March 19,1887. THE GARDENING WORLD. 
459 
which is a perennial with a thick, woody, branching 
rootstock, covered with the remains of former leaves, 
and with an internal construction different from that 
of any known Primrose. 
Impatiens Sultani as a Bedding' Plant. 
—Last year I tried some plants of Impatiens Sultani, 
in a bed a few yards from a high wall having a north 
aspect, and it answered admirably. During mid¬ 
summer, when the sun was high in the heavens, and 
its rays fell directly upon the bed during the middle of 
the day, the plants assumed a rather scorched-up 
appearance, but as the days shortened and the shadows 
lengthened, the bed being consequently shaded through¬ 
out the day, the plants grew very rapidly and made 
quite a dense mass of flowers and foliage, which 
produced a very pretty effect until late in the autumn, 
when the frost came and carried them off. This plant 
will succeed as a bedderif planted in a sheltered shaded 
position, and being a perpetual, brilliant and free 
bloomer, and of a neat and compact habit, cannot fail 
to please.— Alfred Grant, The Gardens, Copped Hall, 
Totteridge, Harts. 
Border Carnations.— Now that the time for 
spring planting has come round, one of the first groups 
of plants that deserve attention is border Carnations. 
Get them into their blooming quarters early, and half 
the battle is w T on. Why is it we hear so many com¬ 
plain that these beautiful flowers prove unsatisfactory 
with them ? The fault lays, in the majority of cases, 
in the planting being done too late, so that the plants 
do not have time to make proper growth ; and this is 
often done under the mistaken idea that they are 
tender. I have for many years planted out large quan¬ 
tities of them, and my plan is to commence about the 
middle of February, and to continue it in all favour¬ 
able weather on to the middle of April. Plants kept 
in pots after that time get starved, thin and drawn ; 
hence the so oft-heard cry : “ Oh ! I can’t grow Carna¬ 
tions. Last year I bought some and they ran up with 
j ust one flower-stem, did not make any grass, and now 
my plants are all dead.” To lay the foundation of 
success, plant this superb flower early. The following 
is a selection that ought to find a place in every garden, 
namely : Alice Ayres, pearly white, striped carmine ; 
Comte de Chambord, pale flesh, large and sweet; 
Prince of Orange, yellow, margined with carmine; 
General Stewart, deep crimson, fine form; Gloire de 
Nancy, pure white, clove scent; Sailor Gordon, white, 
striped with coral ; Guiding Star, bright scarlet; Mrs. 
Donaldson, rosy pink, beautifully shaded ; John 
Barnett, beautiful bright cerise ; Pride of Penshurst, 
pure yellow self; W. P. Milner, pure white, very 
sweet ; and Walter T. Ware, rose-lake, striped yellow. 
—F. G. 
Olivia miniata. —If cultivators would adopt the 
recognised name of this the most handsome and largest 
flowered of all the species, they would rid themselves 
of the cumbrous and much disputed Imantophyllum or 
Himantophyllum. Compared even with C. nobilis, the 
poorest variety of this species is more ornamental. One 
of the stoves in the Royal Horticultural Society’s 
Gardens, at Chiswick, contains a large batch of strong 
plants in all stages of flowering, that will keep up a 
fine display for many weeks ; the robust and leathery 
dark green leaves contrast well with the scarlet 
flowers. Messrs. John Laing & Co. have sent us 
a box containing a magnificent truss of a superb 
variety named Mrs. John Laing, bearing fifteen large 
widely expanded flowers. The lower half of the 
segments are pale yellow, margined with white inter- 
nally, and contrasting well with the scarlet, widely- 
spreading upper part ; the scape was remarkably 
flattened, but the separate pedicels are sufficiently 
strong to carry the flowers in a regular semi-globular 
mass, about 8 ins. through its broadest diameter. 
Great improvements are being effected from time to 
time in this noble species. 
Eupatorium riparium.—This excellent and 
extremely useful greenhouse plant is not nearly so much 
grown as it ought to be—-a fact which is probably due 
to its real merits not being widely known, and which 
may be briefly stated thus :—-Flowers white, very 
floriferous, easy of culture, and exceedingly valuable 
for cutting from, or for decorative purposes as pot 
plants. Its time of flowering is from the middle of 
February to the end of March, varying in accordance 
with the degree of temperature to which the plants may 
be subjected after the growth is completed and the 
flower-heads begin to appear. Cuttings may be put in 
any time between now and the middle of April, and if 
inserted in small pots filled with a compost consisting 
of equal parts finely-sifted loam and peat, one part 
silver-sand, and plunged in a brisk bottom-heat, will 
root in a very short space of time. When this is ac¬ 
complished, the young plants should be potted off intc 
60-sized pots, and grown on in a moderately moist 
heat. A Cucumber or Melon frame would be suitable 
till the end of May, when they may be gradually 
hardened off and planted out on a -warm south border, 
not forgetting at this time to mix with the soil in 
which they are planted some well-decayed stable manure 
and a little peat. Towards the end of September they 
should be lifted, potted up, put into a cold pit or green¬ 
house, and be kept shaded from the sun for a little 
while, or until root action has again commenced. Old 
plants from which the young stock has been propagated 
may be cut down after flowering, and planted out in 
due course. From these, when potted and grown on 
in 10-in. or 1‘2-in. pots, we get enormous quantities of 
cut blooms, which, if wired, are useful for button-holes, 
bouquets, and a variety of other purposes.— J. Horse- 
field, Heytesbury. 
Osborn’s Dwarf Forcing v. Ne Plus Ultra 
Bean. —I thank “Mon” for his good advice at p. 427, 
respecting the Ne Plus Ultra Bean, and had I not been 
well acquainted with that variety, I should certainly 
have been only too pleased to have given it a trial. I 
have grown it, and had to do with the growing of it, 
for some previous years, and proved it to be all “Mon ” 
says. It is a great bearer, and the pods eclipse those of 
Osborn’s, both as regards size and shape ; but with us 
it never has been so highly spoken of from the right 
quarters as Osborn’s variety, and this is a point of con¬ 
siderable importance to us. This, together with its 
good cropping qualities, is why I uphold this good old 
variety.— H. Markham, Merc worth Castle. 
Why don’t Peaches Thrive Outside now? 
—In reply to your correspondent, Mr. D. Chisholme, 
p. 411, I am pleased to say it is not the case every¬ 
where, having an outside wall planted with Peaches 
and Nectarines, from which I have gathered splendid 
crops, especially so last year, when 1 gathered about 
3,000 fine fruits, equally fine in flavour, colour and 
size to the indoor fruits. Some of the best varieties of 
Peaches, namely : Noblesse, Princess of Wales, Royal 
George, Barrington, Crimson Galande and Late Admiral; 
Nectarines : River’s Orange, Stanwick, Elruge, Bal- 
gowan and Violette Hative, all of which do remarkably 
well here. Regarding the culture, I have my trees 
thoroughly pruned, cleaned and trained annually ; and 
in many instances where it is required to transplant 
any of the trees it is done, whether they are large or 
small, great care being taken not to allow the trees to 
suffer from drought, which is an essential point to 
success. When the trees commence growing they are 
syringed daily with clean soft water, which keeps them in 
a healthy condition. In a great many instances Peaches 
and Nectarines, like other kinds of fruit trees, are 
neglected. In the first instance they are often allowed 
to produce heavy crops year after year, which, of course 
weakens the wood to a certain extent ; and if this state 
of matters is allowed to continue, all sorts of diseases 
and insects will infest the trees. It is then too late to 
eradicate these diseases or avoid unhealthiness in the 
trees. Good top and bottom pruning is one of the 
most essential points in Peach culture ; and if this is 
attended to yearly, and the borders well looked after—I 
mean not allowed to get impoverished—good results 
may safely be anticipated. Again, I have frequently 
noticed the wood tied in all directions and very thick, 
which is very unsightly as well as injurious to the 
trees : from 4 ins. to 6 ins. apart I consider quite close 
enough to nail or tie the branches of any tree.— IV. 
Collett, Suffolk. 
Double-spathed Anthurium. —The produc¬ 
tion of two spathes in place of one is not without 
precedent, although it is by no means common. We 
have seen numerous small or secondary spathes pro¬ 
duced on the spadix, so that being present in a small 
state, the double condition is a mere matter of develop¬ 
ment. A double-spathed Anthurium Scherzerianum 
is now flowering in R. B. Laird & Sons’ Royal Winter 
Garden, at Edinburgh. A sketch of it shows the 
second spathe about half the size of the primary and 
normal one. 
Jasminum nudiflorum. —This is one of our 
most useful hardy trailers, its profusion of bright 
yellow flowers being amongst the first to appear in 
spring, no matter how bleak the weather. At this dull 
season it stands alone as a plant producing a great show 
of flowers during weather not suggestive of balmy 
spring. 
ORCHID NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 
Odontoglossum Alexandra.— Large, well- 
grown and good varieties of this, the most popular of 
all Odontoglots, are always welcome. Messrs. Ireland 
& Thomson, of Edinburgh, have sent us another large 
and well-formed flower. The flowers are a trifle smaller 
than one previously sent (p. 428), but are not so pure 
white. The sepals have a broad band of rosy purple 
externally, which shines through especially by trans¬ 
mitted light, and gives those organs a rosy tint. In 
the eyes of some this would, no doubt, give additional 
value and attractiveness to the flower, and we by no 
means despise it. There are several fine chestnut 
blotches on the labellum, which has also the usual 
complement of yellow furnished with brown lines at the 
base. The petals are very broad, pure white, and deeply 
jagged at the margin. We should add, in justice to one of 
the most skilful and experienced Orchid cultivators in 
Scotland, Mr. George Fairbairn, gardener to John Gair, 
Esq., The Kilns, Falkirk, that the handsome flower 
sent us last week by Messrs. Ireland and Thomson, and 
noticed at p. 428, came from Mr. Gair’s collection, 
and which we now learn was one of eleven blooms on a 
spike, all of which were of the same large dimensions. 
The “Harvey” Collection. —For a number 
of years past Mr. E. Harvey has been an ardent col¬ 
lector of Orchids, and has given close personal attention 
to his collection, with the result that he has acquired 
perhaps, the most unique assortment in the North. 
The whole of the plants have now been removed to the 
“Vineyard and Nurseries” of the Liverpool Horti¬ 
cultural Co. at Garston, for sale. The whole collection 
numbering 1,404 lots, is in good health and condition. 
The Cattleyas are a special feature, and include many 
specimens and rare varieties. The following are, 
perhaps, the most important subjects at present in 
flower:—Cymbidium Dayanum, one plant with four 
growths carrying seven flower spikes ; C. Lowianum, 
three spikes with seventy-seven flowers, a fine variety ; 
Dendrobium Barberianum, a rare variety with two 
spikes and eleven flowers ; the beautiful D. Brymer- 
ianum, true, with several flowers ; D. Harveyanum, 
including the original plant named by Reichenbacb ; 
Angrcecum Leonis, with five flowers ; Cattleya Trianae 
eboracensis, a beautiful variety ; Epidendrum Wallisii, 
two bulbs, the longest 4 ft. 6 ins. in length, with 
twenty-seven flowers ; Odontoglossum Oerstedii, a 
good specimen with thirty-four flowers ; and Calanthe 
Regnieri, a specially fine dark-flowering variety. — TV. J. 
Odontoglossum crispum guttatum. —Mr. 
W. Stevens, Walton House, Stafford, sends us a 
handsome and densely flowered spike of the above 
variety. In different importations it varies widely in the 
number, size and shape of its markings. The specimen 
sent differs from the original and true type of the 
variety figured in the Orchid Album, II., t. 94, in the 
fullness of the spots on the labellum surrounding the 
crest. The flowers are of fine form, densely aggregated 
on the spike, and pure white with a number of round 
or oval blotches of a reddish brown colour about the 
middle of each segment, including the labellum. These 
are distinct, or more or less fused into one large blotch. 
0. c. fastuosum is easily distinguished from this variety 
by the sepals having a broad stripe of rosy lilac. 
Dendrobium crepidatum.— This is one of the 
prettiest of Dendrobes now in flower ; the best variety 
of it, with its large wax-like blooms, with blush petals, 
and orange centre to the lips being charming. Its 
habit is compact, and the flowers very durable for cut- 
work. 
Disa grandiflora is grown to almost unrecog¬ 
nisable vigour by Mr. H. Ballantine in Baron Schroder’s 
garden, The Dell, Egham. The pots of the plants are 
plunged in sphagnum moss at the light end of an 
ordinary greenhouse, and, we believe, a little weak 
liquid manure is given them when growing. The 
collars or necks of the growths are as thick as those 
of good Hyacinths grown for show, and very unlike the 
grassy growth often seen on Disas. How long will it 
be before we shall see the several blue and other fine 
Disas tackled in the same manner ? 
Cymbidium eburneum. —Among the many 
fine Orchids now coming into bloom, this is one of the 
handsomest, its large waxy white flowers being very 
fragrant. It is not particular as to culture, although 
the intermediate house is the best for it. It seems to 
grow well in either cooler or warmer houses. 
