354 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 287. 



As a rule, a much higher temperature is maintained in the 

 houses than is considered ^ood for the same species under 

 cultivation in English Orchid-houses. 



Canvas is not used in Belgium as a shading material, but 

 thin laths or bamboo strips wired together, and drawn up or 

 let down by means of rollers, as are the canvas blinds in Eng- 

 land. As a consequence, during sunlight, the Orchid-leaves 

 are barred transversely with bands of light and shade, quite 

 different from the more diffused light caused by canvas. I 

 cannot but think that this may have something to do with the 

 success which attends the cultivation of Cattleyas, Odontoglos- 

 sums, etc., in Belgium. 



No thrips or other insect pest infested any of the numerous 

 sets of plants seen. On inquiry this was attributed to a layer 

 of the midribs of tobacco-leaves placed on the hot-water 

 pipes ; fumigation was not resorted to. 



The Hippeastrums shown by Messrs. James Veitch & Sons, 

 Chelsea, were remarkably fine ; much better than those of any 

 other exhibitor. The Nepenthes exhibited by IVlonsieur Alexis 

 Dalliere, of Ghent, were much inferior to the plants we are 

 accustomed to see in English gardens. In spite of the sea- 

 son — all Hyacinths grown in the open air had long been past — 

 one room was resplendent with remarkably fine pot Hyacinths 

 contributed by several Dutch growers. 



The new Bertolonias exhibited by Van Houtte attracted 

 much attention ; it is impossible to describe the delicacy as 

 well as the brilliancy of their foliage. 



Saintpaulia ionantha, a Gesneraceous plant with a rosette 

 of radical leaves and short scapes, bearing deep violet-blue, 

 yellow-anthered flowers, was one of the prettiest, as well as 

 one of the most interesting, new plants exhibited. Seeds of it 

 were sent home by the German officer in whose honor it has 

 been named, from the mountains of eastern tropical Africa. 

 In general aspect the plant resembles Ramondia Pyrenaica. 



In British gardens Bromeliads have not yet acquired the 

 position to which they are entitled as ornamental plants ; many 

 of them are very handsome, and their strangely marbled 

 leaves and brilliantly colored inflorescences, which often last 

 a long time, make them popular on the Continent for decora- 

 tive purposes. Many thousands of one species alone — beauti- 

 fully grown plants — were seen in the Royal Gardens at Laeken, 

 where Mr. Knight uses them with great effect. At the exhibi- 

 tion were to be seen many fine hybrids ; some of the best were 

 those shown by Monsieur Duval, of Versailles, under tiie 

 names of Vriesea tessellata, splendens, and its varieties, major 

 and minor. Other very fine Bromeliads were exhibited by the 

 Botanic Garden at Liege, for so many years famous for its col- 

 lections of this family of plants, by Messieurs Jacob Makoy & 

 Co. and by Monsieur J. Moens. 



Crotons I have seen much better shown in England. 



In the large annex beautiful color-effects were produced by 

 masses of Azalea mollis. Rhododendrons shown in fine variety 

 by Monsieur Pynaert, Azalea Indica, Clivia miniata varieties, 

 etc. One of the most successful efforts in the way of plant-cul- 

 tivation I have ever seen were the Oranges, Citrus Sinensis, 

 from Monsieur Gulinck and Monsieur Alexis Dalliere ; the 

 plants were fine bushes and pyramids, two to three feet high, 

 laden with well-colored fruits. > 



Kalmia latifolia, dense, compact bushes, covered with 

 flowers, were exhibited in quantity ; a more elegant pot-plant 

 could scarcely be imagined than this as grown at Ghent. 



The Sweet Bay, Laurus nobilis, is cultivated in some estab- 

 lishments near Ghent and elsewhere in Belgium by the acre. 

 They are grown in tubs as round-headed bushes on stems or 

 as pyramids, and as specimens showing great skill on the part 

 of the grower, they leave nothing to be desired. During win- 

 ter the plants must be housed; they require so long a time 

 to attain a marketable size and so much care to bring them to 

 such a state of perfection that they are much too valuable to 

 risk outside during the winter. 



Choisya ternata was well grown and flowered. Some spe- 

 cimens had hemispherical heads, on stems two feet high, cov- 

 ered with blossoms. Cytisus scoparius, var. Andreanus, was 

 also exhibited, grown in a similar way. 



Diervilla (or Weigela), Eva R^tke, is a handsome variety, 

 with deep red flowers; it was finely exhibited by Monsieur 

 Pynaert, and will doubtless be cultivated by all who love hardy 

 shrubs. 



At Laeken, a bronzy yellow Tea Rose, William Morley, is 

 grown under glass for cutting, and is preferred to Mar^chal 

 Niel, as it is not so liable to canker as that variety. Stand- 

 ard hybrid perpetual Roses and dwarf Moss Roses were 

 largely grown in pots and well done. In a bed in one of the 

 large conservatories a fine mass of Strelitzia Reginae was 

 in flower ; it was planted out ; the temperature in winter 



was kept up to fifteen or sixteen degrees centigrade (say sixty 

 degrees Fahrenheit). Among other striking plants planted 

 out at Laeken are Clavijas, Bromeliads, Chamagrops staura- 

 cantha — a remarkably fine specimen — Kentia Lindeni, and 

 other rare Palms. Brunfelsias, in fine flower, produced beau- 

 tiful effects as bushes planted out. 



Large plants of Vanda tricolor, etc., grown elsewhere and 

 brought into the large warm conservatory to flower, were 

 models of good cultivation. A number of small bushes — not 

 a foot high, in six-inch pots — of Medinilla magnifica bore as 

 many as half a dozen fine inflorescences ; these must have 

 been raised from large cuttings taken from old plants after 

 growth had been made and bloom-buds more or less formed. 

 In any case the Medinillas were a triuniph of gardening skill. 



One of the great features ift the jspring months at Laeken 

 is the great extent of corridor connecting the different groups 

 of houses with the palace and withj each other. . There are 

 about 1,200 yards of corridor, and irt mid-April it was a blaze 

 of flower. Tropseolums, Ivy-leavedjand Zonal Pelargoniums, 

 Abutilon Megapotamicum (A, vexillarium), which was also 

 used with considerable effect as a basket-plant. Passion Flow- 

 ers, Heliotropes, Jasmines, the true Acacia riceana, Rhodo- 

 chiton volubile, Dolichos, Bignonias and other plants being 

 trained up the side and roofs. 



Cultural Department. 



Flowering Shrubs in Mid-August. 



T N the middle of August shrubby plants seem less interest- 

 -*■ ing than at almost any other time in the growing season. 

 The flowering period is past with most of them, and showy 

 ripe fruits or bright autumn colors of foliage are not yet com- 

 mon. But a group of shrubs may be formed which will make 

 a very satisfactory show of bloom at this season of the year. 



Besides some of the large-flowered Clematis which may con- 

 tinue to flower, there are one or two of the tubular-flowered, 

 half-shrubby species which are highly interesting and satisfac- 

 tory. Clematis Davidiana is herbaceous, but is very hardy. It 

 is iu its best flowering now, and with it is another plant, re- 

 ceived from the Jardin des Plantes, at Paris, under the name of 

 C. stans, which has light lavender-blue flowers. This name 

 may not be the true one, as there is another and different 

 plant known by the same name. Its blossoms are much paler 

 in color, or white, and they do not appear until later in the 

 season. One or two other so-called species of Clematis also 

 blossom much later. The two species in blossom now have a 

 sweet and delicate fragrance. 



Hypericums, or Saint Johnsworts, are also interesting for 

 their flowers, although the best blossoms of some kinds are 

 passed; H. calycinum, H. hircinum, H. inultiflorum and H. 

 prolificum have a good show of flowers, and so have the 

 smaller-flowered and comparatively newly introduced species, 

 H. densiflorum and H. galioides. The latter has an abundance 

 of narrow graceful foliage on slender branches. 



The Altheas, or different garden varieties of Hibiscus 

 Syriacus, are generally beginning to be showy with flowers in 

 this latitude. The best flowers of the rarer Stuartias are past, 

 although a few of their blossoms may yet be found. One of 

 the very last of our common native shrubby plants to flower 

 is the so-called Dwarf Sumach, Rhus copallina, which just now 

 attracts swarms of insects. The panicles of flowers are of a 

 greenish yellow color, and not showy, but the bloom gives out 

 a pleasant sweet fragrance. The larger-growing Japanese 

 plant, which is sold in nurseries under the name of R. Osbeckii, 

 is showy with bloom at the same time, but the odor of the 

 blossoms is not so agreeable. The only Spiraeas which con- 

 tinue to make any kind of a show of bloom are all American. 

 The Hardback, or Steeple-bush, Spiraea tomentosa, has the 

 best and latest bloom, while a good many flowering clusters 

 are also found on the western S. Douglasii, and a few scatter- 

 ing clusters on S. salicifolia, the latter a native of Europe as 

 well as of this country. A few belated clusters of flowers also 

 occur on some of the forms of S. Japonica. The only showy 

 Raspberry still in bloom is the purple Rubus odoratus, whose 

 blossoms are becoming scarce. But the yellow, shrubby Po- 

 tentillafruticosa is sdll quite conspicuous in its inflorescence. 



Our native Rosa Carolina is not yet fully past its natural time of 

 flowering, and the little Rosa foliolosa is still bearing a few strag- 

 gling specimens of its pretty white flowers. These two species 

 are among the latest producers of blossoms in their natural 

 season, but the Japanese Rosa rugosa, both red and white 

 forms, commonly bears a few blossoms out of their proper sea- 

 son. Of course, the now common Hydrangea paniculata 



