June S, 1386. ] 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
445 
Writing respecting this plant, Mr. Owen remarks —“ The Chrysanthe¬ 
mum or Marguerite Cloth of Gold is a chance seedling. I planted three 
years ago every variety I thought worth cultivating—two or three plants of 
each—both of C. frutescens and the annual varieties. I saved the 
seed from each, and sowed it the following year (1884) in the open 
ground, and from the seedlings I selected four which I thought dis¬ 
tinct, Cloth of Gold being one of these. The original plant in a lG-size 
pot is now in full bloom and ripening seed at the same time ; it has been 
flowering since last summer. Cuttings strike very freely. I cut many 
flowers during winter and quantities during spring, and I am told it lasts 
quite a week in a cut state. The florets droop at sundown and in dull 
weather, but expand again during light days and bright weather. I have 
Fig. 83.—Chrysanthemum segetum Cloth of Gold. 
measured blooms 4 inches in diameter. The flower stems average a foot 
in length.” 
MR. WILLIAM BULL'S ORCHIDS. 
It is impossible to imagine a more beautiful and tasteful floral dis’ 
play than that provided in Mr. W. Bull’s nursery, King’s Road, Chelsea> 
and, admirable as have been his previous exhibitions of Orchids, this 
season’s production surpasses them in all points. Those who have a keen 
remembrance of visits in other years will scarcely think it possible to excel 
such charming displays, but it is an admitted fact by many who have 
made the comparison. This year greater numbers of species and 
varieties are represented, the flowers are more numerous, yet there is a 
sufficient proportion of graceful fresh green Ferns and Palms to soften the 
brightest tints and prevent the slightest approach to an undue prepon¬ 
derance of colour. The great charm is, however, found in the arrangement, 
which is free from all formality, the plants being disposed with that highest 
art which is concealed from the observer, and so natural do they appear 
either in groups or singly, that we could imagine them luxuriating in their 
native homes. Sticks and stakes, which are too frequently employed for 
Orchids, are abjured in the Chelsea establishment, as in very few cases do 
the flowers netd any artificial support, and the panicles or racemes, which 
naturally have a drooping or pendant habit, can only be seen to advantage 
in that position, for when rigidly secured they lose more than half their 
beauty. Odontoglossum citrosmum, for instance, which usually has its 
elegant panicles fixed to perpendicular sticks, is then deplorably formal ; 
but when, as at Chelsea, the plants are suspended in baskets from the roof 
at intervals, the drooping flowers as-ume their natural appearance, and the 
species is seen as one of the most beautiful of the genus. Orchid flowers 
are in themselves so informal that everything associated with them and 
their surroundings must be similarly informal, or the incongruity is at 
once noticeable; so that although it is necessary in cultivation to have 
the greater part of the plants in pots, but when being arranged for 
effect the pots should be concealed as far as possible. This point 
als) has received careful attention in Mr. Bull’s house of Orchids, and 
by the employment of Ferns, Selaginellas, and ether suitable plants 
a delightfully varied undulating bank of greenery is formed from 
which the flowers peep forth in an irregular and most artistic manner. 
The central bed and side stages are margined with Adiantum9 and a deep 
fringe of Panicum intermedium, a pretty form with green-striped leaves,, 
well adapted for work of this kind, and the paths are formed of dark 
material that has been found much better than anything light coloured, 
such as gravel or shells, which detracted from the appearance of the show. 
These points are mentioned to indicate that, however fine a collection may 
be grown, the success of an arrangement depends greatly upon attention 
to matters that the inexperienced might be apt to overlook. 
The house devoted to this magnificent exhibition of Orchids is about 
100 feet long, with a central bed, round which a path passes, and two' 
side stages, and it would be difficult to estimate the number of plants 
employed or their aggregate value. The collection includes some of the 
choicest varieties of well-known species that could be obtained by impor¬ 
tation or purchase, and it need scarcely be said that the plants are in first- 
rate health, for nothing short of this would be tolerated by such an 
experienced orchidist as Mr. Bull. Upon entering the attention is arrested 
by a grand bank of Odontoglossum vexillarium, an Orchid which many 
find difficult to grow, but which is a speciality at this nursery, and 
apparently grows as freely as the most easy. There are several fine varieties, 
such as bicolor with a white lip and rosy sepals and petals, tricolor similar, 
but with a yellow blotch at the base of the lip, and some highly coloured 
forms such as rubrum ; but one of the most beautiful is that named 
chelsoniense, which has flowers of great size, excellent in form, with 
heavily marked dark rosy crimson line j radiating from the base of the lip. 
Throughout the house the plants of Odontoglossum vexillarium instantly 
attract attention, although the eye is too taken by the general effect that 
a visitor must pass round several times before he can particularise, and 
even then it seems irksome. Other Odontoglossums, such as the favourite 
crispum, citrosmum, the scarce, distinct polyxanthum, and cirrhosum are 
well represented, but the first two named are in the majority, the varieties 
differing greatly, but all are good, the crispums being especially note¬ 
worthy for their superb forms, the broad substantial petals, and sepals 
pure white or deeply tinted with rose and spotted. Of O. citrosmum 
varieties are seen with pure white flowers, and others with the lip tinted 
with various shades of rose, or with the petals spotted Odontoglossum 
nebulosum is very noteworthy, the varieties pardinum and punctatum. 
forming a beautiful pair, the fortmr with large roundish spots lighter in 
the centre, and the latter freely dotted with small spots. The lovely little 
Odontoglossum Cervantesi and the floriferous O. Rossi maju9 are numerous, 
plants of the latter in small 60-size pots having fifteen to twenty flowers, 
abundantly proving its usefulness. O. luteo-purpureum is growing very 
strongly, one handsome plant bearing three loDg racemes of darkly 
coloured flowers. Many other charming Odontoglossums mi^ht be named, 
but another important genus demands a few words of praise. 
Cattleyas and Ltelias take a place amongst the most noble of the 
aristocratic family, and the Chelsea collection is remarkably rich in choice 
representatives of those magnificent Orchids. Looking along the banks 
on each side of the paths single specimens or little groups of C. Mendeli 
and C. Mossite in innumerable grand varieties are prominent. Lmlia 
purpurata is equally numerous and varied, the superb form Brysiana and 
others of equal beauty at once commanding attention. Of Cattleya 
Mendeli, a magnificent variety faces the path in front of the mirror at 
the end of the house, where, in company with some choice Oiontoglos- 
sums, its intensely rich crimson lips are seen to the greatest advantage p 
it is one of the finest forms in cultivation, numerous as these are at the 
present time. The profuse Cattleya Skinneri, the fragrant yellow 
C. eitrina, the elegant blush-tinted C. Sehilleriana, the new and fast 
improving C. Lawrenoiana, the attractive C. Warneri, the dwarf pretty 
C. lobata, the majestic 0. gigas, and many others contribute materially ta 
the beauty of the Exhibition. 
A bare enumeration of the Orchids in flower would occupy consider¬ 
able space, and we must confine these notes to a few references to the 
most remarkable plants, but it. will be difficult to do justice to them in a 
hurried description. Cymbidium Lowianum is in excellent condition, a 
number of large vigorous plants being included, and some distinct 
varieties such as atro-purpureum, which has extremely dark richly 
coloured lips, a striking contrast with the ordinary forms, and albo- 
sanguineum, in which the throat of the lip is pure white, and the upper 
portion deep red. Delightful flashes of colour are furnished by the bright 
orange scarlet Epidendrum vitellinum majus, and crimson shades are 
supplied by Masdevallias Harryana and Linden', the varieties of the 
former being particularly handsome. Cypripediuins ciliolare and 
C. Lawrencianum stand out prominently amoDgst the “ Ladies’ Slipper ” 
