August 18, 1892. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
141 
that are exhibited. Of these there is now getting to be a consider¬ 
able number, and several are undoubtedly great acquisition*. The 
latest example may justly be classed with the best of them, being a 
hybrid of great distinctness and beauty. It has been raised by 
Mr. T. W. Bond, grower to C. L. N. Ingram, Esq., Elstead House, 
FIG. 20.—LAELIO-CATTLEYA INGRAMI. 
Godaiming, and is the result of a cross between Lsclia puinila 
Dayana and Cattleya aurea. The influence of the former was 
evident in the dwarf habit of the plant, which was only 6 to 8 
inches high, but it must be remembered that it was a small oue. 
The flower is very remarkable for the colouring of the lip, which 
reminds the observer of Cattleya aurea in form. It is a very deep 
and velvety purplish crimson, not in any sense a red, but much 
more inclining to purple, and the colour extends right into the 
throat. The sepals and petals are rosy mauve, the latter being 
much broader than the former and wavy in outline. The plant 
only bore one flower, and it will be very interesting to note its 
character when stronger, but its merits were sufficient to secure 
the award of a first-class certificate. Fig. 20 represents it. 
in some gardens, and highly satisfactory in others. We have 
many such instances among flowers, and such things will, I suppose, 
remain a mystery to us. Were it not so a great deal of the 
pleasure of gardening would be gone, and it would be less of 
an art than it now is ; but all the same we all seek a royal road to 
growing certain plants, and find this road unattain¬ 
able. Well, I am sorry to say, of all the Crocuses 
in my garden—and they are numerous—C. sativus 
is the most troublesome, only giving me a flower 
occasionally, and then the treat is a great one, so 
fine are the curious blooms, with their stigmas 
hanging to one side. Canon Ellacombe in his 
“ Plant Lore of Shakespeare,” p. 272, gives his expe¬ 
rience of it thus :—“ In some places it entirely 
refuses to flower, as it does in my own garden, 
where I have cultivated it for many years, but 
never saw a flower ; while in a neighbour’s gardeD, 
under apparently the same conditions of soil and 
climate, it flowers every autumn.” A hazel loam, 
resting preferably on chalk, was, in olden times 
when it was grown for commercial purposes, con¬ 
sidered the best for C. sativus. 
Aquilegia glandulosa. 
One more note on Aquilegia glandulosa, and I 
must quit the subject, which is by no means an 
enticing one, but is useful withal. This fine Colum¬ 
bine is one which I have “ loved and lost,” but have 
lost, as I believe, from lack of attention. It is a 
plant which likes a light soil, with some cool manure 
within reach of the roots, and a good supply of 
water before coming into and while in flower ; indeed, 
I have found it require a fair supply of water 
even after blooming in this light soil. It was due 
to inattention in this that I lost my last plants, 
for it is no easy matter to keep all the moisture- 
loving plants going in a dry season here, where 
there is no water supply save from the garden well. 
Even with the best of care A. glandulosa is by no 
means a long-lived plant in most gardens, and where 
a mixed collection of Aquilegias is grown it is 
not always that the seedlings come true. With all 
these plants if one cannot hold forth the certainty 
of success, there is this to be said, that all are 
worthy of trial, and if failure occur no one need be ashamed 
of it, while if success should result the flowers themselves will 
be sufficient reward for the labour and anxiety they may require. 
—S. Arnott. 
L^elia pumila. 
Miltonopsis Bleui splendens. 
This exceedingly pretty and very dwarf Orchid became known 
to horticulturists in 1838, being described in that year by Sir W. 
Hooker in the “ Botanical Magazine,” t. 3656, as Cattleya pumila. 
It is a native of Brazil, growing on trees at considerable elevations. 
The flowers are about 4 inches across, solitary, and droop slightly ; 
the sepals are slightly reflexed ; the petals are broader than the 
sepals ; all being of a fine rosy purple. The lip is large for the size 
of the flower, three-lobed, the side lobes forming a tube which 
encloses the column ; the middle lobe is reflexed and crisped, and 
in colour a deep purple. The flowers are borne on slender pseudo¬ 
bulbs about 3 inches high ; the leaves are solitary, stout, 4 inches 
long by 1 inch broad. L. pumila var. Dayana was discovered in 
1876, and was named after Mr. John Day, in whose collection it 
first flowered. The variety pra33tins is rather difficult to cultivate, 
and is not often seen in flower ; it is earlier, and has more yellow 
colouring than L. pumila. Though requiring little compost to 
grow in, these Laelias require great attention as to watering ; they 
should be placed in small baskets and suspended close to the glass 
n the Cattleya house. A higher temperature and plenty of 
moisture should be given during the growing season. August and 
September is their time for flowering.—C. K. 
L.elio-Cattleya Ingrami. 
We are constantly reminded of the close connection between 
the two genera Loelia and Cattleya by the crosses between them 
This new Orchid is a garden hybrid raised in France by 
Monsieur Bleu, and it is the most distinct and beautiful among 
many hybrids of great promise which he has produced. It has 
attracted great interest, apart from its beauty, from the fact that 
it is the first hybrid Miltonia ever produced. It is the result of 
crossing Miltonia vexillaria with M. Roezli, plants which a few 
years ago were found rather difficult to cultivate, and were 
generally known as Odontoglossums of the Miltonia-flowered type, 
in which class were included Odontoglo?sum Phalfenopsis, O. Roezli, 
0. vexillarium, and O. Warscewiczi, all of which are now recognised 
as Miltonias. 
It was only in the spring of 1872, after failures by Hollis and 
Roezl, that Chesterton succeeded in delivering live plants of Mil¬ 
tonia vexillaria to Messrs. Yeitch & Sons, one of which, and the 
first one to flower in cultivation, flowered in February, 1873, 
in Messrs. Veitch’s establishment Roezl succeeded in 1873 in 
delivering one solitary plant of Miltonia Roezli to Mr. Bull of 
Chelsea, for a large price, and this flowered in December the 
same year, and created as much sensation as M. vexillaria had 
the previous spring. Thousands have, however, been imported 
since that time of both varieties, and have become so popular and 
well known that no description of them is necessary. 
The plant of Miltonopsis raised by Monsieur Bleu was secured 
by Mr. Sander of St. Albans, who called it “a marvel,” and from 
I him Mr. Ames acquired a part of the plant. 
