212 



Garden and Forest. 



[May I, 1889. 



the i>enus. It is similar in character to tiie type, but has 

 mucii larger Howers, and presents a liner appearance in 

 every way. There are several line specimens here which 

 have l)een in tiovver for over a month, and they will last until 

 the middle of May. There is no other Oncidium fiovvering at 

 the present time which can compete with it in attractiveness, 

 and this fact renders it particularly valuable for decoration and 

 also for exhibition purposes at tiiis time of the year. Before 

 this Oncidium came in Hovver the Orchid-houses were made 

 resplendent by the yoi'tjeous-Howered O. figrinic/n, a native of 

 Mexico, and O. spleitdiduin — which is, botanically speaking, 

 only a fine variety of 0. tlgrinum, but which comes from 

 riuatemala instead of Mexico, where it was first discovered 

 about 1862. The subject of tiie present note possesses an ad- 

 vantage which can hardly fail to be appreciated by cultivators, 

 namely, that of being easily managed. Large plants gener- 

 ally <\o well when grown in either pans or baskets, which 

 must, however, be well drained with clean crocks. A com- 

 post of good, fibrous loam with a little sphagnum mixed is 

 most suitable for it. Most Orchids like plenty of water dur- 

 ing the growing season, but this is an exception. This dis- 

 tinction is due to the large pseudo-bulbs which are well pro- 

 vided \\\W\ moisture absorbed by the roots from the atmos- 

 phere. At no time should much water be given, except in 

 very hot weather, when evaporation goes on rapidly, and 

 then more than usual -may be given with advantage. Tliis 

 species, having large, leathery, dark green leaves — Tike some 

 Cattleyas or Laelias, but much handsomer — will bear a greater 

 amount of sun-heat than could, with safety, be allowed to 

 thinner-leaved kinds. Small plants should be grown in bas- 

 kets or pans and suspended near the r.oof, so as to obtain as 

 much light as possible. 



In general appearance this is a very handsome Oncidium. 

 Its large, ovoid, compressed bulbs are of a bright green when 

 young, and heavily spotted and blotched with purple. As 

 they become older the skin becomes shrivelled and blackish- 

 purple. The leaves are large and very beautiful — indeed, 

 they form one of the chief beauties of the plant, with their 

 dark-green, glossy surfaces. From the base of the pseudo- 

 bulbs, a panicle of bright golden ifowers arises for a length of 

 eighteen inches or more. One plant now in flower here has 

 six such panicles, each bearing from forty to fifty large flowers, 

 which present a solid yellow mass, the monotony of which is 

 most agreeably broken by means of the numerous reddish- 

 brown spots and blotches on the sepals and the base of the 

 petals, as well as on the crest of the lip. The under surface of 

 tlie flowers — especially the lip — is covered with a peculiar 

 white bloom, which is quite characteristic. Sprays of ffowers 

 will remain in good condition for a long time in a room, if 

 placed in fresh water. The base of the stem should be occa- 

 sionally cut, so as to let fresh cells absorlj the water. 



St. Albans, England, March 30th, 1889. J . Weathers. 



Cattleya Lawrenceana. — A splendid example of this lovely 

 Cattleya now forms a very conspicuous object in the collec- 

 tion of Mr. Hicks Arnold, of New York. Though a compara- 

 tive small plant with but thirteen bulbs, three of these have 

 borne, in the aggregate, eighteen rich and very striking rosy- 

 purple blossoms, and on one spike alone nine flowers were 

 counted. Its appearance at this season will make it a great 

 favorite with all lovers of this gorgeous family ; but it is to be 

 regretted that such a fine Cattleya is not more plentiful. But 

 as it comes from the Roraima Mountains, in British Guiana, 

 and can only be collected at the cost of great hardship, it will 

 probably remain a rarity for some time. In habit C. Law- 

 renceana is most distinct, having pseudo-bulbs of a reddish 

 hue and foliage of a stout and very leathery texture. In its 

 native home it has been seen with eleven flowers on one 

 spike, and we hope this number will be soon attained on cul- 

 tivated plants. They enjoy a few degrees warmer tempera- 

 ture than most of this genus, and the atmosphere should be 

 kept charged with moisture while they are growing. Baskets 

 have been found preferable for this species, and if suspended 

 in a position close to the light, in a mixture of fibrous peat 

 with a little sphagnimi, it will ])roduce its handsome blossoms 

 freely. Among otlier noteworthy plants seen in this col- 

 lection was the curious green and black flowered Ccclogyne 

 pandicrata, a beautiful specimen carrying a spike with a dozen 

 flowers ; a Cypripediuin grande, remarkable for its vigorous 

 growth and striking blooms ; an Oncidiinii Marshallianuni 

 with a many-flowered panicle of bright yellow and rich brown 

 blossoms, and ■MxOdoiitoglossum citrosmuiii album bearing a 

 dense cluster of large, pure white flowers. The Cypripediums 

 in this collection are growing very rapidly, and a fine show of 

 them is shortly expected 



Summit. N.J. A. Dtmmock. 



Rose "Souvenir de Wootton." — This is a hybrid Tea Rose, and 

 was named after the country-seat of Geo. VV. Childs, Esq., at 

 Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. It is a seedling from the well-known 

 Tea Rose, Bon Silene, fertilized by the hyljrid Rose, Louis Van 

 Houtte. It was raised by John Cook, of Baltimore, and was 

 sent out in the spring of 1888, but its merits as a winter- 

 bloonnng rose were but little known until this season, when 

 it has proved to be a very free and continuous bloomer and 

 of rank, \'igorous growth. The color is crimson, flushed with 

 carmine, and the blooms are very large, frequently measin-ing 

 six inches across. The petals are short, which gix'cs it a some- 

 what flat appearance; but, while it lacks something in graceful- 

 ness, it is a very showy rose and of exqinsite fragrance. The 

 foliage is large and beautiful. It will doubtless prove to be a 

 very useful and popular winter-flowering rose. Of its qualities 

 as an out-door bedding variety very little is k-nown ; the 

 coming summer will afford opportunity to test it. 



Philadelphia. ' Rflbt. Craig. 



This latest American addition to the hybrid Teas seems to 

 be a Rose of much promise, combining the colors of both 

 parents in a very pleasing shade, somewhat similar to that of 

 Papa Gontier. As exhibited at the recent show of the Penn- 

 sylvania Horticultural Society in Philadelphia, the flowers were 

 of fair size and substance, and in form somewhat like " Amer- 

 ican Beauty," though apparently not quite so double. The 

 color appears to good advantage under artificial light, and this 

 will help it to win a place in popular favor. The foliage of 

 Wootton is large, handsome and of good texture, and, what 

 is very important to the grower, is said to be i:)roof against the 

 attacks of " black spot." The plant is of vigorous habit, and also 

 very floriferous, and it is expected liy the introducer to prove 

 so valuable an acquisition iis to displace American Beauty in 

 popularity. Of course, a more extended trial will be necessary 

 to justify these hopes, though many prominent growers have 

 already expressed favoralile opinions in regard to this Rose; 

 and, for tiie credit of a variety of distinctly American origin, 

 it is to be hoped that their confidence may not be misplaced. 



Holmesburg, Pa, ^- tl. Taplhl. 



The Spring-Garden. 



THE man who plants a spring-garden, even in this New 

 England climate, where the springs are proverbially and 

 almost unexceptionally cold, uncertain and unsatisfactory, \)Vo- 

 vides a richer store of pleasure for himself and his friends than 

 can be obtained from a garden of any other sort. There is no 

 delight to be derived from flowers which equals that which 

 the earliest harbingers of spring afford when they open 

 amidst melting snows, after a long, cold, northern winter. 

 The humblest Crocus or Squill or Snow-drop is more and 

 means more dian all the splendors which the suns of summer 

 call into existence. The person who has not a spring-garden, 

 or who does not cultivate at least a few of the hardy plants 

 which flower in the very early spring, knows but little yet of the 

 true pleasures of gardening. These thoughts come to me 

 year after year. Every year the pleasure is keener, as every 

 year the familiar faces of these humble flowers rise up to re- 

 mind us that the long winter has ended. As I write the ear- 

 liest flowers have already passed away — the Snow-drops, the 

 dwarf, reticulated Iris and the early Crocuses. But many more 

 plants are already in flower, and the long procession which 

 may be made to grace our northern gardens has hardly com- 

 menced to move yet. The most beaufiful flower by far just 

 now is that humble plant which the great Swiss botanist, Bois- 

 sier, brought back from the western Tmolus, in Asia Minor, 

 and dedicated to tlie companion of many of his journeys, the 

 Chionodoxa Lucilice. The generic name derived from Greek 

 words, meaning the glory of the snow, indicates- its vernal 

 habits. It is, perhaps, the most beaufiful plant of its class of 

 recent introduction, with its compact habit and short racemes 

 of large, intensely blue flowers shaded into white towards the 

 centre. This charming plant is perfectly hardy and in habit it 

 resembles some of the early Squills. These, too, are at their 

 best, and whether they are planted in l:>eds or as edgings in the 

 grass, thev are always among the brightest and most attractive 

 of the hardy, spring'flowers. Their small size adapts them for 

 planting singly among the crevices of the rockery, and when 

 they are freely used in this way the effect which they produce 

 is excellent. 



The spring Snowflake {Leucolum vermim) is also at its best 

 just now, and its nodding white bells, handsomely marked 

 with green at the ends of the perianth-segments, are among 

 file most attractive features of the spring-garden. But this 

 plant, although a native of central Europe, is not entirely hardy 

 here, or rather, perhaps, the bulbs do not last many years, so 



