514 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
[ Jvrae £7, 18S9. 
year. Now is a very good time to examine and note those which 
show an advance or otherwise when compared with last year, for 
instance ; not that their future cultivation can be altered to any 
great extent, because where failures occur this year it is owing to 
circumstances over which we have no control, being purely a matter 
of the weather’s influence. It is most difficult to account for the 
manner in which some trees have been loaded with blossom, when 
I should have thought the reverse would be the case. Take for 
instance the double Cherry, which has flowered so abundantly this 
year that I never remember seeing it more thickly covered with 
blooms. The same must be said of the various ornamental Crabs, 
which presented complete masses of blossom, the colours being 
especially rich in tints where so naturally marked in red or pink. 
Take the Lilacs. Charles XII. produced huge masses of bloom, 
perfect trusses from every piece of growth of any strength at all, 
the plants being quite studded with flowers. The same may be 
said of the common white variety. Ribes sanguineum was bright 
with its racemes of bloom, so were the various Brooms, especially 
the lemon coloured variety, which was weighed down with its pro¬ 
fusion ; the white variety followed, and so did the common yellow, 
which is so abundant by the side of many railways in Hampshire. 
The colour of the latter variety is very striking when seen in solid 
masses backed up by ample greenery. Amelanchiers, especially 
florida, I never saw so strikingly handsome as this year ; the ample 
leafage showed the pure white blossoms to advantage, and now 
Weigela rosea fairly outrivals itself in its profusion. Again, such 
common trees as Horse Chestnuts, Hawthorns, both coloured and 
white, all flowered profusely. The Guelder Rcse and the rather 
uncommon Buddlea globosa, with its bright orange coloured ball¬ 
shaped flowers, the smell of which so forcibly reminds one of 
honey in the comb, are flowering now, and deserving passing notice 
on account of their floriferousness. Take again another section 
of plants—American—Rhododendrons, Ghent Azaleas, including 
the mollis type, small flowered Kalmias, Yacciniums, and the 
like to be found amongst this class of plants ; all have done 
well. Amongst climbing plants I never saw Clematis montana 
fuller of flower; early flowering Clematises are now opening 
their blooms grandly ; Ceanothus divaricatus is a sheet of the 
palest of blue. Gloire de Dijon Rose has fairly beaten record in 
its eagerness to present its share of the beauties of spring. Choisya 
ternata has firmly established itself as one of the best early flowering 
avail plants. We require more of this, it is so good. 
The above are some of the shrubs and trees which occur to me 
at the present moment that do not appear to have been adversely 
affected by the last wet and cold summer and autumn. If they 
flowered well on our cold heavy soil after such a season what must 
we expect them to do on a lighter and consequently drier soil, 
and one more favourable to the ripening or maturation of the 
wood ? In the face of facts like these we are compelled to 
ask the question, Is it necessary that trees and shrubs should be so 
thoroughly ripened in their growth before they can produce satis¬ 
factory results ? 
I now come to the less cheerful part of the history of past 
events in the flowering of trees and shrubs. One of the earliest 
flowering plants which was a disappointment was Forsythia viri- 
dissima, which I never saw so thinly clad with its ever welcome 
drooping flowers. The deciduous Magnolias, such as conspicua and 
Soulangeana, were thin in the number of their flowers, but the 
quality and perfume atoned for the smallness of their numbers, and 
fortunately they escaped the frosts which often do much towards 
spoiling their beauty. Laburnums were but thinly clothed with 
their golden racemes; the strong growing alpinus, the Scotch 
variety, in my opinion the best of them all by reason of the abund¬ 
ance of its foliage, bad but few flowers. That peculiar variety of 
this family, Adami, had not a single spray of blossom. I had almost 
forgotten the early flowering Chimonanthus fragrans and the 
quaint Judas Tree, Cercis siliquastrum, neither of which produced 
any blossoms. 
The season of flowering for Wistaria sinensis has come and 
gone, leaving but faint traces of its well known beauty behind. 
The Pearl Bush, Exochotda grandiflora, does not intend to let us 
sea its snowy character this season ; neither does Escallonia 
macrantha, j erhaps one of the best of wall shrubs by reason of its 
lovely carmine flowers, which contrast so well with the deep green 
shining leaves. The last named have not come up to the average 
in the matter of flowering, we should be inclined to think by 
reason of the unripened slate of the wood ; but when we contrast 
the two cases, those which should need as much ripening of the 
wood as the other to produce such pleasing results, we are com¬ 
pelled to repeat the question, Has the ripening of the wood of various 
trees and shrubs so much to do with the satisfactory results as 
many think it has ? J 
So far I have refrained from mentioning trees which are not 
only intended to produce blcoms, but are expected to perfect a 
crop of fruit also. This opens up another question which must 
be postponed for the present until we hear the results of the 
present season in a substantial manner, whether it be for the 
failure of the greater part of the fruit crop or not.—H. S. P. 
The following are now in flower in the collection of R. L- 
Measures, Esq., Cambridge Lodge, Flodden Road, Camberwell,. 
London, S.E :—M. Peristeria, M. xantbina, M. Wagneri, M. 
demissa (new), M. Simula, M. infracts, M. infracts purpurea, 
M. civilis, M. porcilipes (new), M. radiata, M. Winniana, M_ 
Chestertoni, M. Triadestella, M. Gorgona (true), M. hieroglyphics, 
M. Roezli, and a number of the Harryana varieties. 
SOBRALIA MACRANTHA. 
Some of the old-fashioned Orchids have of late years been 
neglected somewhat, and among those most worthy of notice I 
would place Sobralia macrantha. Authorities agree in classing this 
as the finest of the genus, and if it was more generally known how 
very easdy it can be grown and flowered in all probability we should 
hear much more about it. It is supposed to require a rather high 
or stove temperature, or from 00° to G5° in the winter, and 10° 
higher in the summer. It will succeed in these temperatures, and 
equally well in an ordinary greenhouse temperature, while strong 
plants are not injured by being placed in the open air for several 
weeks for the purpose of retarding the flowering. The species 
usually flowers during June and July, but we want a specimen for~ 
exhibition in August, and it is only by keeping a plant on a stage 
in a greenhouse all the year round that we can attain our tnd_ 
These Sobralias are constantly pushing up slender wiry growths 
from 18 inches to 2 feet in length. The flowers are produced at 
the points of these, and those of the species under notice are fully 
5 inches across, and principally of a light purple shade. Unfortu¬ 
nately they are of short duration, the individual flowers rarely 
lasting a week unless tied-in, but a fairly long succession of flowers 
is produced from each growth, and altogether it proves a showy and? 
attractive plant. Strong pieces may safely be divided in the spring,, 
and being duly potted in a mixture of peat, leaf soil, and charcoal 
they soon grow away r vigorously. Our plants are never really 
dried off, but naturally receive much less water during the winter- 
months. 
VANDAS. 
There are several very beautiful species of Vandas, and all? 
that I am acquainted with are remarkably durable as well as service¬ 
able. They cannot apparently be imported satisfactorily, and that 
may be the reason why so few comparatively are growD. Being 
also of rather slow growth they are naturally rather expensive, and' 
in all probability Vandas will never become so common as the- 
Cattleyas now are ; all the more reason therefore to prize them. 
The species I most prefer are V. tricolor, V. insignis, and V. suavis- 
Of the former there are several forms, but all are appreciated, their- 
scent alone being a strong recommendation. We find all the three 
species named of easy cultivation : no Orchids more so in fact, and 
they never fail to bloom every spring or summer. Where failures- 
of strong plants to flower occur I believe the sole reason is 
that they have been grown and kept in too much heat. They 
succeed admirably in the same house and the same treatment as 
Adiantums and various other Fern3 thrive under, and do not require 
so much heat as Davallia Mooreana and Gymnogrammas generally. 
Ours are grown in a fernery, and under rolled or plate glass. In 
the summer the heat frequently runs up to 80°, and during the 
night fall to near 60°, while during the winter the latter figure is 
seldom reached, and not unfrequently the thermometer falls to 
nearly freezing point. Last winter two leaves on the strongest 
Vanda tricolor were badly injured by frost, and had to be cut back, 
yet the same plant is in excellent health, and is now carrying two 
strong spikes of bloom. Vanda suavis in the same house was not 
injured, but is only now forming a flower spike. This specimen 
was fully twelve years old when it was obtained, but it had never 
flowered. A change from a high to a comparatively low tempera¬ 
ture soon had the desired effect, and our first spike was a beauty. 
We have also three well-established pieces of Vanda Cathcarti, but 
neither of them has flowered under either hot or cool treatment. 
It is useless to attempt to restrain Vanda roots. They are far 
