June 17, 1896.] 



Garden and Forest. 



247 



that they do not all open at one time. From the time the first 

 blossoms open until the last ones expand is about two weeks, 

 and sometimes ionger. 



Many species of the genus Allium are not desirable garden 

 plants, but at this time two showy species are blossoming. A. 

 Moly is a European plant with large showy yellow flowers, pro- 

 duced in compact umbels. This bulbous plant is ten to twelve 

 inches high and it is well suited for planting along the front 

 row of the herbaceous border. Another showy species is A. 

 Ostrowskeanum, which has large showy umbels of purplish 

 flowers. Both of the above Alliums are perfectly hardy, and 

 can be obtained in autumn from the bulb dealers. If planted 

 then they will blossom about the end of May or early in June. 



Gentiana acaulis is a beautiful little alpine, which has blos- 

 somed better here this year than for several past years. There 

 is no plant in the garden, when it is in blossom, that has such 

 pure blue flowers. The flowers are very large, compared with 

 the size of the plant, carnpanulate in shape, and measure two 

 inches in length. The plants are grown here in a slightly 

 shaded moist spot among pieces of limestone and are pro- 

 tected slightly in winter. 



Aster alpinus grows very nicely in our rock garden, where 

 its blue heads of flowers are produced plentifully. It is a 

 dwarf plant from six to eight inches high, and its flower-heads 

 measure two inches across. 



Harvard Botanic Garden. ■#. Cameron. 



Orchid Notes. 



THROUGH the exertions of collectors it is possible to have 

 Orchids in flower abundantly throughout the entire year, 

 and the succession is unbroken in a good representative col- 

 lection. The durability of the flowers, both on the plants and 

 when cut, makes them especially useful for decorative pur- 

 poses. The flowers of some species are fugacious, but 

 generally this peculiarity is, if not the result, at least the 

 characteristic that accompanies a powerful odor. The kinds 

 with no perceptible fragrance sometimes last for months in 

 perfect condition. 



One of the most useful species at this time is Miltonia vexil- 

 laria. It is a temperate-house plant, or one that requires a 

 temperature that does not vary much during the whole year. 

 Hence we grow it in winter in what would be termed a warm 

 house, and in summer the plants are placed in the coolest 

 place possible. While there is considerable variation of tem- 

 perature between midwinter and midsummer, we have no 

 plants that thrive better or give more satisfaction. Last season 

 we had a plant, one bulb of which produced forty-one flowers, 

 and we learned that this Orchid will sometimes attempt more 

 than it can continue indefinitely, and that the flowers should 

 be thinned so as not to tax the energies of the plant. M. vex- 

 illaria comes from a region characterized by daily rainfalls 

 throughout the year. Even in the dry season there are mists 

 and showers. While distributed over a wide range of latitude, 

 from northern Colombia to Ecuador, its altitude is well defined 

 and uniform wherever it occurs, mostly on the western slopes 

 of the Cordilleras. It there has the benefit ot the precipitation 

 of moisture-laden winds from the Pacific. This moisture is 

 an important item in the cultivation of the plants, for without 

 it they will speedily be disfigured by thrips. Tobacco stems 

 strewed about the pots will keep this pest away, and they are 

 capital absorbents of moisture as well. After flowering, the 

 plants take a short time to recuperate, and then start to grow 

 in early autumn, when they should be repotted. They should 

 be repotted each year, for owing to the great amount of water 

 they require the compost would be injurious to the plants if 

 allowed to remain more than one year. The growing period 

 lasts throughout the winter, and care must be taken that no 

 checks occur from want of water or insects, or their flowering 

 will be affected unfavorably. 



Each year at flowering time Cattleya Gaskelliana proves its 

 superiority. I know of no other Cattleya which makes as fine 

 specimens in so short a time ; it does not deteriorate as do some 

 other species. Plants that were purchased less than four years 

 ago in six-inch pots are now in twelve and fourteen inch pans. 

 The leading growths double in number each year, and if care 

 is taken all will flower freely. The fact that some Cattleyas 

 fail to flower at times may often be traced to excessive 

 vigor and insufficient rest or maturing. If C. Gaskelliana for 

 any reason fails to bloom, it is sure to start into a second 

 growth, which must be encouraged liberally until finished. 

 Our climate is apt to induce plants to make this second start, 

 and English cultivators keep their plants dry to check the ten- 

 dency. This would be ruinous here, as it would weaken the 

 plants. If the plants are encouraged they will usually be well 

 matured by winter, and will then flower well in summer. Our 



plants failed to bloom well at first, and we were told to put 

 them out-of-doors after the flowering season was past. The 

 coolest and most airy house was chosen instead, and the next 

 and each succeeding year has proved the need of plenty of air 

 for Orchids during the summer months. If C. gigas and C. 

 Gaskelliana flower well this year it will take them so long to 

 become strong and plump that they will not start into growth 

 again before winter. It is an old idea that the greatest factor 

 in making a tree fruitful is to have it bear a crop of fruit. 

 Fruiting checks excessive vigor and immature ripening, and 

 this is true of Orchids as of other plants. 



The best time to pot Cattleyas is before they begin to make 

 new roots or when they are making them. There are two 

 well-marked divisions of the genus, from the cultivator's point 

 of view — those that flower directly after growth is completed, 

 as C. labiata, C. gigas, C. Gaskelliana and others ; and those 

 that rest for a time before flowering, as C. Trianee, C. Mendelli 

 and C. Percivalliana. The last-named we repot directly after 

 the flowers are cut, as the plants start to root at once. But 

 with the other division the system is changed, for if we waited 

 to repot until after flowering, many roots would be active and 

 badly injured in the operation. So they are repotted as soon 

 as signs of growth are observed. With C. labiata this often 

 occurs in December. C. Gaskelliana is repotted in January, 

 when the other kinds are also ready, so that all Cattleyas are- 

 potted during the winter months, when time can be best given 

 for it to be properly done. Nothing but the best fibre from the 

 roots of Osmunda cinnamomea is used. This material takes 

 years to decompose if used alone, but if moss is added it 

 speedily becomes sour and inert, and when the roots touch it 

 they perish. 



Many cultivators are taking up the most interesting work of 

 hybridizing and raising seedlings. It is a fascinating experi- 

 ment when success attends the work, and not without some 

 profit if conducted on proper lines. There is still ample room 

 for original research for all engaged in the work. It is simple 

 enough until it comes to germinating the seeds. We find the best 

 medium for this purpose is fern-fibre, as already stated, taking 

 care to keep it in a condition bordering on saturation. If the 

 minute barleycorn-like seeds become dry after sowing they 

 will not change to the pleasing little green, pegtop-like, thal- 

 loid bodies that denote the first distinct stage of germination. 

 These bodies are even more susceptible to drought than the 

 seeds. I have heard of a successful operator in this work who 

 never sowed seeds on the soil of a valuable plant, and the rea- 

 son is obvious, for the great amount of moisture necessary to 

 bring about successful germination is enough to injure the 

 plant. 



South Lancaster, Mass. -&. O. Orpet. 



Trevesia palmata. — This plant is also called Trevesia Sun- 

 daica, and more commonly Gastonia palmata. The leaves are 

 very large, attaining a diameter of two and a half feet. The 

 leaf divisions, instead of being widest at the base, are narrower 

 there than nearer the apex, being contracted at the part where 

 the division takes place, and this gives the leaves a very odd 

 appearance. On an old plant glowing in the bed of a cool 

 greenhouse at Washington there are growths twelve feet long, 

 and all their length is clothed with its princely foliage. It is a 

 native of India. T. eminens is also well worth growing. The 

 leaf divisions are more numerous and not quite so broad as 

 in T. palmata, and they do not have the peculiar formation in 

 the leaf divisions of that species. Good-sized specimens can 

 be grown in pots, and they are valuable for veranda decora- 

 tion in summer or for house decoration in winter. Cuttings 

 from one to two feet long can be rooted in sand if the atmos- 

 phere surrounding them is kept moist and at a temperature of 

 at least sixty-five degrees. Stems denuded of the foliage will 

 sprout if treated in the same way as Dracaana canes. 



Chinese Dianthus. — I have better success in the cultivation of 

 Chinese Pinks in treating them as annuals than as biennials. 

 My plan is to sow them quite early, say, in the middle of Feb- 

 ruary, and when the seedlings are large enough prick them 

 off, three in a three-inch pot. After a week or two the plants 

 are removed to a frame where they get abundance of air to 

 harden them off and develop a stubby growth. When planted 

 out in well-prepared soil they start growing immediately. By 

 the middle of May numbers of them are in full bloom, and 

 with attention in the way of watering and cultivating during; 

 summer they flower constantly ami make a display thai 

 annuals surpass. Seeds of the different varieties can be 

 secured in separate packages. Planted near each other thev 

 hybridize so easily that the flowers of plants raised from set '1 

 the second year show marked variations in color. A batch ol 

 plants raised this year from German seed an- especially fine. 

 Plants kept over the winter start off well in the spring, but in 



