56 



Garden and Forest. 



[July 24, iJ 



although tlR- former seem to be more generally used. A 

 compost of rough, -fibrous peat suits them best, and during the 

 summer months, when the plants are making tlieir growths, 

 they should be watered frequently and thoroughly. During 

 the winter months very little water is required to keep the 

 pseudo- bulbs plump and fresh, but care should be taken not 

 to withhold it until the plants begin to shrivel. The winter 

 temperatiu^e during the day should be about 65'' or 70" Fahr., 

 sinking five or si.x degrees lower at niglit. In summer the 

 night temperatin-e should not be allowed to sink below 65" 

 Fahr., while in the day it may rise from 70° to 80" Fahr. 

 St. Albans. JoliH Weathers. 



Odontoglossu/n Alexandra'. — Only of late years has the finest 

 form of this beautiful Orchid been introduced. Among the 

 early importations the majority of the plants consisted of the 

 variety with very narrow, thin-petaled flowers. These are 

 now rapidly gi\ing place to the broad, round-petaled type, 

 which, during the past seven years, has been imported in con- 

 siderable niunbers. Mr. Frederick L. Ames, of North Easton, 

 Massachusetts, has some very remarkable specimens in lux- 

 uriant health, with broad, deep-green foliage and stout well- 

 formed pseudo-ljulbs, from the base of which I recently ob- 

 served no fewer than 200 spikes carrying massive blossoms 

 well shaped and, in many instances, beautifully niarked, spot- 

 ted and fringed. In this wonderful display I noted the scarce 

 O. VVilckeamnu, carrying dozens of its striking yellow and 

 brown flowers, O. hiteopiirpureitm, O. Pescatorci, bearing on 

 many-branched stems a profusion of lovely white blossoms, 

 and several handsome plants of O.vexillarium, with six to eight 

 richly-colored flowers on a spike. A fine specimen of Oticidiwn 

 niacranthinn, with a spike measiuMng se\-en feet in length, was 

 carrying many of its enormous olive-brown and bright yellow 

 flowers, and specimens of the bright scarlet Masdevallia Har- 

 ryana, helped to make this a paradise of Orchid flowers. The 

 plants here noted occupied a structure facing north, the back 

 wall being covered with moss and ferns, which are kept con- 

 tinually moist, maintaining at all times an atmosphere full of 

 humidity, which is one of the necessities of successful cultiva- 

 tion. O. Alexandra is of easy cultm-e and grows freely during 

 the spring months, but during July, August and September 

 great care must be taken to provide cool quarters, or the in- 

 tense heat of this season -will prove detrimental. Where exten- 

 sively grown, north houses have proved the best for this 

 Orchid, being cool, airy and light. While grewing they delight 

 in abundance of air and water, and when the fiowenng season 

 is past they should be re-potted in a mixture of peat, sphagnum 

 and decayed leaves, in equal proportions. Of all Odontoglos- 

 sums grown few ecjual this for purity and durability of blos- 

 som, and when grown, as it is here, it must prove valuable 

 as a florist's flower.' 



Summit, N.J. A. DimviOck. 



Planting Roses for Winter. Bloom. 



'T^HIS operation is an important part of the work in many 

 -*■ establishments at this season, and demands the exercise 

 of great care and judgment. Careless planting is doubtless 

 responsible for many failures that are attributed to other 

 causes. The benches or beds having been prepared for plant- 

 ing by being refilled with good soil, in which has been mixed 

 a proper proportion of good manure, some air-slaked lime 

 should be added if the soil is inclined to be clayey ; and if the 

 soil is very dry when brought into the houses it will be found 

 better to give it a good watering the day before beginning to 

 plant, so that it will be moist enough to work nicely. The 

 plants to be set out should be well watered a few hours 

 before they are turned out of the pots, this being very 

 necessary, from the fact that when the old ball of earth is dry 

 at the time of planting, it will be found almost impossible to 

 get it wet afterward without making the entire bed sodden, and 

 a poor start, followed by a weak and unsatisfactory growth, 

 soon shows the effect of this error. This point of havirig the 

 plants moist at the time of transplanting is one of especial 

 importance, and is essential to the welfare of the future crop 

 of flowers. 



It will also be advisable to leave the plants in their pots unfil 

 they are actually needed for planting, as the tender young roots 

 are easily injured if exposed to the direct rays of the sun for 

 even a short space of time. In planting, the soil should be 

 pressed firmly around the plant without breaking the ball, 

 after which a good watering should be given so as to settle the 

 soil. If the weather should prove very hot and dry at this 

 time a light shading on the glass will be beneficial to the 

 young plants, but it should be removed as soon as the Roses 

 become established in their new quarters. For several days 



after planting it is well to keep the house a little closer in 

 regard to ventilation, gradually increasing the amount of air 

 admitted as the plants take hold of the new soil, but always 

 bearing in mind the fact that Roses are not stove-plants, and 

 will not flourish if kept too hot. 



As a preventive measure it is best to give the plants a dust- 

 ing with sulpluu- after planting, as the germs of mildew are 

 frequently present at this season, and awaifing a favorable 

 opportunity to attach themselves to the young growth of the 

 Roses, and' this will at once check and disfigure it. It should 

 be remembered that young Roses recently planted are not in 

 a condition to assimilate large quantities of manure, and it will 

 therefore be found best to defer heavy mulching or other 

 application of strong fertilizers until the plants have become 

 better established. 



Holmesburg, Pa. '' • n. laplm. 



Notes on Wild Flowers. 



Actcea spicata, var. rubra (Red Baneberry), is one of the early 

 spring flowers. The chief beauty, however, of the plant is in 

 the ample spike of cherry-red berries, which are now ripe. 

 The foliage is also a handsome dark green. The plant will 

 thrive in moist soil in either sun or shade. 



Phlox pilosa is nearly past flower. It is one of the best of 

 the hardy Phloxes, and remains a long time in flower. It is 

 a slender plant, nearly a foot high, with large heads of rose- 

 pink flowers. It takes readily to cultivation, and will thrive in 

 any ordinary soil. 



Asclepias incarnata (Swamp Milk-weed) is just beginning to 

 bloom. It is a desirable plant for cultivation, and may be 

 found in many of the wholesale lists of European nursery- 

 men. It grows nearly three feet high, usually bearing several 

 heads of rose-purple flowers. The plant is easily grown in 

 ordinary soil. 



Blooinerla aurea, a plant belonging to the Lily family from 

 southern California, is now in flower. It grows nearly a foot 

 high, bearing at the top a dense uml.)el of pretty yellow flow- 

 ers half an inch or more in diameter. These flowers do not 

 all open together, and the plant is a long time in flowering. 

 We have had the best success with this plant when set in 

 autumn and covered with leaves to protect it from frost. 



Rudbeckia hirta (Cone-flower), although too common in 

 many of our meadows, is a more showy plant when in flower 

 than the rarer R. laciniata. The plant is generally about two 

 feet high. The flowers are darkish yellow with a dark purple 

 centre, and are often nearly three inches wide. It will thrive 

 in any ordinary soil, and, when stimulated by cultivation is 

 very fine. 



Calochortiis albiis, var. paniculatus (Butterfly Tulip), is one 

 of the finest of this genus. The plant grows from six to eight 

 inches high, bearing several showy white flowers nearly an 

 inch wide. Another pretty species is C. pulchellus, with nu- 

 merous bright yellow flowers a little more than half an inch 

 wide. The flowers of both remain fresh several days. They 

 are both Californiari plants and need to be protected from frost. 

 We have had better success in wintering them in the ground 

 and protecting with a covering of leaves than \\\ the cellar. 

 They like a warm, well-drained, loamy soil. 



Brodiaa laxa and B. ixoides are both natives of California. 

 The former is a slender plant hardly a foot high, bearing a 

 loose umbel of large, showy blue flowers, which remain fresh 

 several days. The latter has smaller flowers, yellow with a 

 darker stripe, several on a plant. Its height is about the same 

 as the first. Both need protection from frost, or should be 

 wintered in dry soil in the cellar. _,,,,. 



Charlotte, Vt., July 2. F- 1^- Horsford. 



\ Two Good Hardy Plants.— A recent issue of the Gardeners 

 Chrojiicle contains excellent figures of two fine hardy plants, 

 Chrysantheniiini maximum and C. lacustre. There has been 

 much confusion about the names of these plants since their 

 first introduction. We received from a well-known English 

 firm C. lacustre as C. maximum , but were subsequently in- 

 formed that the so-called C. maximum was the true C. latifo- 

 lium, the former being a totally distinct plant, and so it has 

 proved. Now, it appears that the name C. latifolium is not 

 correct and must be replaced by C. lacustre. It is to be hoped 

 that the two species are properly defined at last, since both are 

 showy and desirable border plants. The tme C. maximum is of 

 somewhat spreading habit, the flower-stems attaining a height 

 of eighteen inches. The flowers are two inches in diameter, 

 with yellow discs and white ray petals of good substance and 

 very suitable for cutting. C. lacustre is much taller when 

 treated liberally, having erect shoots three or four feet high 

 surmounted with flowers similar to those of C. maximum but 



