556 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ December 27, 883. 
lower white, the surface not shining as in the other portion of the flower, 
and without the warts. It is hinged at the base to a projection from the 
column, which is furnished with a fringe of stiff filaments about a 
quarter of an inch long, six or seven in the centre being erect and facing 
the column, and a number on each side incurved laterally. The column 
is white with a few rosy streaks, and the sides at the upper part are 
prolonged into a kind of hood. The hinged lip and fringe seem to have 
some object in relation to the fertilisation, but what that special purpose 
may be it is difficult to say, for in many members of this wonderful 
family we frequently see contrivances, obviously for some object, 
concerning which often the most we can do is to conjecture its use. 
B. vxeleagris .—This also is a very distinct Orchid, and is very generally 
known under the name of Huntleya meleagris. It is a native of South 
America, having been found in the “ gloomy damp woods on the banks of 
Rio Perapitinga in the district of Bananal.” Plants were first introduced 
in 1836, and some of the first plants to flower were in Messrs. Rollisson’s 
nursery at Tooting. The flowers are 3 to 4 inches in diameter, of a pale 
yellow, nearly white tint, tessellated with purple or brown, especially 
towards the upper part of the sepals and petals. This plant requires 
rather warmer treatment than the preceding, and it is generally grown 
at the cool end of the tropical house. Mr. B. S. Williams recommends 
the Cattleya house as the most suitable, and his opinion is worthy of 
weight, but likeB. Bnrti and others this, I believe, is more often injured 
by excessive heat than by too cool treatment, although some growers 
entertain a different opinion. 
_B. grandiflora is a New Grenadan species with greenish flowers 
striped with brown, not particularly beautiful ; and B. Beaumontii also 
has greenish flowers, both being more curious than handsome.— Lewis 
Castle. 
MIXED SHRUB AND FLOWER BORDERS. 
Shelter for Lilies was the primary cause of an opening some 
20 feet wide being cut through a thicket of Holly and Rhododendron, 
a narrow path being afterwards made along the centre with a border 
on each side of very rich soil quite 2 feet deep—really a compost of 
garden refuse, peat, coal ashes, stable dung, and lime, thoroughly 
mixed by repeated turning, admirably adapted for the Lilies as well 
as for many other plants ; but it was the Lilies for which the borders 
were prepared, and to them we will first turn our attention. 
About a year ago I purchased fifty of the finest imported bulbs of 
L. auratum. On the following day they were potted singly in 6-inch 
pots in similar soil to that of the borders, and then plunged in a bed 
of coal ashes in a cold frame, the tops of the pots being covered two 
inches deep with ashes, precisely in the old-fashioned way of treating 
Hyacinths in preparation for forcing. In March the growth of many 
bulbs had pushed through the ashes, and all the pots were well filled 
with roots. They were then taken to the borders, turned out of the 
pots and carefully planted, so that the tops of the bulbs were 6 inches 
beneath the surface. To finish my account of the Lilies I may add 
the pleasing fact that all of them grew freely and well, the first 
flowers opening in July, and some of the last flowers were still 
lingering upon the stems at the end of October. This delightful 
succession of opening flowers for nearly four months was partly 
owing to portions of the borders being much shaded by trees. The 
flowers were fine ones and very fragrant, but none of the bulbs had 
more than seven flowers—some of them not so many. The bulbs are 
left undisturbed in the soil, and I hope to be able to give a satisfactory 
account of them next year, but that is a matter so beset with uncer¬ 
tainty that more bulbs will be procured now and treated in the same 
way. Even if the first batch of bulbs do no farther good with us, yet 
it is felt that they have already well repaid the cost of purchase and 
subsequent care. 
Lilies alone are somewhat tame in effect, except when they are in 
bloom, and even then they gain much in appearance from association 
with many other plants. I had already got them well established 
among Rhododendrons, and therefore resolved to mingle other shrubs 
and flowers with them in the new borders, so as to impart an air of 
novelty and distinction to that part of the garden. All the shrubs 
known as American shrubs answer so well here in the ordinary soil 
that they have been planted extensively, the only exception being in 
the Lily borders, partly because of the lime, and also for the sake of 
variety. The shrubs planted in the new borders stand singly with 
plenty of space to develope into fine specimens. All of them have 
thriven, so too have the plants, the luxuriant growth affording pleasing 
evidence of the fertility of the soil. Ligustrum japonicum has not 
answered well here in the ordinary soil, but in the rich compost of 
the new borders the one or two plants of it have changed from a 
sickly greenish yellow hue to the deep rich green of rude health, and 
have made growth of extraordinary vigour ; so, too, has the handsome 
Ligustnim ovalifolium robustum. Arbutus procera and A. rubra 
evidei.jj enjoy both advantages of rich soil and thorough wind- 
shelter. Cornus mascula elegantissima aurea made a pretty picture 
in partial shade. Abelia rupestris has grown and flowered freely ; and 
of others introduced as very suitable for this position there are Rhus 
laciniata, Mespilus canadensis, Hydrangea paniculata grandiflora, 
which had very large trusses of its lovely white flowers ; Olearia 
Haastii, Prunus sinensis flore-pleno, Potentilla frutieosa, a couple of 
neat specimens of variegated Weigela, Hypericum patulum, Rubus 
phoenicolasius, the Chinese Bramble, with remarkably handsome 
foliage, deep green above and silvery white beneath ; Cordyline 
indivisa, a couple of the handsome Phormium tenax Veitchii, Phor- 
mium tenax Colensoi, some fine specimens of Acacia lophantha, which 
have been laden with snow, and have also borne 8° of frost with 
apparent impunity. I may mention here that Cordyline indivisa left 
out fully exposed last winter only suffered somewhat in appearance 
from having its leaves broken by snow, and it has grown so freely 
this year that the stem has now a tree-like appearance, and the 
handsome new crown of foliage is some 10 feet high. This fine 
specimen is one of a batch of seedlings from a packet of seed sown 
on February 19th, 1874. It would probably have been a much finer 
plant now had it been turned out sooner, but it was kept in a pot long 
after the roots had absorbed most of the soil, air and water being 
sufficient to keep its foliage green although the growth was stunted. 
Mention must not be left out of some fine young specimens of 
Erica codonoides now full of flower buds, with the growth tapering 
upwards into soft green feathery columns. Some Iris germanica 
gave an attractive and peculiarly pleasing aspect to the borders while 
they were in bloom, and they were all the more appreciated from the 
sickly flowerless aspect of other plants in our common soil where 
Rhododendrons grow with singular luxuriance. Brighter and even 
more attractive were the Tigridias when they in turn for many weeks 
were brilliant with flowers that are worthy rivals of our best Orchids. 
Why are they not more common ? Once established in good soil they 
grow yearly ia size and beauty, and although the lovely flowers soon 
perish, yet others follow quickly for a considerable time. Some strong 
clumps of Sehizostylis coccinea have now plenty of flower spikes, and 
the bright pretty flowers continue to expand whenever the weather is 
favourable. A few strong clumps of Tritoma told well till late in 
autumn with bright flower spikes. 
I might go on and enumerate many other treasures rich and rare 
which are worthy of a place with the Lilies, for the rich soil is 
absolutely a temptation to plant more and more thickly. Crowding 
must, however, be avoided, or all will be spoilt; but the plan will 
commend itself to everyone caring for something more than a mere 
flower bed or shrubbery border, for sure I am that such a mixture of 
our choicest varieties of perennial flowers and shrubs if well placed 
will prove attractive at all seasons of the year.— Edward Luckhurst. 
A HORTICULTURAL RAMBLE.—No. 2. 
Chrysanthemum shows, year books, and one thing or another have 
so interfered that I have not been able to finish the account of a pleasant 
ramble now two months ago, and as a consequence of this delay I find 
the wind almost taken out of my sails, as far as one place that I visited 
is concerned, by “ W. M.,” who in his account of Penllergare has fore¬ 
stalled me. However, 1 cannot let my visit to it pass without notice. 
SUFFOLK SQUARE, CHELTENHAM. 
My visit to Cheltenham was in one respect a sad one. I was only 
there for clerical work, but I could not deny myself the pleasure of going 
to see my friend Dr. Abercrombie, whose garden at Suffolk Square has 
been for years so well known. It is, as many know, the square round 
which the houses in Suffolk Square are built; and here for many years, 
formerly under my friend Captain Lambert, and now for many years 
under Dr. Abercrombie, has retained its character as a true gardening 
home. His long ribbon border has been the delight of the habituds of 
Cheltenham for years, while his zeal and skill in the cultivation of Car¬ 
nations and Picotees has been shown by some of the seedlings he has 
sent out through Mr. Turner from here, notably such flowers as Royal 
Visit and Lady Louisa. Well, I am sorry to say that one of those 
changes which come to us all sooner or later has happened to him, and, 
his own home being broken up, he was then on the point of leaving 
Cheltenham to get nearer to his sons in London. Possibly we may see 
him oftener, for I do not think that he will be content to keep away from 
his favourites ; but none the less must we mourn that for the present at 
least his gardening days are in abeyance. Nor must one omit to notice 
the loss that horticulture has experienced in the death of Mr. Pilgrim, 
whose plants some years ago used to make such a conspicuous show at 
Manchester and other places in the west and north. For some years the 
state of his health had prevented him from exhibiting, and very lately he 
entered into his rest. A quiet, gentle, and unobtrusive man, ever ready 
to help where help was needed, many will miss him at Cheltenham. 
PENLLERGARE. 
From Cheltenham through the Vale of Neath, in many parts very 
lovely, to Swansea is a few hours’ run by rail, and thither I went to pay 
a long-promised visit to one well known to the readers of the Journal— 
Mr. J. T. D. Llewelyn. Happily I was favoured with very fine weather, 
and in scenery such as this it is no small matter. Indeed when after¬ 
wards I went to that most lovely spot Tintern Abbey the weather was 
if possible too fine. The wind was from the east, and there was the thin 
gauzy veil which an east wind so often brings with it, which, while in 
