28S 
HOUTICULTUAL NOTES. 
colour ; the only thing that would be taken as 
distinct, would be the shade or colour which is 
upon the white, and the form of the flower, 
which is not much calculated for the display 
of proportions at present, but can never be 
depended on for consistency ; on this account 
the plant can never bear a large price. 
New Auriculas. — At the exhibition of the 
Royal South London Floricultural Society, Mr. 
James Dickson, of Acre Lane, Brixton, exhi- 
bited three seedlings which appear likely to 
take a position among the show flowers. Their 
names were — Lady Sale (to which a first class 
certificate was given), Duchess of Wellington, 
and Sir R. Sale : they were of the grey-edged 
class. This being the first time they have 
made their appearance in public, we will not 
enter into any detail respecting them, as they 
will require to be looked after next season, in 
order to learn if they keep up to the position 
they promise to take. We may add, that Mr. 
Dickson is a very successful raiser and culti- 
vator of Auriculas. There was another seed- 
ling, called Sophia, exhibited by J. Chapman, 
Esq. ; this was rather a small flower, also grey- 
edged, but did not strike us as being so good 
as Mr. Dickson's ; a first-class certificate was, 
however, given to it, so that the judges must 
have regarded it as a promising flower. 
Imported Orchids.' — It is not a good plan, 
generally, to submit plants which have been 
recently imported, and which are always in a 
dry and shrivelled condition, to the heat and 
moisture of the ordinary growing-house for 
the plants. Neither should they be potted, 
nor have any water applied directly to them. 
They ought simply to be laid out in a house 
somewhat warmer and moister than a green- 
house, such as is used for resting orchids ; and 
if allowed to remain here till they show signs 
of growth, and are then potted, and removed 
to the warmer house, but not too liberally wa- 
tered, thej' will much more successfully be 
brought to a healthy thriving state. While 
spread out in the cooler house, the only appli- 
cation of moisture which should be indulged 
in, is to very lightly syringe over them when 
the sun is very hot, and the atmosphere, in 
consequence, very dry ; but of course they 
should be lightly shaded when watered under 
these circumstances. Sometimes, if the plants 
have suffered but little on their journey, they 
may be plunged in moss, kept damp, and 
placed over a flue or hot-water pipe ; but this 
is in general too exciting a course of treat- 
ment. — G. J. 
Blue Hydrangeas. — My opinion is, that 
any soil will change Hydrangeas to blue, more 
or less : that is to say, if it has never been 
under cultivation. I have drawn my opinions 
from the following facts, than which I must 
say, nothing can better illustrate this freak of 
nature. My stock of plants were all taken 
from one parent, and they were all rose- 
coloured when grown in pots. After grow- 
ing for two successive years, they were turned 
out into different parts of the flower-garden, 
which consists of different sorts of soil ; and all 
those that were turned out where the soil was 
of a fertile nature, kept to the original colour, 
but those that were planted in peat, produced 
blue flowers, and one that produced them of 
the finest blue I had ever seen, was planted in a 
red tenacious clay, mixed with what is termed 
iron mould. The plant certainly was a little 
screened from the hot sun, which might add 
to its colour. The most satisfactory instance 
of the whole, was in the case of a plant that 
flowered for three or four years after being 
planted out in the border, and always true to 
the original colour ; but as we had occasion to 
make a small piece of rock-work close to it, a 
mound of Epping-forest loam, placed there 
for the purpose of supporting the rock-work 
and growing the plants, came in close contact 
with the stems of the plant. After a year or 
so, the roots of the hydrangea worked its way 
into this loam, and the consequence was, that 
the side of the plant nearest to the rock-work 
produced blue flowers, while the other side 
continued to bear them of the original rose 
colour, and this has occurred for four or five 
years ; last year I had no flowers, as they 
were all cut down by the severity of the sea- 
son. I intend this year growing some of the 
Hydrangea japonica in peat, to see the effect 
on that species. I hope that these instances 
of what seems a mystery to our limited senses, 
will be of some use in throwing light on this 
subject. The whys and the wherefores cannot 
alter the facts before our eyes. That the»e is 
a cause, no person can doubt; but Heave this 
subject for some one more able than myself to 
grapple with. — John Kyle. — G. J. 
Sibthorpia europ^a. — The introduction 
of this plant as a covering for the peat, moss, 
&c. necessarily employed in the cultivation of 
many species of orchids, would be a valuable 
acquisition, its small green leaves and compact 
creeping habit admirably adapting it to such a 
purpose. Instead, therefore, of the disagreeable 
appearance of dead sphagnum, which meets the 
eye in all directions, the spectator would look 
with pleasure on this little native of our favou- 
rite isle, rambling with modest and delicate lux- 
uriance amongst, and giving additional loveli- 
ness to, its nobler tropical acquaintance. — G. G 
Epacris Atleeana. — This is one of the 
most beautiful of the family. It is, in the form 
of the flower, approximating to grandiflora 
and miniata, but the colour is a fawn, with 
white tips, the bloom abundant, the habit 
much the same as the best of the genus. It 
I is a fine addition to the family of Epacris. 
