March 20, 1890. ]| 
JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 
237 
than those in a pot. A. virens, whether in a pot or basket, will 
have its roots outside. Good healthy plants 18 inches high in 
baskets will often have roots 4 feet or so in length. Plants in this 
■condition are, as a rule, in the best of health and grow freely, root 
abundantly, and flower profusely. Those throwing out their roots 
in abundance in the atmosphere should be grown in baskets where 
they can be suspended. When grown in pots their roots are always 
liable to injury. 
Plants that have Become Bare at the Base. 
Plants of both Vandas and Aerides may often be seen bare at 
the base of the stems. Sometimes one or two suckers start, and 
these should be carefully preserved until the top portion of the 
plant can be removed. Before this can be done the bare stem 
must be bound with sphagnum moss up to the leaves and kept 
moist. This assists the plant wonderfully in making roots above, 
^nd when a good portion has been made the plant may be cut ofl: 
just above where the suckers have issued, and the bare stem can 
be removed and the top potted or placed in a basket. The top 
should be taken off just preceding root action and growth. If 
treated similar to healthy imported plants they will soon establish 
'themselves and grow freely before the end of the season.— Orchid 
Grower. 
NOTES AT FOREST HILL. 
Messrs. J. Laing & Sons’ nurseries at Forest Hill are always 
worth a visit, and though their great season is “ the Begonia time,” yet 
there are so many specialties, all equally noteworthy, that some at¬ 
traction is sure to repay a caller. In the spring months the bulbs and 
forced plants are in strong force, and they have now been rendering 
■several houses gay for a long time. Excellent Primulas also have occu¬ 
pied considerable space ; Imantophyllums are advancing, and the 
collection, which is being enriched by numbers of home-raised and 
introduced novelties, is a remarkable one, the plants all in superbly 
vigorous health. 
Tuberous Begonias. 
The Tuberous Begonias are in a very youthful stage at present, and 
needing all the experienced care of Mr. Laing’s skilful growers to 
bring them to their annual state of perfection. It is surprising what 
strong plants can be obtained from seed in a few months by due atten¬ 
tion and the best culture. When sturdy bushy specimens are planted 
out in the summer, to be in a few weeks covered with brilliant flowers, 
it seems scarcely possible that they could have been raised from seed in 
-the same year. Yet there we see them, tiny seedlings in various st.sges, 
being pricked out from the seed pans into larger pans, to be afterwards 
potted, and then transferred to the grounds or reserved to adorn the 
houses. Everyone knows what has been done with Tuberous Begonias 
-at Forest Hill. The record is a triumph of the hybridiser’s skill, and 
the still rapidly extending popularity of the plants has been well 
• earned. A large piece of land has been prepared for the Begonia beds 
this year, and I cannot say how many thousands of plants will be 
needed to fill the space and supply the demands, the number certainly 
must be a very large one. Garden owners and cultivators are beginning 
to find the merits of Tuberous Begonias for bedding purposes, and their 
■decorative value under glass has been abundantly proved. 
Chrysanthemums. 
Another great feature is formed by the Chrysanthemums, which 
■seem to be scarcely less numerous than the Begonias ; at least, several 
houses are filled with a series of long frames, the young stock of all the 
leading varieties being extremely large. Messrs. J. Laing & Sons 
have been fortunate in past years in raising some seedlings of great 
merit, which have already taken a high place amongst exhibition 
varieties. With the hope of continuing their success they have obtained 
a quantity of seed from various sources, and now some hundreds of 
healthy young seedlings are advancing satisfactorily, and will be 
watched with much interest. There are, however, a few seedlings that 
receive especial attention and are of unusual importance. These have 
been raised from seed of the Japanese variety Edwin Molyneux, ripened 
at Forest Ilill, and it is scarcely necessary to say that the plants will 
be reared with all possible care, and it may be fairly expected that 
should they reach a flowering stage Mr. Laing will amongst them 
secure a prize worthy of the centenary year. 
Most of the members of the Laing family have been honoured by 
Continental raisers in the names of the Chrysanthemums sent out in 
recent years ; but in some notes a season or two since I pointed out 
an unaccountable omission. M. Helaux has now completed the family, 
and has announced Madame Hose Laing as a distinct novelty of the 
Japanese type. The variety has been described in a continental journal 
as charmingly attractive ; the florets flat, rosy crimson and white, tipped 
with gold ; the tints darken at the centre of the bloom, and silvery 
white towards the centre of the florets, a novel colouring quite distinct 
from other varieties. 
Orchids 
The collection of these plants steadily increases, all the most useful 
species and varieties being added, and they thrive well in the Stanstead 
Park houses. Dendrobiums are excellent, particularly D. Wardianum, 
which makes usually strong pseudo-bulbs. Cattleyas have been furnish¬ 
ing a fine bank of flowers for some time past, and one grand variety of 
C. Triange was certificated at the last meeting of theEoyal Horticultural 
Society. Cool house Orchids, especially Odontoglossums, are well 
grown, and good varieties of the principal species are included. 
Respecting the large miscellaneous collections—Caladiums, Camel¬ 
lias, Lapagerias, &c.—it is not necessary to say much now, but one 
little plant that has been flowering through a good portion of the 
winter (Acacia ovata) deserves a special note. A small spray of this is 
represented in the woodcut (fig. 31), which shows its characters fairly. 
It is most usefulifor culture in 48-size pots, being of dwarf bushy habit. 
FIG. 31.— ACACIA ovata. 
and producing its bright yellow flower heads freely. The plant is easily 
grown, readily forced, stands well, and is altogether exceedingly useful, 
being more graceful than the early Acaci.t platyptera.—L. 
LANDSCAPE GARDENING. 
[Read at a meeting of the Cardiff Gardeners' Association by Mr. KettleweU.] 
(^Continued from page 225.') 
I NOW come to the second portion of my paper, and that is to offer a 
few remarks about some of the leading departments in a garden, and I 
will begin by giving a few suggestions as to the flower garden. A flower 
garden, or if there be no flower garden the flower beds, should be 
situated on the warmest and most private side of a house facing the 
drawing-room windows, as the beds give an air of beauty and gaiety in 
summer when filled with masses of brilliant flowers, while dwarf ever¬ 
greens, which have been kept in pots and plunged during the summer 
in some reserved nook in the kitchen garden, can be most effectively 
