July ii, 1888.] 



Garden and Forest. 



235 



Canterbury Bells are not only most excellent plants for 

 garden use, but as cut flowers for house decoration, where, 

 as in the case of halls, large masses are required, we have 

 nothing better, and they last well when cut. IV. F. 



Glen Cove, N. Y. 



Myosotis dissitiflora. — Although this beautiftll pel'Oimial For- 

 get-me-Not does not come in early enough for Spring bedding, 

 owing to the loss of the previous year's flowering growth 

 during winter, yet it does excellent service in brightening up 

 the garden during the interval between spring and summer 

 bedding. For the front line of herbaceous borders, and round 

 and about shrubberies, as an edging, it is charming. It will 

 bloom all through the summer, but later its brightness be- 

 comes somewhat obscured by the blaze of summer bedding 

 plants. It differs from M. alpestris, which is really an annual 

 — having the inflorescence proceed directly from th'e root- 

 stock — by flowering, and rooting all along its decumbent 

 stems, any of which quickly form a plant when separated. 



species we are not all successful, though it is very plentiful in 

 the woods about 200 yards away. Thelarge and handsome C. 

 spectabile will soon be in flower. This kind delights in deep 

 beds of swamp peat and moss, in light situations. This, as 

 well as the yellow kind, make excellent plants for pot culture, 

 can be forced readily, and will remain in good condition for 

 many years with simply an annual top-dressing of moss and 

 peat. F. G. 



Orchid Notes. 

 Thiiniiialha. — y\s more than half a century has elapsed since 

 this Orchid was introduced, and as it is easily propagated, it 

 is suriirising that more of it is not grown. We have a large 

 liatch in flower now, and we find it exceedingly useful for cut 

 flowers and for decoration, both for the conservatory and for 

 the dwelling house. They can be had in flower within two 

 months from starling, and to make a good plant for general 

 decoration, eight or ten bulbs should be put into an eight- 



Tlic CliciuKee Ruse — See ]xijj;e 234. 



Rockets. — The old double white and purple varieties are now 

 in bloom. They are among the handsomest of hardy plants, 

 and should be generally grown. The flowering stems resem- 

 ble, and equal In beauty, those of a well-formed Brompton 

 Stock, and remain in bloom much longer. They require only 

 a good loam— if heavy so much the better— and a little shade. 

 They are propagated by cutting back any flowering stems 

 which may start towards the fall, in order to encourage the 

 development of offsets, which should be removed and kept 

 over winter in a cold-frame for safety. 



Wellesley, June i6th. T. D. Ualfit'ld. 



Hardy Lady Slippers. — One of the principal features of the 

 out-door garden just now is several large patches of the yel- 

 low species of this interesting family. Some of these clumps 

 are bearing seventy to eighty flowers. Cypripediuin puhcscens, 

 the larger variety, does best with us planted in a friable loam 

 in partly shaded ravines. On the other h;uid, C. parvijiorwn, 

 the smaller variety, likes a good deal of peat, being a bog-loving 

 kind, but disliking too much shade. One fine patch'planted 

 by the side of a gravel path has outgrown its bounds, and 

 where it has encroached on the walk the flowers are smaller 

 and lose the dark brown of the petals. A few plants of C. 

 acaule are in flower, planted among Kalmias, but with this 



inch pot. The bulbs or stems usually grow from two to four 

 feet in height, and terminate in a drooping raceme of pure 

 white flowers, beautifully penciled with purple and lilac. These 

 will last ill perfection from two to three weeks. To grow this 

 species well it should be accorded very liberal treatment, potting 

 in well drained pots in a mixture of equal parts loam, peat and 

 moss with a good sprinkling of sand.. Little water should be 

 given until the growths are a few inches high, after which they 

 may be kept very wet ; a good top dressing of moss and cow 

 manure will be Iieneficial, as well as liquid manure applied 

 three times a week. The warmest house should be given 

 them, and the plants should be constantly svringed overhead. 

 As soon as growths are finished, the plants should be ripened 

 in'a cool, airy house, giving abundance of water until all the 

 leaves are dropjied; after this scarcely anv water need be given 

 except to keep the stems from shriveling. All the roots die 

 every winter, consequently they will need to be shaken clean 

 out, the old roots cut off and potted in fresh soil every spring, 

 as soon as new growths appear. To propagate this species 

 the stems, in the spring, should be cut in lengths of four to 

 five inches and inserted in pots of equal parts sand and leaf 

 mould, and put in a close frame until the buds are well ad- 

 vanced, when they may l:>e treated the same as the older plants. 

 There are three to four other species belonging to the genus, 



