

 and one or two others of Messrs. Downie, Laird, & Laing's. I 

 begin by discarding all those that have too much tendency to 

 turn green and have too much dark brown in the zone, as they 

 run far too near in colouring to the old dark-leaved Zonals, as 

 Baron Ricasoli, Striking, Symmetry, and others, and I select 

 those that have true gold margins and discs with red or red- 

 bronze zones. Of these Imperatrice Eugenie is the brightest 

 in point of colouring, and the leaves instead of turning green 

 die-off a lighter colour, so that the effect from a distance is 

 very brilliant. Crown Prince, Mrs. Allan Lowndes, and 

 Brilliancy approach nearer to Imperatrice Eugenie in point of 

 colour than any others, and the first named, Crown Prince, has 

 vigour of habit combined with brilliancy of colouring. Of 

 those that are gold and bronze — that is to say, with less red in 

 the leaf, I like Kentish Hero, Duke of Edinburgh, E. G. Hender- 

 son, Mrs. J. Todd, and Charming. Beauty of Oulton very soon 

 turns green. Beauty of Calderdale is effective when just bedded 

 out, but is coarse in its habit and loses its gold colour in the 

 Bummer. Black Knight is too dark in the zone. But there is 

 another section with very narrow zones, and a great deal of 

 yellow on the leaf which is very effective, but it produces more 

 the effect of a yellow bed. Of these the best is Mrs. Lewis 

 Lloyd, Princess of Wales, and Golden Sceptre. The first has 

 a dwarf spreading habit, and will be very useful as an edging 

 plant. Princess of Wales has a stronger and more upright 

 habit ; and Golden Sceptre has a less distinctly-marked zone, 

 the old leaves scarcely showing the zone at all, but it has a 

 very golden effect. 



There is one secret in the management, they require liberal 

 treatment, and they should always be kept growing, as the 

 leaves when they become old, with the exception of those of 

 Imperatrice Eugenie, Crown Prince, Mrs. Allan Lowndes, and 

 Brilliancy, lose their colouring. If they are liberally treated 

 they will stand any amount of sun, but shade is fatal to them. 

 This is true with regard to all gold-leaved plants, but the 

 reverse is true with regard to the white-margined sorts. 



While on the subject of Bicolor or Gold and Bronze Gera- 

 niums, I must protest against their being shown, as is so often 

 the case at country shows, as Variegated Geraniums. Varie- 

 gation implies a sport. All our Tricolors and white-edged Gera- 

 niums were green Zonals to begin with, but the Bicolors have 

 not changed since they were seedling plants. The mere fact 

 of having two colours in a leaf does not constitute a variegation, 

 otherwise Baron Ricasoli or Lady Constance Grosvenor, or 

 any Zonal that is not self-leaved might be shown as a varie- 

 gated Geranium. I could pick leaveB at this present moment 

 from Beauty of Oulton or Her Majesty which no one would 

 distinguish from an ordinary green Zonal. I cannot again see 

 that a Nosegay Geranium ought ever to be disqualified for 

 competition among Zonal Geraniums unless there is a separate 

 class especially mentioned in the schedule for Nosegays. A 

 Zonal Pelargonium is classified by the leaf and not by the 

 flower, and several of the hybrid Nosegays approach so near in 

 roundness of petal to those that are commonly called Zonals, 

 that I defy anyone to distinguish them if the individual flowers 

 were taken from the truss, but they are still easily distin- 

 guished when on the plant by the size and shape of the truss 

 and habit of growth. 



Let me add as a postscript that I really am exceedingly 

 obliged to the young ladies of Geranium Cottage, Beulah, for 

 the wish expressed that I could see their beds of Bayard and 



William Underwood. I should like also to see the young ladies 

 themselves, and then, perhaps, I might be able to persuade 

 them that Waltham Seedling is not the rubbish they imagine. 

 I am sure of one thing, that at the time of the Metropolitan 

 Florists' Show at the Crystal Palace the beds of Waltham 

 Seedling were far the best Geranium beds there ; and if they 

 could at present see William Underwood in my garden, grow- 

 ing within a few feet of Waltham Seedling, they would be 

 obliged to own there was no comparison between the two, as 

 there is as much bloom on a square foot of Waltham Seedling 

 as on a square yard of William Underwood. I have said before 

 in my notes on bedding Geraniums that William Underwood 

 is the best Zonal I have tried, but, like all other Zonals, it is 

 too upright in its habit ; and though it produces a good effect 

 by close planting, yet it does not last. I do not know what 

 are the Geraniums which the young ladies class as others as 

 useless. Bayard is undoubtedly good ; William Thomson and 

 Douglas Pearson I have, and appreciate. And now, as they 

 wish to alter the planting of their garden, I will suggest 

 another plan besides that mentioned by the " Old Gooseberries." 

 As with only thirteen beds in a garden, I should make no two 

 alike, in order to have more variety, which adds much to the 

 interest of a garden, though I should match my colouring so 

 as to cross-balance as nearly as possible : — 



1. — Centre vase. — Arundo Donas variegata ; edge, Imperatrice Eugenie 

 Bronze and Gold Geranium and Blue Lobelia, plant ior plant. Centre of 

 bed, Centaurea raguaina; edge, Alternanthera amabilis. 



2. — Pnrple King Verbena ; edge, Golden Feather Pyrethrum. 

 S. — Miss Wimsett Verbena; edge, Golden Feather Pyrethrum. 

 4. — Mrs. Pollock ; edge, Iresine Lindeni, planted closely and kept 

 pinched. 



5.— Lady Cullum ; edge, Amaranthus melancholicus ruber. 

 6. — Miss Kingsbury. 

 7. — Flower of Spring. 

 8.— Bayard 

 9. — Douglas Pearson 

 10. — Amy Hogg 

 11.— Dr. Hogg 



12.— Centre line, Centaurea ragusina ; edge each side, Violet Hill. 

 13. — Centre line, Cineraria maritima ; edge each side, Duchess of 

 Sutherland. 



If these beds are wide enough to admit five rows of plants, 

 edge one bed with dwarf kinds of Gold and Bronze Geraniums' 

 and the other with small plants of Pillar of Gold or Cloth of 

 Gold. 



If 6 and 7 are enlarged and altered, as the Editors suggest, 

 I should plant one with Rose Rendatler edged with Miss Kings- 

 bury, the other with Maid Kent edged with Flower of Spring. 

 I have discarded Madame Kudersdorff as not good enough to 

 go with the rest of the plants they have named. — C. P. Peach. 



Humea in centre of each, and edged with 

 Cerastium and blue Lobelia in loops of 

 1 foot of each. 



WINTER-BLOOMING ORCHIDS.— No. 8. 



PLEIONE. 



This is a small but extremely beautiful genus, which, as I 

 remarked in my former article, is often included in the genus 

 Coelogyne. Beside the minute botanical differences between 

 the two genera, they differ considerably in general appearance 

 and habit ; moreover, they are all deciduous and produce their 

 exquisitely-marked flowers in winter whilst destitute of leaves. 

 The majority of the species grow at elevations of from 6000 to 

 8000 feet in the forests of Nepal, Sikkim, and Bhotan, clothing 

 the trunks and branches of the trees, and when in flower are 

 said to present a most gorgeous aspect, causing the woods 

 to appear all ablaze. They are mostly grown in pots, but 

 succeed equally well upon blocks ; in the latter way they 

 require more sphagnum about them than most plants grown 

 in a similar manner. When grown in pots, which is un- 

 doubtedly the best method, they should have ample drainage. 

 The soil should be fibrous peat, sphagnum moss, and rich leaf 

 mould in equal parts, adding a small portion of silver sand, 

 but the curious little pseudo-bulbs should not be elevated 

 above the rim of the pot, as in the usual method of potting 

 Orchids. During the growing season moderate heat and an 

 abundance of moisture are necessary to the development of 

 large strong-flowering pseudo-bulbs ; after these are formed 

 they may be removed to a cool house and kept tolerably dry 

 until the flower buds begin to show themselves at the base of 

 the old bulbs, when additional heat may be applied with ad- 

 vantage. 



P. humilis. — Pseudo-bulbs some 2 inches high, in shape like 

 little flasks, of a rich green colour, tinged with purple. Leaves 

 narrow, acuminate, and dark green, turning yellow and falling 

 off soon after growth is complete. The flowers are produosd 



