April 20, 1892.] 



Garden and Forest. 



187 



-wrapped carefully around it when it came. The tlierniometer 

 registered five degrees, Falirenheit, that morning, but tlie box 

 of tender plants arrived in perfect condition, many of them 

 blooming, with earth around their roots and a coat of sphag- 

 num and another of paper over that to keep them warm and 

 snug, a fact which shows the ease with whicli tender plants can 

 be sent long distances in cold weather if they are properly 

 packed. 



, When we had potted the Phajus we searched the indexes of 

 ■Garden and Forest and learned, among other things, that 

 a refractory Phajus of another species had been induced to 

 bloom by putting it in the very warmest spot in the hot-house 

 and watering it freely. We took the liint, and watered our 

 treasure twice a day with warm water, placing it as near to the 

 base-burner, which heats our sitting-room, as possible. On cold 

 nights we put the pot on the mantel-shelf, and we sprinkled it 

 overhead with tepid water every day. 



Under this treatment we soon found that the stem was 

 stretching out. Up and up it climbed imtil it caught up to, and 

 then towered above a fine Amaryllis in the same window 

 which has a southern exposure. When it was three feet in 

 height it stopped ascending, and the bud began to swell, but 



Flower Notes. 



Standard Roses.— These are rarely, if ever, grown outdoors 

 in this country, owing to the fact that the strong summer sun 

 burns the bark of the R. canina stock, the only one used for 

 standards. These are, nevertheless, very useful when grown 

 inpots for piazza decoration in early summer. As we need to 

 have ours in bloom by the middle of May, they are taken in- 

 doors toward the end of March, pruned and top-dressed with 

 rotted cow-manure. If tliey have good healthy heads more 

 shoots will be made than will carry good flowers, and so a lit- 

 tle disbudding is advantageous. After blooming they are 

 pruned back a little, some soil is taken out of the pots, and re- 

 placed by good fresh loam, cotton cloth is wound round the 

 stems to protect the bark from the hot sun, and the pots are 

 plunged out-of-doors for the plants to make their season's 

 growth, when, after ripening with frost, they are placed in the cel- 

 lar for the winter. WhetherRosamuItiflora, the new stock (from 

 Japan) which Mr. Jackson Dawson is experimenting with, will 

 ever develop stems suitable for standards, is a question of time. 

 For dwarfs I think it is destined to supersede the Manetti and 

 Dog Rose stocks, owing to its hardiness and superior vigor. 



Fig. 29. — A Pine Forest in Lower California. — See page 1S3. 



so slowly that we could not be quite sure that it was really not 

 standing still. In another week the bud separated into seven, 

 and we watched it with increasing interest. At last the lowest 

 bud changed its position from perpendicular to horizontal, and 

 on the 4th of April it had become an exquisite flower, and 

 greeted us with that wide-eyed look which makes one feel as 

 if flowers could see. 



Now, on the 12th of April, there are five of its curious blos- 

 soms to look at and to wonder over, with two others soon to 

 expand. The plant is remarkably graceful, with its wing-like 

 fresh green leaves, and the quaintly beautiful blossoms 

 mingling sad shades of light chocolate, reddish purple and 

 cream, so blended as to form an exquisite combination. The 

 striped lip is a striking feature, and the silvery lining of the 

 sepals and petals has a rich tender bloom. 



Having succeeded so well with Phajus grandifolius, we are 

 impatient for fresh worlds to conquer, and would be glad to 

 know whether other amateurs have attempted to raise Orchids 

 in window-gardens, and what varieties are best adapted for 

 this purpose. 

 Rose Brake. West Va. Danske Daiidridge. 



Imported Roses are very unsatisfactory, because, for perfect 

 satisfacfion, there must be thorough acclimatization of both 

 stock and cion. Mr. Dawson's stocks were American-raised 

 seedlings of one year old, and, although they had only been 

 grafted six weeks at the time of my visit, they had made re- 

 markably rapid and substantial growth, and many were already 

 in bloom. 



MlCH.^uxiA CAMPANULOIDES. — I was pleased to see plants of 

 this rare campanulaceous species looking fresh and sound after 

 the winter. By some oversight this had not been protected by 

 the usual covering of Pine-needles. The discovery of its 

 hardiness was particularly interesting to me, as it is one of 

 the things which are considered tender and very difficult 

 to winter in England. A dry, warm, sunny position is gen- 

 erally recommended for it, but where it grew was neither dry 

 nor warm, but the reverse. It is a biennial, and makes a large 

 rosette of Dandelion-like leaves the first season from seed, and 

 forms a Turnip-like root. The following season very rapid 

 growth is made, and if vigorous it will produce an immense 

 spike of white flowers, slightly tinged with pink, which rivals 

 in stateliness the well-known Yucca angustifolia. Seeds should 



