340 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ October 31, 16V2. 



season. Marechal Niel, of which I hare several plants, has 

 not given me a single bloom this season, but has made wood 

 freely. — E. C, Oakham. 



DISA GRANDIFLORA CULTURE. 



Seldom do we find this fine old terrestrial or ground Orchid 

 in that health and vigour which we wish to see it present. I 

 say old, for it is nearly fifty years since its first introduction 

 to our gardens ; still it is only within the last few years that 

 anything like success has been attained in its cultivation. 

 Previously it appears to have entirely resisted whatever at- 

 tempts were made to grow it, even by the most skilful. In 

 consequence of this it gained a bad name as being difficult of 

 cultivation ; but when its requirements, which are few and 

 simple, are suitably supplied, it is one of the easiest of plants 

 to grow. Abandon the old idea of drying it to death, give it 

 an abundance of water, and it will grow and flower as freely 

 as a weed. It is, no doubt, kept dry by many an anxious ama- 

 teur even at the present time, and in this belief I make a few 

 remarks on its cultivation. 



Disa grandiflora is rather dwarf, being about 6 or 8 inches 

 high ; but the flower-stems lengthen from the top of its growth 

 to the height of 2 feet or more, and are furnished throughout 

 their length with dark green grass-like foliage, and surmounted 

 with a cluster of three or more of the lovely blooms. When 

 seen in a mass of two or three dozen spikes, and at a dis- 

 tance, they have a striking resemblance to a clump of a scarlet 

 Gladiolus. 



The great object to be secured is luxuriant growth with 

 abundance of bloom. To obtain this it requires liberal treat- 

 ment. As I remarked above, give it a plentiful supply of 

 moisture ; do not even allow it to become dry during the period 

 of rest, which is short compared with that of growth, and to 

 prolong it by artificial means greatly injures the plant. This 

 is the season when it requires our special attention. November, 

 as a rule, is the spring-time of the Disa — that is, for healthy 

 plants ; those in a weakly state may be somewhat later, 

 and, on the other hand, strong plants a little earlier. To 

 make the treatment as plain as possible, I will suppose the 

 plants to be healthy and vigorous ; in this case pot at once, if 

 needed at all. In the after treatment we must take a lesson 

 from nature. Coming from the Table Mountain, of which it is 

 spoken of as the pride, it is at once evident it does not re- 

 quire a hot temperature ; as long as frost is excluded that will 

 suffice. Where there is no cool house it will do well in a cold 

 pit or frame ; still, if possible, give preference to the house. 

 In the Cape, we are told, it grows in swampy places, on the 

 margins of pools and streams, which in winter are so swollen 

 that the plant must be immersed in water ; to imitate this con- 

 dition we must, therefore, treat it as a semi-aquatic. Suppos- 

 ing the plants to be newly potted, top-dressed, or otherwise 

 made ready for the growing season, they should be kept con- 

 stantly moist, gradually increasing the amount as the growth 

 becomes stronger, and on bright days a slight sprinkling from 

 the syringe will be very beneficial. Continue this treatment 

 up to February, after which time it is next to impossible to 

 over-water the plant — that is, if good drainage has been pro- 

 vided, and during bright hot days it will be highly essential to 

 syringe overhead, by which means the red spider will be kept 

 under, and the foliage preserved in a clean and healthy state. 

 As soon as the flowers show thems?lves, which will be about 

 the middle of July, this mode of treatment must be discon- 

 tinued, and water at the root gradually withheld, still bearing 

 in mind not to allow them to become dry at any time. Plants 

 here (Ferniehurst) treated as above and placed at the gable end 

 of the Odontoglossum house, produce annually dozens of rich 

 blooms, many of them having three or four flowers on one spike. 



I noticed at the commencement the time at which potting 

 should be performed. The compost should consist chiefly of 

 good peat, which should not be beaten in order that nothing 

 but the fibrous portion used in potting the majority of Orchids 

 maybe left, but use it in a moderate state. To this add 

 sweet horse droppings and leaf mould in proportion, with some 

 broken crocks, and, if at hand, a few bits of charcoal and 

 some well- washed sand or silicious road grit, sufficient to keep 

 the whole in an open porous state. Although the Disa requires 

 much moisture, it will not endure stagnant or sour soil. I 

 prefer shallow pans to pots of any description ; they should 

 be perfectly clean and well drained. In potting, let the plant 

 be somewhat elevated above the rim of the pan, which will 

 greatly facilitate the draining process. 



With regard to plants in a weakly condition, I would say, 

 Treat as above, except that for safety it may be as well to 

 defer the potting a little longer ; but as soon as any signs of 

 activity are perceived pot at once, if thought needful, for if 

 allowed to remain till the growth is 2 or 3 inches high it 

 would be much better not to disturb the plant for that season. 



In conclusion, the plants should be placed as near the glass 

 as possible. They will thus be more robust, and the flowers 

 will also be of a much higher colour. I need scarcely add that 

 they should at all times be screened from the direct rays of 

 the sun by means of blinds that can be easily removed when 

 not required, using them only when they are really needful. — 

 C. J. White. 



WINTERING BEDDING PLANTS. 



In common with every true lover of the flower garden, I was 

 always pained at this season to see so many of our beautiful 

 bedding plants consigned to the rubbish heap. After the green- 

 house was stuffed full there used to be many plants that 

 I longed to save for another year. I had tried the plan of 

 shaking out and tying them up by the heels in bundles ; but 

 whether in attic or in cellar, my success in this was nil, -0, 

 repeating. At length I hit upon a plan of creating room in 

 the greenhouse, which may be useful to some of your readers. 

 It is Dean Swift who, in his inimitable " Tale of a Tub," 

 makes the remark that in every assembly, however crowded, 

 he has always noticed that there is room overhead if one could 

 but get there. In my plan, on the contrary, there is room 

 below if one knows how to utilise it. 



Under the central stand of the greenhouse I make a sort of 

 pit, as long and as broad as I can, and of a depth which will 

 allow the light to stream in from the windows — in my house 

 about a foot deep. This depression is filled-in, first with clean 

 stones or broken tiles to the depth of 4 inches, then with as 

 much dry earth and sifted ashes or lime rubbish. The plants 

 are then brought in and carefully turned out of their pots — all 

 strong-growing kinds should be bedded in their pots. A large 

 portion of the latest growth, and nearly all the leaves, having 

 been removed with a very sharp knife, the plants are packed 

 as closely as possible, without breaking the ball of earth, in 

 the dry bed prepared for them. Were this all, the labour would 

 be in vain, for the drip from above would long before the 

 spring have ruined most of them. The main point of all is to 

 keep them diy, and this I effect by sliding-in pieces of old 

 floorcloth under the stage whenever watering is going on. The 

 drip runs off from this sloping roof, the plants remain per- 

 fectly dry, and when drops have ceased to fall the floorcloth 

 cover is pulled out and rolled up. It is possible that other 

 materials may be found to answer as well — for instance, oiled 

 calico, paper, or felt. The warmth of the house will keep the 

 plants alive, and when the days begin to lengthen the young 

 leaves will appear all over the plants, which will afford, if 

 not the earliest blossoms or a display quite equal to fresh 

 plants, at least a supply very useful for summer and autumn. 

 — T. S. C, Bristol. 



LAPAGERIA ROSEA AND ROSEA SPLENDENS. 

 The lovers of fine and useful plants must all be obliged to 

 your correspondent Mr. C. J. White for his notice of, and 

 instructions on, the method of growing Lapageria rosea in 

 pots. I know quite well the plant may be grown in that way, 

 having seen many fine specimens both of the red and white 

 varieties so managed. But it is not everyone who has both 

 a greenhouse and an intermediate house, and it occurred to 

 me that many who could spare a corner in their greenhouse 

 might be glad to know with how little trouble they could 

 turn it to so great advantage as mentioned in my last. All 

 the care the plant here has had this season is plenty of water. 

 To-day I counted 375 blooms on it, and every season it is 

 getting better. Of course a large pot, or still better probably, 

 a large tub, comes near to planting-out. What I thought of 

 most importance to notice was the method of planting in open 

 soil and stones, with ample drainage. The proof of the utility 

 of this is shown here. A plant of the vaiiety L. splendens 

 (Henderson's) was planted in the same house with the com- 

 mon one, but less carefully, as it turned out. It grew so 

 badly that I did not consider it equal to the old variety, as 

 the flowers were poor. Last season, however, I saw its roots 

 cleared out on one side, and three barrowloads of proper soil 

 and stones put to it. This season it has grown more strongly, 

 and the flowers are very fine, richer in colour, and of more 



