Sbptembbr 17. l8 9 8 - 



GARDENERS' MAGAZINE. 



603 



Memories of Brussels. 



. cnmPf hinff in the nature of most of us that is usually more or less 

 THBR ^ 1 n th^ existing state of things, and, if we do not always so act, we often 

 op Pf? 1. nation to what we endure. Are we hot ; then we desire to be cool, 

 thmk m oPf f 1 ™ we desire t0 b e warm. Are we in brilliant sunshine ; then we 



^WnrkafV shade and cool breezes. And so it happens that during the past few 

 Sin and hot days, with a large part of our metropolis perspiring, one longs for 

 J I cool shady and well-watered boulevards of Brussels, with their grand system 



Mons. Lucian Linden. 



of electric tiams as opposed to our underground railways. Possibly it is too hot to 

 be pleasant, even in Brussels just now, but when last there the trees had on their 

 new mantle of green, for it was springtime. 



At any season of the year there is much in and around Brussels of more than 

 posing interest to the British horticulturist. The King's garden at Laeken is 

 veil worth a visit ; it is not far out, and one can readily see the famous Winter 

 (»wden from the top of the eminence that Brussels has crowned with a most 

 wonderful, useful, and beautiful building— the Palais de Justice. The neighbouring 

 nurseries are well managed, and the plants are splendidly grown, whether it be 

 the everlasting palms, or draceenas, bromeliads, cyclamen, &c. Then the 

 , kwds °^ Brussels, with their double and treble avenues, and abundant seats 

 ■» pedestrians, and the several small but well-kept parks, all form items of interest 

 ™ one endeavours to cram into a brief visit. Of course, no horticulturist would 

 goto Brussels without a visit to L'Horticulture International, an establishment that 



whatever flowers are in season, and with a few bold orchids. One point that 

 is quickly forced upon one's attention is the wonderful cleanliness that prevails 

 everywhere. How often the houses are painted I do not know, but they always 

 are in nrst-rate condition, and in this winter garden and the large Central Gallery, 

 irom which the series of plant houses run left and right, the paths of dull greyish 

 spar or granite, finely broken, are neat, clean and level. The large Central 

 Gallery also contains an abundance of fine specimen palms, notably some splendid 

 1 hoemx and Kentias at the time of my visit, aroids, choice tree ferns, &c, many 

 in large tubs, and others planted out so as to form beds or avenues, among and 

 under which the pathway winds. One could more easily imagine oneself in the 

 garden of a wealthy noble rather than in a commercial horticultural establishment. 



At no season of the year can one visit the establishment at Rue Wiertz without 

 having plenty to be interested in. As orchids are the leading class of plants culti- 

 vated, the best time of the year for a visit is spring and early summer— that is, 

 about Temple Show time. The quantities of orchids grown surprises most folk, 

 while the superb growth, cleanliness, and robust spikes provide the roving horti 

 culturist with food for reflection. Not far from Ghent you may find odonto- 

 glossums growing as freely as rhubarb, and flowering amazingly, but pots and 

 stages are green with the slime that accumulates when pond water is largely used. 

 In the Messrs. Linden's odontoglossum houses, however, all is as clean as 

 possible, and if growth is not rampant it is robust, and produces grand spikes and 

 flowers. Very wonderful have been the choice forms of Odontoglossum crispum 

 that have first flowered in Europe at Brussels ; indeed, the importations of 

 L'Horticulture Internationale have become widely known by reason of the beau- 

 tifully spotted, highly coloured, and rounded forms they have produced. It is 

 scarcely necessary to remind readers of such gems as O. crispum Luciani, O. c. 

 Lindeni, O. c. augustum, 0. c. Kegeljani, O. c. meleagris, Miss Anna Guders, 

 of which an illustration is given herewith, and others, that have gained the highest 

 awards in our own and other countries. 



•topined a world-wide reputation for cleanliness, high culture, splendid intro- 

 ductions, and its able management at the hands of the late M. Jean Linden, and 

 j»» of his eminent son, M. Lucian Linden. Now the Messrs. Linden and Co. 

 v « an additional attraction for visitors in the shape of a supplemental Belgian firm. 



Having likened the Brussels establishment to a dining-room, one can only 

 say that Moortebeek is like a drawing-room, for cleanliness is absolute, all the 

 appointments and fittings first rate, while the odontoglossums and miltonias in 

 April and May are almost too wonderful for words. M. Lucian Linden spreads 

 his hands and shakes his head when you ask what fertiliser he uses to produce 

 such wonderful results, and assures us that situation, good water, and the usual 

 careful management are all that is necessary ; he agrees, however, that the situa- 

 tion of the Moortebeek Nursery is a great factor in the success that has attended 

 it. Not only does 0. crispum do superlatively well here, but O. triumphant, 

 O. Adrianse— the fine hybrid between O. crispum and O. Hannewellianum-— 

 O. luteo-purpureum, 0. Ruckerianum, O. Wilckeanum, O. Halli and its 

 varieties, O. cirrhosum, 0. Pescatorei, and, in fact, all that are worth growing, 

 possess a vigour that is startling, produce big spikes and flowers, that in the great 

 majority of cases a fancier would go into raptures over. Miltonia vexillaria at 

 Moortebeek was a wonder unto many a Britisher ; the collection was as even as a 

 well-kept bed of leeks, with growths and leafage almost as stout, and without any 

 trace of spot, yellowness, thrip-marks, or other evil ; the spikes, too, were 

 splendid, and the flowers grand in size, substance, and colour. Some of the 

 choicest forms were seen at Westminster soon after my visit, and there they were 

 greatly admired. Some of the Moortebeek odontoglossums— and there were 

 nearly fifty-five thousand plants in various stages of establishment in April last — 

 were shown at the Temple Gardens in May, together with a magnificent lot of 

 Cypripedium Lawrenceanum, that were all superbums, giganteums, or splendi- 

 dissimums, so fine were they in size and colour. A few of these choicest forms 

 photographed for the Gardeners' Magazine, and the reproduction gives 



1-dea nf the immense spikes of O. Pescatorei, O. crispum, O. Adrian*. 



were w 



some 'idea of the immense spiket 



O excellens, and other species and natural hybrids produced by this celebrated 



A GROUP OF MOORTEBEEK ODONTOGLOSSUMS 



I'm 



inH a ■ an e,evated Brussels suburb where orchids 

 naeed, i n a manner I have not yet seen surpassed. 



L.elias and cattleyas 



fill 



lany houses at both establishments, but the bulk 



was 



scapes 



agrees 



_ „ .t — — ""»" » <•"<; rvue vyieriz, is usua.ii} 



,K - walk nn * ™P slm P ,icit y. but dur ing the Ghent Quinquennial 

 ' ^ on «fher side of the doorway were - - • ' • 



It b a vL 6 *. T Uion of P lants and orchid s. 



gay with invitations to 

 If the entrance some- 



and graceful palms and tree most 



SEL**^ Zz? ttr garden - wh < - — ... 



■SEft?**'* RroGn ft* ckiU y anthuriums, drachmas, 



h **l Planted f,lt 'rj T natu,al and ^tic manner, many of the 



h e whole of this foliage display is brightened bv 



the plants become esiaDn- ^ Tq ^ it sems i mpoS sible to do 



excellent importations are rf rf Q MenddU in flowei compels us to 

 adequate justice, ana s ^ mulUply varieta i names f or this and other species 

 admit that ltM. unam there ^ m j ustification for M d omg w hcn 



tSPLS ample flowers and diverse colouring. Cypripediums are 



most abundant, » - - - . nr . i:ente( j 

 standing that is not ^^251 

 montanum group o! tr 

 things are expected. 



There are several houses full of the 

 b ^tv- - r ld uscml C. insigne, and from these large 



H7b7id r cypript:diurr.i figure largely, and grow as freely as 



