JrNE 29, 1912. 



THE GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



493 



(chinense) is a slender branched border 

 species, with gentian blue flowers on stems 

 that -attain a height of 2^ to 3ft. ; album is 

 somewhat similar with white flowers, 

 iielladonna, with lovely sky-blue flowers, on 

 3ft. stems, is indispensable in the border, 

 and fortunately it comes true from seed ; 

 the colour is perfect. Belladonna semi- 

 plena, a form of the last-named, has flowers 

 simila'r in colour, with the addition of a 

 rose-lavender flush. Lamartine, one of the 

 finest of all dwarf delphiniums, flowers rich 

 turquoise blue, with snow-white centre, on 

 branching stems, some 3ft. high, a beauti- 

 ful flower in itself and effective in contrast 

 with Belladonna. 



Delphiniums are readily propagated by 

 seeds, which sliould always ^be selected from 

 ihe best flowers. Sowing may be perfonned 

 in the open during May, the seedlings being 

 subsequently transplanted to nursery beds, 

 and planted permanently the following 

 spring. Seeds may also be sown under glass 



ECHEVERIAS. 



These plants are extensively used in 

 carpet beds and to form edgings to borders 

 generally. They should, however, only l^e 

 employed thus where they will l>e in keep- 

 ing with the plants with wdiich they are 

 associated. Where it is necessary to plant 

 them so as to form a face-t<lging, many 

 persons find it a difficult matter to plac^ 

 them so that they will retain their positions 

 throughout the summer months, as ordi- 

 nary soil will crumble away. 



Use one part of cow-manure ;ui<l two parts 

 of ordinary soil; add water, ainl mix the 

 ingredients in a wheelbarrow or on M)me 

 boards, until they are of the cons'stency of 

 stiff mortar. Then place a board of the 

 required depth, or two if nee<le<l, which 

 have been soake<l Avith water, to the edge 

 of the bed. AVitli a trowel press tlie mix- 

 ture of cow-manure and soil to the moist 

 boards^ leaving a level surface at the top, 



WORK FOR THE WEEK. 



THE ORCHID HOUSES. 



TRICHOPILIAS.— Some of the trichopi- 

 lias are now in bloom, and others are over, 

 such as the lovely T. suavie and its white 

 variety alba. The white-flowering forms of 

 this interesting family of plants comprise 

 some of the most chaste, and beautiful of 

 flowers, and deserve to be grown wherever 

 white flowers are appreciated. In the inter- 

 mediate or cattleya house T. suavia will now 

 be forming new growths, and when these 

 are two to three mches long, and about to 

 push new roots, is the beet time to repot 

 them, should it be necessary. They are best 

 grown in pans suspended from the roof, 

 where the flowens, bcung short-stemmed and 

 drooping, are ^een to great advantage hang- 

 ing just over the sides of the pans. They 

 will succeed in a compost similar to that 

 used for cattlevas. P^xcess of moisture must 



■ 



V 



A DOUBLE BORDER OF DELPHINIUMS AT COOMBE COURT, KINGSTON HILL, 8LKKEV. 



in January or February, and if grown on 

 rapidly and transplanted to a prepared bed 

 in May or June, flowwing plants will be 

 obtained the ^ame season. Delphiniums 

 vary greatly from seeds, particularly those 

 having double flowers; hence, in order to 

 propaigate a particular variety, resource 

 must be had to cuttings and division of the 

 crowns. Where the latter method is 

 adopted, the plants are cut over imme- 

 diately the flowers fade, when f i-esh growth 

 is produced, and if carefully lifted and 

 divided at this time, they readily produce 

 roots on replanting and become well-estab- 

 lished before winter. Single shoots taken 

 in spring or autumn, and formed into out- 

 tings, root readily if inserted in sandy soil, 

 and placed in a close frame ; this latter 

 method is generally practised to perpetuate 

 new or rare varieties of merit, and indeed 

 is the one that can be the most strongly 

 recommended. Thomas Smith. 



Coombe Court Gardens. 



and then slide away the board from the 

 edge. The echeverias must be at once 

 planted, their stiff stems and root« l)eing 

 pressed into the soft mixture. One, tw^o, 

 or more rows of plants may l)e soon put 

 in. If the edge is one to a round be<l, 

 then use three damp Ijoards on end, and 

 9in. wide, thus making a neat curve as the 

 boards are moved forward as required. The 



plants do well so treated. 



Geo. Garner. 



Hydrangea arborescens 



^rdndiflora.— Tliis hydrangea, which 

 ^me to us across the Atlantic a few years 

 affo is now extensively grown, and it begins 

 to figure in the principal florists shops of 

 London. It is a form of the North American 

 Hydrangea arborescens, in which tJie 

 rounded head consi^s almost entilrely of 

 larffe, white, sterile flowers, whereas in the 

 typical form, these are limited to a scat- 

 tered few. — T. 



be avoided for over-supphes at the roots or 

 m the atmosphere, will often cause the 

 pseudo-])ulbs to become spotted, and entail 

 the loss of the plant. T. Backhousiana, 

 T tortilis, T. marginata, T lepida, and 1. 

 crispa are all good and worth growing, i. 

 (Piiumna) fragrans and T. nobilis are both 

 lovely plants, similar in habit to the above, 

 and require exactly the same treatment. 

 The plants whilst in full growth should be 

 ffrown in a fairly moist position but when 

 at rest drier conditions and only sufficient 

 water to keep the bulbs and leaves plump 

 should be given them. Many of these inex- 

 pensive orchids would be much more sought 

 after, and be very much more grown if they 

 were not so easily obtainable. 



PLATYOLINIS FILIFOEMIS. the Golden 

 Chain orchid, will now be in flower, the 

 spikes springing up from the half-made 

 PTov^^hs, and the plants must not be allowed 

 to suffer for want of water. This specie^, 

 and P. glumacea, should be grown m a well- 

 shaded part of the intermediate or cattleya 



