June 13.] 
* THE COTTAGE GARDENER, 
161 
season,—so beautiful indeed, that your correspondent 
(S. N. V., page 134, but who has got into such good 
hands, that wc refrain from putting our finger in the 
pie, though persuaded that none of us are more obliged 
than Mr. Beaton himself), if he had seen it would have 
owned that many methods, and some superior to his own, 
may be taken for producing a harmonious whole. “ Well 
then,” says I, “why don’t you have the same thing over 
again, if it was so pleasing to yourself, and so enchanting 
to your friends.” “ Oh !” says he, “ that would never 
do; every one of my friends would say—‘ Ah ! umph ! 
just the same as last year! nothing.new, either in the 
materials or in their arrangement!’” Now, if an 
amateur wishes to get tired of his little plant-house, we 
advise him by all means to turn a few good plants out of 
their pots, that he may have the dissatisfaction of viewing 
them every day, exactly in the same position. The 
prettiest object will then become tame and insipid. 
Now, in a greenhouse with the principal plants in pots, 
a fresh house may be made, if desirable, every week by 
a fresh arrangement and combination of the plants; 
and hence the charm of such houses to amateurs with 
limited means. 
“ Oh ! but,” says an objector, “ we can’t see how you 
should speak so authoritatively on such subjects, whilst 
great men act differently; for there now, I go at least 
once to some of the great floral shows every year, and in 
a conservatory I don’t know how long nor yet how high, 
but which is a perfect mountain to my mole-hill concern, 
there is not only a broad shelf all round the house sup¬ 
plied with plants in pots, separated from the bed in the 
centre by the main pathway, but on the bed itself; along 
with those plants planted out, arc, or were, many plants 
in pots and tubs introduced as ornaments and fill-gaps. 
And surely the superintendents of such concerns must 
have a.s good, or rather superior, pretensions to taste as 
yourself.” No doubt, and vastly superior! But these 
superintendents are more anxious to recognise the pro¬ 
perties and capabilities of plants, than the principle of 
harmony in their combination; and hence, much as we 
admire what such able men have done and are doing, it 
will not be felt as any detraction from their high and 
just claims if we state, that in the carrying out their 
object, the arranging of the plants in harmonious com¬ 
bination formed but a small part of their study; and 
that, therefore, those who go to such structures should 
examine the capabilities of the plants rather than the 
mode of their arrangement. 
We have already not disapproved but recommended 
the planting out of creepers in the greenhouse. We 
would have no great objection to having the surrounding 
shelf in front supplied with pot plants in a conservatory, 
because in walking round wc could, if we thought proper, 
look only at the shelf; and then,in returning, look only 
at the bed; though we think, that a more agreeable 
feeling would be produced by not seeing anything of a 
pot in the house; but nothing should reconcile a man of 
refined taste to the beholding, in the main bed of the house, 
a higgledy-piggledy mass of plants growing in beds, and 
others standing in tubs and pots. Every pot and tub 
brought there ought to be plunged, that the plant may 
appear to grow out of the soil. We can seldom success¬ 
fully follow out two ideas at the same time; and, therefore, 
every pot in such circumstances at once dispels the 
pleasure of the illusion. The finest specimen of tropical 
or Australian vegetation growing in the bed of a con¬ 
servatory, loses its charm when tubs and pots are paraded 
in its neighbourhood. Therefore, for promoting unity 
of idea, ease for examination, the greatest amount of 
pleasure, the largest degree of variety and change, we 
recommend those with limited space to grow all their 
tender plants in pots or vases. With a few hours’ labour, 
plants may then easily be thrown into fresh groups and 
combinations; so that the person who walked through 
the house the day before, would scarcely recognise it to be 
the same. A flower-garden upon the grouping system must 
remain much the same for the season, but a greenhouse 
thus managed may be changed every week, and with 
increased pleasure to all concerned. R. Fish. 
HOTHOUSE DEPARTMENT. 
EXOTIC ORCHIDACEiE. 
i.ist of orchids requiring baskets — (Continued). 
Angroecum eburneum (Ivory A.).—A noble plant, with 
leaves frequently eighteen inches long. The flowers are 
of a greenish white; the lip of the purest white, and 
highly polished like ivory. Placed in a basket filled 
with sphagnum and pieces of charcoal it thrives well. 
Beiug a native of the hot climate of Madagascar; it 
requires the highest temperature. It is rare. Price 310s. 
A. caudatum (Tailed A.).—Sierra Leone. Leaves 
when healthy, one foot long; petals and sepals whitish; 
lip erect, pure white, and from it hangs down a 
long tail of a greenish white. This is also a rare and 
beautiful species. Requires the same treatment as 
the last. Price 315s. 
A. bifobum (Two-lobed A.).—This is a lovely species. 
The way to treat it is, first to grow it on a log till it 
becomes strong, and then to place the log with the 
plant upon it in a basket filled with the same mixture 
as directed above, leaving the log and plant elevated a 
little out of the moss. The flowers are of the purest 
white, tipped with pink ; fragrant and numerous. It is 
a desirable plant. 42s. 
A. ajnculatim .—This is very like the preceding one, 
excepting being larger in all its parts. The same 
treatment also suits it exactly. 42s. 
Chysis bractescens. —Guatemala. Sepals and petals 
pure white,like polished ivory ; the lip has a large blotch 
of yellow. Pseudo bulbs, when fully grown, more 
than a foot long ; very stout and pendent. The flowers 
are produced at the same time as the young shoots. They 
are large, frequently measuring three inches in diameter. 
A handsome species, flowering in May. 63s. 
C. aurea (Golden C.).—Venezeuela. As the specific 
name imports, the flowers of this species are yellow. 
The lip is marked with crimson veins. The pseudo 
bulbs are longer and not so thick as C. bractescens. 63s. 
C. lavis (Smooth C.).—Guatemala. Flowers cream 
colour, with a blotch of yellow on the lip. The treat¬ 
ment this genus requires is to place them in baskets filled 
with rough pieces of fibrous peat, mixed either with 
broken potsherds or small pieces of charcoal, or even 
pieces of willow wood. The plants should bo a little 
elevated above the rim of the basket. They require 
abundance of water when growing, but when the pseudo 
bulbs are fully grown they should be kept dry. They 
will do well in the cooler house. 
Cirrhcca. —Though the species of this genus do not 
possess showy flowers with bright colours, yet as they 
produce them numerously on long racemes, they are 
worth growing. 
C. bractescens (Bracted C.).—Brazil. White sepals 
and petals; lip fleshy and of a yellow colour. Flowers 
produced on long racemes. 42s. 
G. Iccvis (Smooth C.).—Brazil. Sepals and petals 
yellow ; lip spotted with brown. 42s. 
* C. Loddigesii. —Brazil. Sepals and petals greenish 
yellow, striped with red. 21s. 
C. tristis (Sad C.).—Dull purple, shaded with blood 
colour; lip dark purple; flowers very fragrant. 21s. 
C. Warreana. —Red, yellow, and dark purple flowers. 
This genus also will flourish well in pots, but on 
account of the drooping habit of the racemes of flowers 
