56o 



Garden and Forest. 



[Number 248. 



tleyas, DenJrobiums, Phalnsnopsis and others. Rapid com- 

 munication with tlie tropics lias made the importation of 

 Orchids much easier than ever before, and it is now possible 

 to purchase, at a low price, within the reach of all, fresh 

 imported plants that, with ordinary care, will start to grow at 

 once, and should flower within the first year of their growth 

 here. We have an admirable climate for the culture of 

 Orchids in America, with a most suitable material at hand to 

 grow them in, that is, the fibrous roots of the ubiquitous 

 Osmunda. 



The season of importing Orchids is now here, and a few 

 remarks on treating Cattleyas may be useful to those who 

 may wish to grow a few of the more popular kinds, such as 

 C. Trianw, C. Percivalliana and C. Mossiae. All Cattleyas are 

 kept dormant during transit here by lack of moisture, and 

 the consequence is that directly the plants are received and 

 placed in a genial atmosphere of 60 to 65 degrees, with 

 moisture supplied by syringing once a day, they will com- 

 mence to put forth roots in a very few days, and it is well to 

 anticipate this by potting them as soon as ever they show 

 signs of growth, using pots half-filled with crocks, just large 

 enough to contain the bulbs, and the new ones that are about 

 to be made the coming year. If all goes well, the pots will be 

 full of roots in a year and need more root-room, and this is 

 preferable to the use of pots too large at the outset, for the 

 plants will never thrive if over-potted, or if a quantity of 

 organic matter be placed about the roots. Good Fern-root, 

 combined with a little sphagnum, is the best material to use 

 in potting. The sphagnum is not necessary to the plant's 

 well-doing, but is an excellent index to the condition of the 

 plant as to moisture and a reminder when to apply it. All 

 Orchids should be potted firm in the beginning, and to make 

 sure of this stakes should be used to secure the plants, that 

 when they make roots they will not be broken or injured by 

 oscillation. These stakes may be removed when roots are 

 formed, as these soon attach themselves to the pots and keep 

 the plant firm. A night temperature of 65 degrees will suit 

 newly imported plants, but for those established 55 degrees 

 will not be too low as a minimum. All plants of Cattleyas 

 that have finished their growth for this season should be kept 

 a little drier at the roots than when in active growth, though 

 it is never advisable to keep Cattleyas quite dry for any long 

 period, or the bulbs will shrivel and lose vigor and the flower- 

 ing period will not be such a gay one. 



Plants of the old C. labiata will now have passed flowering. 

 This is one of the finest of all winter-flowering Orchids, 

 being exceedingly vigorous, a free bloomer, with a large per- 

 centage of good varieties ; but its chief merit is that of flow- 

 ering at a period when so few other showy kinds are to be 

 had in bloom. After flowering the plants should be kept 

 quiet, for it must be remembered that this plant takes its rest 

 after flowering instead of before, as in many other kinds. 

 The most perplexing feature of newly established Cattleyas 

 is the way they have of starting to grow in and out of season, 

 or just when they please. I have often been puzzled to know 

 what to do with plants that start into growth when the resting 

 period is at hand. The cause seems to be excessive vigor, 

 and after a season or two, under good treatment, the plants 

 settle down to a regular succession of rest and growth, which 

 is a most desirable condition of things. 



All Cattleyas should have the full benefit of the sun at this 

 time of year; the foliage will become well ripened by its 

 influence, and less moisture in the atmosphere is required 

 while the plants are at rest for the next three months. The 

 time to repot Cattleyas varies with the variety or species. 

 We have recently potted plants of C. Jaskelliana that had be- 

 gun to root freely, as these do not flower until next summer, 

 but the majority of kinds may safely be repotted soon after 

 they begin to push forward young growth in spring. Many 

 kinds are rooting freely now, but it would be unwise to dis- 

 turb them just previous to their flowering. i:- r, r, j. t 



South Lancaster, Mass. E- O. Orpet. 



Agapanthus umbellatus. — Two centuries have elapsed since 

 this grand plant was first brought to Europe from the 

 Cape of Good Hope, and in that time it has steadily made its 

 way until it has become indispensable to every important floral 

 establishment in the world. Commonly called the Blue 

 African Lily, it is immensely popular with all classes of cul- 

 tivators, the rich as well as the poor. It is a plant of elegant 

 habit, with large fleshy roots, and deep green strap-shaped 

 ■ leaves, which are upward of two feet in length when fully de- 

 veloped. The slender scapes are erect, about three feet high, 

 bearing large umbels of bright, sky-blue, spreading flowers, 

 each an inch and a half in diameter. The flowers appear 

 most profusely during late summer and in early autumn, but 



the season may be prolonged even to the verge of winter by 

 giving liquid manure about twice a week when the plants 

 show signs of exhaustion. 



There is no better plant for the piazza, and it may be safely 

 wintered in a dry, frost-proof cellar. Rich, sandy soil — loam, 

 well-decomposed cow-manure and sand in equal mixture — 

 ample drainage and, in the growing season, plenty of water 

 are the chief accessories to its successful cultivation. The 

 plant may be dried off in winter, but it should not be dis- 

 turbed at the root very often, unless it is desirable to increase 

 the size of the specimen. Pot-bound plants flower most 

 freely, and they are easily kept in luxuriant health by supply- 

 ing fertilizers in liquid form. Its management is, of course, 

 simplified where the grower has a greenhouse at disposal, 

 and it will yield a greater amount of pleasure in such places, 

 but no one needs to be deterred from adding it to his collec- 

 tions of dwelling-house plants, as a greenhouse is not at all 

 necessary to its perfect well-being. 



There are several varieties of A. umbellatus in cultivation. 

 Of these may be mentioned Albiflorus, producing white 

 flowers ; Maximus, in every respect more robust than the 

 type ; and Variegatus, with green and white foliage. All 

 these are desirable and very decorative, but the old-fashioned 

 species is perhaps more reliable than any of the others. It is 

 readily propagated by division. 



Thunbergia erecta.— This plant, formerly known under the 

 generic? name Meyenia (a genus now incorporated with 

 Thunbergia), is one of our prettiest stove shrubs. It was in- 

 troduced in 1856 from Africa, where it inhabits the region of 

 Cape Coast Castle. The habit is graceful, though extremely 

 bushy where the branches are occasionally pinched and 

 pruned. These operations are, indeed, necessary for the pro- 

 duction of a neat specimen, for the plant is naturally a loose, 

 rambling grower. The ovate leaves are small, opposite, and 

 of bright green color, the larger ones generally dentate. The 

 flowers appear singly at the axils of the leaves, on short, 

 slender peduncles. The curved tube is white, orange inside, 

 and about an inch and a half long, the limb of five spreading 

 segments two inches in diameter, and of a charming blue- 

 purple color. The plant is scarcely ever out of bloom; but it 

 flowers most freely during the winter months, being then 

 densely covered with its rich-colored blossoms from top to 

 bottom. It is unfortunate that the flowers are not fit for cut- 

 ting, and even on the plant they last but a short time. This, 

 however, is the one weakness of all the Acanthacese, the 

 order to which the Thunbergias belong. 



Good flowering specimens of T. erecta are soon obtainedf rom 

 cuttings of the young wood, for it is a rapid grower under 

 favorable conditions. They may be quickly rooted in sand, 

 with the aid of a little bottom-heat, at any time of the year. 

 The plant likes a strong, moist heat, and a compost in which 

 rich sandy loam predominates. T. erecta alba is a beauti- 

 ful white-flowered variety — a plant quite as attractive and 

 useful as the species, and requiring precisely the same treat- 

 ment. 



Clerodendron fallax. — This is a stove-shrub of bold appear- 

 ance and exceedingly decorative. It belongs to the bushy 

 section of the genus, as distinguished from the climbing spe- 

 cies, and is a native of Java. It is of erect growth, and makes 

 a shapely plant from three to four feet high. The branches are 

 well furnished with large, opposite, cordate leaves, deep green 

 in color, and the brilliant scarlet flowers are borne in dense ter- 

 minal panicles from six to nine inches in diameter. All the 

 parts of the flower, except the brownish tinted anthers at the 

 top of the conspicuous curved stamens, are of the same bright 

 color ; the spreading corolla, divided into five oblong seg- 

 ments, is irregular in form, and almost two inches across. The 

 flowering season begins in August and draws to a close about 

 Thanksgiving. The plant should be cut down to within two or 

 three joints of the previous year's wood immediately after the 

 flowers have faded, and be kept rather dry in an intermediate 

 temperature during the winter months. A little larger supply 

 of water may be given in early spring until the shoots show 

 signs of pushing forth ; the plant may then be turned out of 

 the pot, the greater portion of the old soil removed from about 

 the roots, and repotted in a mixture of strong turfy loam, 

 fibrous peat and thoroughly decayed cow-manure, in equal 

 parts, with a litde sand added. It should then be placed near 

 the glass in a moist house, the temperature of which is never 

 allowed to fall below sixty degrees, and encouraged to grow. 

 Liquid manure should be given two or three times a week 

 after the flower-buds appear. This will aid considerably in the 

 formafion of large panicles. The plant should be syringed fre- 

 quently in summer to keep down the red spider, and shaded 



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