July 24.] 
THE COTTAGE GARDENER. 
257 
-Si. 
summer in the greenhouse. Equal portions of peat and 
loam suit it. Temperature in winter, 40° to 48°. 
“ Strutiola.” —This is a genus of neat greenhouse 
low shrubs; some of them flexible in their growth, 
hearing small flowers along the slender shoots. They 
grow best in almost entirely sandy.peat; the stronger 
growing may have a little fibry loam. 
“ Galeana." —If we mistake not, this is a New Holland 
terrestrial orchid, requiring protection in a greenhouse 
or cold pit in winter, and to be grown in peat and loam. 
Protea. — Several species, but treatment similar : I 
have never seen them grown out-of-doors in winter, 
but I think that many of them might be tried against a 
conservative wall, as the whole order to which they 
belong is very interesting from their foliage alone, and 
as some Banksias, Grevillea rosmarinifolia, Hakea acicu- 
laris, &c., have stood against such walls in the neigh- 
j bourhood of London, though they come from localities 
j similar in temperature, &c., to that enjoyed by many of 
the Proteas. Interesting though they be, when grown 
in pots and tubs, and either placed or plunged out-of- 
doors in summer, they always have something of a 
stilted appearance, and we can only expect to see them 
in their beauty when residents in such a place as the 
Crystal Palace, when converted, as it is hoped it will be, 
into a winter garden. The soil that suits them best is 
a fibry, rather close loam, with plenty of drainage. 
When our friends obtain The Cottage Gardeners’ 
Dictionary, many of such enquiries will be totally un¬ 
necessary; until then, it is desirable that too many 
inquiries should not be made at one time. Having 
filled our space, a few hints on sowing imported seeds 
must be left to another opportunity. If such seeds were 
selected with more care, or if as now collected there 
were fewer sowings, there would be fewer disappoint¬ 
ments. R. Fish. 
HOTHOUSE DEPARTMENT. 
EXOTIC ORCHIDACEiE. 
plants that thrive well in pots — (Continued from 
page 229). 
Oxcidium Culture. — We described, at the above 
page, the first section of these fine plants, and their 
culture up to the point of flowering. As soon as the 
flowers expand, place them in a cooler house, or a cooler 
part of the Indian house, and cease syringing them over 
the flowers. Take care, however, that the roots are 
duly supplied with water, but not too much, or they 
will damp oft’. This water should be of the same tem¬ 
perature of the house. As the flowers spring from the 
base of the young leaves, the growing them on is of 
consequence, whence arises the necessity of continuing 
the application of moisture. The air of the house should 
also be kept moist, for the same reason. When the 
leaves have attained their full size, the amount of moist¬ 
ure should be considerably lessened, but not entirely 
removed, because the leaves have such a large surface 
to evaporate, that they would shrink too much if kept 
quite dry, even when at rest. 
Second Section. —’The distinction between the two 
sections is, that the first have large leaves, and very 
small, if any, pseudo-bulbs. O. lanceanum exemplifies 
it sufficiently. The second has generally large pseudo¬ 
bulbs ; 0. leucochilum being the type. The culture, as 
far as regards the potting and compost, is the same; but 
as these are generally natives of more temperate climes, 
the hills of Guatemala, for instance, they do not require 
the heat of the Indian house; in truth, many of them 
will grow and flower well in a common stove. At the 
commencement of these papers on orchids, it was men¬ 
tioned, that to grow orchids to perfection more than 
one house was desirable, and the cooler one was de¬ 
scribed under the name of the Mexican house. Now, 
where there is such a convenience, that house is the 
place for this section of orchids. In this house they 
will grow stouter and stronger; the pseudo-bulbs will 
be larger, and the flower-stems shorter, more branched, 
and more densely flowered. During the season of 
growth, they must be liberally supplied with moisture, 
both at the root aud in the air of the house ; but when 
the growth is completed, the water must be entirely with¬ 
held, as the pseudo-bulbs, in this case, contain a suffi¬ 
cient quantity of succulence to support them through the 
season of rest. Several species, such as O. altissimum, 
O. sphacelatum, aud others of similar habit of flowering, 
produce long, slender flower-stems very numerously. 
In order to show them off to the best advantage, four or 
five rods, three feet long, painted a light green, should 
be thrust round the edges of the pots at equal distances; 
a hoop, the same diameter as the pot, should be placed 
about half-way up the rods, and each rod tied firmly to 
it, at equal distances. The tops may then be drawn 
gently together at the top, and tied firmly with copper 
wire. Round the outside of this neat trellis, com¬ 
mencing near the pot, tie the flower-stems at equal dis¬ 
tances from each other; the small branehlets can be 
tied in as they advanoe in growth. Continue to tie in 
the main branches in a spiral manner, and by the time 
their growth is completed they will have completely 
covered the trellis. The flowers will then be seen in a 
mass, and be highly ornamental and effective. With 
the above treatment, this fine and extensive genus will 
grow well and flower abundantly. 
Paphinia cristata (Crested' P.) ; Trinidad.—This 
beautiful plant was formerly known as Maxillaria cris¬ 
tata, but has been recently separated from that genus 
by Dr. Lindley. The sepals and petals form a kind of 
star-like appearance, reminding one of the genus Sta- 
pelia. They are of a dark chocolate colour, tinged 
with purple ; lip white, barred with purple, and fringed 
with long hairy-like processes. The pseudo-bulbs are 
short, almost round, and the leaves, three or four to each 
pseudo-bulb, are broadly lanceolate. This is a neat, 
pretty species, with large showy flowers, very desirable, 
but scarce. 84s. 
Culture. —This plant is found growing in close shady 
places in the warmest part of Trinidad, and requires, 
therefore, the warmest part of the orchid-house. It 
thrives best when the compost has, from being kept in 
a shady place, become covered with moss grown natu¬ 
rally upon it. Pot it when it begins to grow, early in 
March, in the usual compost of turfy peat, chopped 
sphagnum, charcoal, and broken potsherds. Drain it 
well, by filling the pot half-full of potsherds. Give 
plenty of water when growing, and syringe overhead 
frequently. When the pseudo-bulbs are fully grown, 
give it plenty of rest, by withholding water, and re¬ 
ducing the temperature of the house 10° or 15°. It is 
rather difficult to grow, but a little extra care will over¬ 
come that. The finest plant we know of is in the 
collection of Mr. Rucker, of Wandsworth. Upon that 
plant we have frequently seen five or six of its truly 
beautiful flowers. 
Paxtonia rosea, named in honour of Mr. Paxton 
(Rose-coloured P.). The flowers are produced upon a 
stem a foot high, and are allied to the genus Bletia; 
they are of a pleasing pale rose colour. Requires the 
same treatment as the Bletia. This is an elegant spe¬ 
cies, of easy culture. T. Appleby. 
FLORISTS' FLOWERS. 
MR. GLENNY ON FLORISTS’ FLOWERS. 
The National Floricultural Society was well attended 
at their last meeting; and there were some novelties 
