564 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Deoember 29,1887. 
A WINTER’S DAY AT CHELSEA. 
Those who are familiar with Messrs. J. Veitch <Sc Sons’ great nursery 
in the King’s Road, Chelsea, know quite well the wonderful resources of 
the establishment and the enormous stock of plants it contains from 
every quarter of the globe. With so wide a diversity of plants from 
many climates a perpetual succession of attractions is ensured in all 
seasons. It requires a number of visits to enable a stranger to thoroughly 
realise this fact, but it is of little consequence what period is chosen for 
the inspection, there is always ample to interest a visitor. Of course at 
certain times some special feature largely predominates, as the 
Amaryllises, the Carnations, the Chrysanthemums, and the Orchids, 
though the flowering period of the last named is much more extended, 
than the others. Still, of all times the end of December would be con¬ 
sidered likely to be the least satisfactory for a journey to the Chelsea 
nursery, yet how erroneous an opinion that would be may be gathered 
from the following notes on a visit made a few days ago. 
GREENHOUSE HYBRID RHODODENDRONS. 
To this firm belongs the credit of having produced a group of hand¬ 
some flowering plants, the merits of which are now fully recognised in 
hundreds of gardens, and their popularity is increasing yearly. The 
greenhouse hybrid Rhododendrons, as they are rather indefinitely 
designated, comprise the now numerous descendants from R. javanicum 
and R. jasminiflorum, which, crossed with other species, have resulted 
in the production of a series of distinct forms, remarkable for the sub¬ 
stance and rich colours of their flowers, both single and double. They 
possess several valuable qualities, and not the least of these is the 
duration of the flowers, which individually retain their beauty for 
several weeks ; the rich colours also are quite exceptional, combined 
with wax-like substance and gloss. The somewhat tall or straggling 
habit of the earliest hybrids was not in their favour, but recognising 
this defect the efforts of the hybridisers have been steadily directed to 
its rectification, and this has been to a great extent accomplished. The 
plants are now much more compact and bushy in habit than formerly, 
and it is particularly noticeable in the double varieties. Another good 
point in their favour is that they are easily grown, though some have 
fancied otherwise from the neglect of a few simple items in their 
culture. They succeed admirably in good turfy peat and sand with 
moderate but carefully arrange 1 drainage, without any manure in the 
soil or liquid manure at any time. They should be potted firmly, but 
not rammed hard, have ample root room, plenty of water, a humid 
atmosphere, and a minimum night temperature in winter of 50°. Fre¬ 
quent syringing is requisite to encourage growth and keep them clean, 
and if this is well attended less watering at the roots will be needed. In 
repotting the plants treat them liberally for space—that is, a strong 
young well rooted plant in a small thumb pot may be transferred into 
a large forty-eight quite safely, and indeed beneficially. This opera¬ 
tion can also be performed at any time, though the bulk of the stock 
may be preferably so treated in spring or autumn. They are readily in¬ 
creased by cuttings inserted singly in small pots, and if flower bud 
shoots are taken they will flower in two or three months’ time ; for 
example, there is a plant of Princess Alexandra 4 inches high in a small 
thumb pot, bearing a truss of nine fine flowers. These make quite as 
good plants subsequently, as after the flowers are off several shoots 
Start from the same point, and a more branching plant is thus obtained. 
If the ordinary growing shoots are used as cuttings it is often necessary 
to cut them back to induce buds to start lower on the stems, as if not 
well furnished from the base they never make good specimens. 
Some idea can be formed of the usefulness of these Rhododendrons 
for winter flowering when it is stated that there are now eighteen named 
varieties or hybrids in flower, besides several novelties that have not yet 
been named, and over 150 trusses are expanded, comprising about 1000 
flowers. In the show devoted to these plants the following are now in 
flower :—Balsaminreflorum album with eight trusses of seven flowers 
each, forming a good compact specimen with its double flowers full and 
of excellent form ; Princess Alexandra of a delicate tint, free and 
beautiful ; Taylori, one of the original forms but still excellent in many 
points, the flowers large with broad lobes, of a fine rosy hue, and in 
good trusses ; Duchess of Teck, rich and handsome ; Duchess of Edin¬ 
burgh, flowers very massive, of a rich dark red colour ; Javanicum, large 
orange flowers ; Maiden’s Blush, delicate pale pink or blush ; Favourite, 
bright pink, light tube'; Princess Frederica, yellowish buff, Power of 
great size, showy ; Prince Leopold, orange red and buff, good flower, 
free ; Jasminiflorum, white comparatively small flower in good trusses, 
and very freely branched, it is one of the parents of the series of hybrids 
and crosses ; Princess Royal, a fine pure pink, a favourite form, and 
almost constantly flowering ; Crown Princess of Germany, salmon red, 
yellow tube ; Queen Victoria, orange buff, the flower stalks deep red ; 
Duke of Edinburgh, deep rosy crimson, good trusses, free ; and Duchess 
of Connaught, rich dark red, handsome flowers. In the house reserved 
for novelties, several of great promise are in flower, but have not received 
names ; yet others that have been honoured with titles and have been 
certificated are as follows—Jasminiflorum carminatum, exactly of the 
Jasminiflorum type, but with the flowers bright rose coloured, very free, 
a small plant having six trusses ; Excelsior, yellowish buff, with red 
stamens, large flower and truss, ten flowers in one on the plant under 
notice ; and Monarch, rosy salmon, round even lobes, ten flowers on a 
truss. Several others have been obtained, constituting a distinct group 
with shorter tubes, and more bell-shaped flowers, combining with these 
characters a dwarf compact habit. 
ORCHIDS. 
To enumerate the Orchids in flower at Chelsea would at any period 
of the year require a long chapter to do them justice, and even in 
December if all the plants in flower in the numerous houses could be 
arranged together in one large structure an astonishing and highly 
effective display would be produced. But the principal object is to 
provide the exact requirements of the plants, and this cannot be effected 
by frequently transferring them from house to house, and a check at 
this time of year to delicate Orchids often results in irreparable injury. 
Many excellent cultural lessons can be learned at Chelsea, and one of 
the most interesting of these is the successful manner in which Orchids 
are grown in small pots, pans, or baskets. This subject has been 
referred to before, and there is no doubt that amateur cultivators often 
err in giving their plants too much root room. Some of the most suc¬ 
cessful have fully recognised this fact, and all except the stronger of the 
terrestrial Orchids are much more r stricted in their root space than 
formerly. There is no danger of excess of root space in the case of 
Orchids on blocks, but even with them a much neater effect is produced 
by the employment of moderate sized pieces of wood. An example of 
this is afforded in the case of that useful, beautiful, and fragrant Orchid, 
Cattleya citrina, of which an illustration is [given in fig. 66, represent¬ 
ing one of Messrs. Veitch’s plants sketched some time since. This 
species thrives admirably at Chelsea, and when the plants suspended 
from the roof of one side of a long range are in flower they have an 
extraordinary appearance. 
In the second part of the admirable publication the “ Manual of 
Orchidaceous Plants,” devoted to Cattleyas and Laelias, published by 
this firm, there is a most interesting account of the history and culture 
of Cattleya citrina, which is here reproduced. 
“ One of the most remarkable of Cattleyas, and the only one found within 
the Mexican territory proper, where it is abundantly distributed over the 
mountain ranges and h’gh table-lands lying between the 17th and 20th 
parallel of north latitude at elevations ranging from 6000 to 7500 feet. Its 
peculiar invert d habit and handsome fragrant flowers early attracted the 
attention of naturalists, among the first of whom to make mention of it was 
the Jesuit Hermandez, who wrote on the Natural History of Mexican 
animals and plants in the seventeenth century, and who described this 
plant under the almost unpronounceable name of Corticoatzontecoxochitl, 
a name by which it appears to have been known at that period among the 
natives of the country, by whom the flowers were held in high esteem. It 
was first int oduced into England by the Horticultural Society of London, 
about the year 1823 or 24. The Society, however, possessed but a single 
plant of it, which appears to have died a short time after its introduction. 
We find no further mention of it till 1838, when it was introduced from 
Oaxaca to the Duke of Bedford's collection at Woburn, where it flowered in 
April of the following year, nor again till Ghiesbreght, twenty years later, 
collected a considerable quantity on the slopes of the mountains of Micho- 
acan for M. Linden’s horticultural establishment at Brussels, whence it 
became generally distributed among the Orchid collections of Europe. From 
that time to the present, frequont importations have caused it to become a 
familiar object in almost every Orchid collection in the country. The 
flowering season of C. citrina is in April and May. The specific name 
refers to tie colour of the flower, which, when held in an erect position, has 
some resemblance to that of our native plant Tulipa sylvestris. 
“ Cultural Note.—C. citrina has always been consideted a refractory plant 
under cultivation, a circumstance that has arisen probably more from inat¬ 
tention to the climatic conditions under which it lives in its native 
country, than from any cause inherent in the plant itself. Growing in the 
“ Tierra fria,” or cool region of Mexico, where the atmosphere is compara¬ 
tively dry for nearly six months of the year (November-April), and the rain¬ 
fall during the remainder of the year not excessive for tropical latitudes, it 
follows that a cultural treatment as consonant with these conditions as the 
altered circumstances of a glass structure wdl admit, should be applied. 
The late Mr. J. C. Spyers once remarked ‘that few can boast of growing 
and flow* ring C. citrina well for half-a-dozen years together,’ and, therefore, 
it should be tri'd in various ways. When blocks of wood are used, which 
the inverted habit of the plant wou’d seem to sugg st as the most suitable 
medium for it, the plants should be securely fastened with wire, and the 
blocks suspended with the leaves downwards ; they will succeed for a few 
v f ars on the wood of almost any of our commoner trees, as the Apple, 
Hawthorn, Birch, and Box, as well as Teak, over wh’ch the roots will creep 
freely. The blocks should be suspended in the coolest part of the Cattleya 
house, where they can receive the maximum of light and air. There iB 
scarcely an Orchid known that, for six mouths of the year, requires a more 
moderate supply of water thanC. citrina; but when deve oping its growths, 
and the flower scapes appear, it should be literally supplied. We have, 
during the past few yea s, successfully established imported plantain small 
shallow pans with good drainage, surfaced with sphagnum and peat, and 
suspended from the roof. The new growths have been most satisfactory, 
and have p odneed flowers as fine as we have ever seen ; but even here 
Nature vigorously asserts her right: the impor ed bulbs with their leaves 
are placed in the pan in an erect position, the new growths with their 
leaves take a horizontal one, while the subsequent growths assume their 
natural downward direction outside the pan.” 
Cypripediums constitute an important feature at this time of year, 
and it will only be necessary to mention a few of the principal to give 
an idea of their diversity. Most noticeable is C. Leeanum superbum, 
the celebrated hybrid from C. Spicerianum and C. insigne, which 
preserves all the good qualities of hardness and vigorous constitution of 
the latter parent, with a bold broad dorsal sepal almost wholly white, 
except a few purple and brown spots and lines at the base, and a brown 
or yellowish polished lip. It endures the fogs of town districts much 
better than C. Spicerianum ; indeed, it is practically unaffected by 
them, it is also very floriferous, for small plants in thumb pots have 
