June 18, 1887. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
663 
which has a stout spike of very large fleshy flowers of 
a clear white, the chief peculiarity being that the 
sepals are petaloid—that is to say, they are almost 
equal in breadth to the petals, and, like them, are 
fringed. This peculiarity is found in a more or less 
degree in many of the plants received in one of their 
consignments, Mr. Sander says ; but has never been 
so pronounced as in the grand example mentioned. 
O. c. trismegistum is a noble and gigantic white, which 
was sold last week by Messrs.Protheroe and Morris for 60 
guineas. In another house is a good show of 0. vexil- 
larium, 0. Roezlii, 0. triumphans, 0.' Pescatorei, 0. 
nsevium, 0. facetum, the orange-coloured 0. retusum, 
&e. 
The rockeries, with water running over them, on 
which are planted and growing—not merely living— 
fine masses of Lrelias, Cattleyas, Cymbidiums, Cypri- 
pediums, &c., mingled with foliage Begonias and other 
handsome-leaved plants, are one of the sights of the 
St. Albans “ Orchideries.” Here fine examples of Laalia 
purpurata and numerous showy Cattleyas are flowering. 
Calanthe veratrifolia also has nine spikes, and Aerides 
Ballantinei, a charming and fragrant species, has a 
large number of them. Suspended overhead, or 
arching over the rocks, are goodly specimens of On- 
cidium Marshallianum, Coelogyne Massangeana, Den- 
drobium clavatum, D. hercoglossum, D. Griffitkianum, 
true, and fine; Oneidium maculatum Russellianum, 
very pretty and sweet; and a fine lot of 0. hastatum, 
displaying numerous varieties, of which three are very 
fine—namely, 0. h. purpurescens, with almost wholly 
claret-coloured flowers ; 0. h. atratum, with claret- 
coloured lip and variegated segments; and 0. h. 
flavescens, with straw-coloured lip, the lobes of which 
are curiously broadened and rounded, unlike any other. 
Both these last-named are mentioned in Folia Or- 
chidacea, from dried specimens, but never before 
introduced. 
The Cypripediums in flower are C. caudatum nigrum, 
the largest and darkest of C. caudatum ; C. super- 
ciliare ornatum, a very nice thing ; C. Dominianum, 
and some other hybrids ; many specimens of C. Law- 
renceanum, C. ciliolare, C. Argus, C. niveum, &e. 
Amongst Phalfenopsis are P. speciosa, P. Schroderiana, 
P. Luddemanniana, P. Sanderiana, P. grandiflora, and 
a new form with the pink tint of P. Sanderiana, but 
with the brown and yellow spotting of P. Stuartiana. 
The Masdevallia houses also have a good display, and 
among other rare plants we noted a new pure white 
form of Dendrobium purpuratum, Angracum Scotti- 
anum, A. articulatum, Epidendrum diehromum grandi- 
florum, E. alatum, E. selligerum, E. Tovarense, and 
Cattleya "Warneri. These are all clean and healthy, for 
the St. Alban’s Orchids prove that cool treatment secures 
clean well-flowered plants without the aid of the plaut 
cleaner, who often does as much damage as the 
insects. Growing plants clean is infinitely preferable 
to cleaning them, and can always be accomplished if 
the temperature of the houses and other sanitary 
arrangements receive due attention. 
-- 
ening 'Notes from 
Scotland. 
Watering. —In gardens where rain-water can be 
saved it will be found that plants of every de¬ 
scription will thrive by liberal applications of it, while 
watering with hard mineral-tainted water will positively 
do mischief. Did space allow, we could give some 
curious details of lawn watering, and the shocking 
results of giving daily dribblings of water from deep 
wells, &e. "We prefer leaving kept grass alone when 
such water has to be applied ; but a thorough soaking 
once a week to go deeply into the soil has a very 
opposite effect to surface applications, which are 
rapidly dried up by the sun and wind. Fruit trees— 
especially those lately planted — may be greatly 
benefited by a good soaking of water, and then 
mulched to retain the moisture about the roots. A 
quantity of the dry surface soil drawn off to allow 
water to descend freely, then the dry soil thrown back 
over the wetted portion and finished neatly, is a 
favourite practice of ours when ordinary mulching is 
not given. Bedding plants we have not watered this 
season, excepting Stocks, Pansies and Calceolarias. 
All things turned out of pots were well saturated before 
removal, and the dry surface soil kept from the roots 
in the process of planting. If the beds are dry we 
would give them a soaking all over, and when dry 
enough to use the hoe, a good loosening of the surface 
soil would go a long way to meet all the wants of the 
plants. Rich firm soil requires little watering compared 
with poor sandy ground. As vegetable planting is 
now being pursued vigorously, it may be necessary to 
follow promptly with the watering-pot. If the work is 
well done at first little trouble is afterwards experienced. 
Celery requires abundance of water, and a good mulch¬ 
ing is most helpful in saving labour.— Caledonian. 
Early Summer Flowers. — While the her¬ 
baceous borders are every day becoming more interest¬ 
ing by fresh additions of inflorescence, and are now 
proving how valuable they are where there is a demand 
for cut flowers, glass structures lose, to some extent, 
their interest, compared with the periods when there 
is little outside in the way of flowers to give supplies 
in a cut state for the decoration of rooms, halls, &c. 
Our object at present is to refer to some common things 
which are easily managed and can be grown to 
perfection with little trouble. East Lothian Stocks are 
favourably known for their display of finely-coloured 
and highly-scented flowers during late summer and 
autumn, and if these are planted out now on extra 
well-prepared ground, they can easily be made to form 
a double service. In the autumn, when heavy rains 
and early frosts destroy the flowers, rendering Stocks, 
along with many other things, unsightly, the flow r ers 
can be removed and the plants carefully lifted and 
potted, being watered so that the roots are well settled 
in the fresh soil, then kept cool and airy in frames or 
similar protection. These come into flower at a most 
opportune time, and the supply of flowers from a dozen 
or two is enormous. For some months past our demand 
on Stocks has been very heavy, and many of the plants, 
from 1| ft. to 2 ft. through, are yet flowering freely. 
At the present time, when Stocks of the class indicated 
are being planted out, they should be most liberally 
dealt with ; rich firm soil is very suitable for all pur¬ 
poses. The Shrubby Calceolaria is another plant which 
can be grown for a double purpose. These often fail 
because the ground is poor, light and shallow ; with 
deep tilth they grow and flower all the season through. 
Coddled plants are almost sure to fail. "We have had for 
some time past, large plants 2 ft. to 3 ft. through, in a 
mass of flower, which did good service in the open 
borders last season. Associated with some hard-wooded 
plants, now in flower, and the numerous kinds of 
double Petunias, Pelargoniums, Primula obconica (which 
flowers all the year round), Hydrangeas, &c., these 
Calceolarias have a most telling effect, and yellow kinds 
stand well in a cut state.— Caledonian. 
St. Leonard’s Hill, Dunfermline. —The 
residence of Erskine Beveridge, Esq., occupies a promi¬ 
nent position in the immediate vicinity of the town as 
the visitor enters it from the Queensferry Road. The 
grounds are not what can be termed of great extent, 
but they are laid out with admirable taste and judg¬ 
ment. Mr. Beveridge is an ardent lover of all things 
horticultural, and as a natural result all was found in the 
best of order on the day of our visit. The conservatory 
was gay with Pelargoniums, healthy well-cultivated 
specimens ; and the Orchid houses, although not so 
full of bloom as they had been, contained many plants 
making excellent growths and promising to fulfil their 
mission in due season. Among the varieties we observed 
in flower were the following :— 
Cattleya Mossiee, several spikes with three flowers on 
each, C. Harrisoni, Phalfenopsis amabilis, P. Ludde¬ 
manniana, Aerides Fieldingii, Sobralia macrantha, 
Cypripedium Lawrenceanum, Masdevallia Lindenii, 
M. Harryana, M. ignea, M. "Wagneriana, Lycaste 
Deppei, Epidendrum vitellinum majus, Odontoglossum 
Alexandra (in choice varieties) and Trieopilia coccinea. 
"We were pleased to note that herbaceous plants were 
receiving some attention ; a beginning has been made, 
and we have no doubt that in a short time the collec¬ 
tion will form another source of interest to the visitor 
to St. Leonard’s Hill. — L. 
Chrysanthemums in June.— Mr. D. Camp¬ 
bell, The Gardens, Weavil, Fifeshire, seems to be able 
to flower Chrysanthemums all the year round. When 
calling there a few days ago, one could not help being 
struck with the sight of a well-grown plant of Belle 
Paule, covered with a profusion of fair average flowers, 
specimens of which I send you. The plant from which 
the flowers were cut was struck in April, 1886, and has 
been flowering, more or less, for the past three months. 
The prolongation of the Chrysanthemum season may 
not be considered of any great advantage ; but this 
merely shows that it is possible, even in bleak Scotland, 
if thought advisable.— D. P. L. 
The Amateurs’ Garden. 
Thinning Annuals.— Those annuals that were sown 
in proper season will now require attention, both in the 
matter of weeding and thinning. This is a matter 
concerning which too much can hardly be said, as 
many cultivators of these hardy and truly ornamental 
subjects, either through ignorance or neglect (I should 
hardly like to say the former), suffer their plants to 
become ruined, or comparatively so. The more likely 
reason for this state of matters is that through stress of 
work at this busy season beds and borders of annuals 
are allowed to make shift as best they can, from the 
generally concurrent opinion that they are the least 
valuable of bedding plants coming under the gardener’s 
care. This is a grand mistake, however, notwithstand¬ 
ing the fact that seeds may be saved in abundance from 
one’s own beds, or may be bought at a mere nominal 
price. Another practice sometimes pursued, but which 
is equally reprehensible, is to mix the seeds of some 
half a dozen different species and sow these in lines, 
presumably for the sake of effect and variety. These 
widely diverse subjects more frequently than otherwise 
act injuriously on one another, so that it is at all times 
preferable to grow them in separate lines or areas. 
In the thinning out of annuals much will have to 
be left to the skill or judgment of the cultivator, who 
can soon learn the habits and requirements of the bulk 
of the species deserving of cultivation in gardens. Both 
the height and habit of growth will have to be taken 
into consideration. Procumbent and trailing species 
generally occupy a considerable area and should be 
accommodated accordingly. Tall-growing kinds ought 
to be thinned out to 6 ins. or 8 ins. in the lines, and if 
they make vigorous growth these distances are really 
too small. Such things as Rhodanthe Manglesi, 
Malcolmia maritima and Linum grandiflorum do not 
branch much nor attain great stature, and may, there¬ 
fore, remain at distances of 1 in. to 3 ins. in the line, 
unless the character of the soil may ensure a better 
growth, when the superiority of well-thinned plants 
over those that have not been so treated will surprise 
those who make the experiment. Not only is the 
cultivator rewarded with a greater amount of bloom, 
but it is much finer and the flowering is extended over 
a much longer period It is quite evident that six or 
eight plants occupying a space that should more 
properly be reserved for one, must starve one another 
in the struggle for existence. 
The truth of these remarks will be more forcibly 
brought home to those who sow certain annuals such as 
Tagetes signata, T. patula, T. erecta, Saponaria 
calabrica, Phlox Drummondi and others in pans, 
pricking them out in boxes or frames, and afterwards 
planting them at 9 ins. to 12 ins. apart, or even more, 
in the open ground. These completely occupy the 
space allotted them, and flower persistently till cut 
down by frost. 
Cauliflower, &c. — Omit no opportunity after 
showers of rain, when the atmosphere is humid and 
favourable for growth, to have all Cauliflowers, Brussels 
Sprouts, Cabbages and similar things from the seed¬ 
beds planted in their permanent quarters. Should the 
plants be small, which need not now be the case, 
except where late sowings were made through failure of 
earlier-sown ones, never hesitate to take advantage of 
favourable weather, thus saving an immense amount 
of labour in taking out trenches, watering and other 
things necessary to start the plants into fresh growth 
in dry weather. 
Celery. —Where appliances and plenty of means 
are available, Celery for an early supply will have been 
planted out ere now, but the season is not yet too late 
for good stuff to be obtained from plants put out now, 
if well attended to in the matter of watering. 
Indeed, in the more favourable parts of the country 
useful material for a late spring supply can be had 
from seeds sown in the early part of this month. 
A width of 3 ft. or 4 ft. from centre to centre of the 
trench is suitable for small gardens, and good heads 
may be obtained from such. The trenches should also 
be 12 ins. or more in depth, and about 18 ins. in 
width at the bottom, or as nearly so as convenient. 
Into this work a considerable quantity of manure, and 
plant the Celery immediately, giving a good watering 
to settle the soil about the roots. Every Cauliflower, 
or what is better, Lettuce, may be planted on the top 
of the ridges, to be used before earthing up the Celery. 
—J. F. 
