August 20, 1887. 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
811 
Mr. Gaut reviewed, they will yet be very good. I 
have quite recently seen a plant in a 14-in. pot, 
standing on a wooden trellis with a brick floor, where 
its roots could not possibly penetrate, trained up the 
roof of a greenhouse ; the plant measured 10 ft. in 
length, and extended 15 ft. in width at the bottom, 
getting gradually narrower, until at the top it was but 
2 ft. This plant had 400 spikes of bloom upon it, with 
many more to open, and looked the very picture of 
health. Under these circumstances I think the subject 
of this note may fairly claim a more extended system 
of pot culture. — Richard Weller, The Gardens, 
Glenstal Castle,' Murroe, Co. Limerick. 
Seedling Coleus. —The various colours and 
markings of the leaves of Coleus are difficult of 
description, especially as the colours are so changeable, 
even on the same plant; but we shall essay to define 
those of several seedling specimens sent us by Mr. 
James Lye, Clyffe Hall, Market Lavington, Wilts. A 
most striking form was that of which the leaf measured 
6 ins. by 3f ins., of a uniform velvety brown colour, 
except the margins of the crenatures, which were bright 
yellow; the under-surface was uniformly pale yellow 
throughout. Another with equally large foliage was 
deep velvety maroon, almost black, with green 
crenatures, and the mid-rib lively rose-carmine, more 
or less suffused with scarlet. A third form we liked 
equally well had the central area larger and even more 
brightly coloured, with a green more deeply scolloped 
margin, and marbled with green blotches for some 
distance inwards. These three are certainly the cream 
of the varieties sent us, although some might give 
preference to a form with shorter and proportionately 
broader leaves, rather deeply crenate at the margin, 
and having a broad centre area of a lively carmine, 
fading to rose as the leaf gets old, and variously blotched 
with yellow. 
Muscat of Alexandria. —A fine houseful of 
this Grape may now be seen in excellent condition at 
Cliveden, Berks, the seat of the Duke of Westminster, 
whose interests are served to good purpose by Mr. 
Ellam, his gardener. We frequently see this, one of 
the handsomest of Grapes, grown in a house containing 
a mixed collection, but it never attains that perfection 
which it does in a house specially devoted to its 
culture. The effect produced in the latter case is also 
more imposing by reason of the fine appearance of its 
large oval berries and handsome bunches, which in the 
present instance bear evidence of their true character. 
This variety is naturally a late one, but the house 
having been forced, the Grapes are now assuming a fine 
soft yellow or even amber colour. 
Gaillardia pulchella Lorenziana. —Some of 
the most attractive and well-furnished beds at Drop- 
more, Taplow, the seat of Lady Fortescue, consist of 
this remarkable composite. Although of annual 
duration only, its floriferous character and the unique 
appearance of this variety or race recommend it to the 
attention of those whose soil is light, or whose garden 
is likely to suffer from drought when we are visited by 
seasons such as the present. This liking for dry 
weather has been abundantly evinced by Gaillardias on 
every hand, but by none more so than the beds at 
Dropmore, which must be described as a mass of bloom. 
The distinguishing characters of the variety Lorenziana 
depend on the ray florets and more or less on those of 
the disk as well, which are developed into a long funnel- 
shaped tube with a small three to five-parted limb. 
The first form that originated of this variety had 
crimson florets with yellow-tipped segments, but various 
red and rose tints are now to be seen in plants raised 
from seed, and the species seems capable of great im¬ 
provement, both with respect to the habit of the plant 
and in the further production of beautiful and attractive 
colours. 
Isotoma axillaris. — In common with the 
Lobelias, to which this plant is closely allied, it 
possesses the character of blooming very profusely in 
dry, warm seasons. There is a fine bed of it at Drop- 
more, which is now very conspicuous from the dwarf 
habit of the plant and the profusion of its clear pale 
blue flowers. It requires the protection of a greenhouse 
in winter, is easily propagated from cuttings at this 
season, and requires the same treatment as that given 
to Lobelias. There is a more deeply cut-leaved form 
in cultivation under the names of I.a. subpinnatifida, 
I. senecioides subpinnatifida and Lobelia senecioides. 
ORCHID NOT ES AND GLEANINGS. 
Orchid Growers’Calendar. —From henceforth 
for the remainder of the season care must be taken that 
the shading on the houses is allowed to be down only 
during those periods in which the sun is shining on 
them, the blinds being drawn up as the rays pass 
off. Nothing better prepares Orchids for passing the 
winter in a sound and healthy condition than giving 
them abundance of light in the autumn. When the 
sun’s rays are not too powerful, therefore, they should 
be freely admitted on the Laelia and Cattleya houses, 
and more particularly on that part where Laelia anceps, 
L. autumnalis, &c., are growing. The Phalfenopsis 
want the most care to protect them from the sun ; and 
although they seem to prefer a house of southern 
aspect on account of the light they get there in winter, 
they should have a thin shade for spring and autumn, 
and a second blind during the summer months. 
Vandas, Aerides, Saccolabiums, Bolleas, Warscewic- 
zellas, Angraecums, Cypripediums, and all such plants 
are readily injured by direct sunlight, and so also are 
the occupants of the cold house, in some places 
especially ; and it is better, therefore, while giving 
plenty of light to guard them against the sun on 
hot days. Resting Dendrobes require bright sunlight 
to ripen their growths, and the Barkerias should not 
be shaded any longer. Indeed, in some houses they 
do best without shading all the year round. In all 
cases where, in changeable weather, it is deemed better 
not to let the blinds down, a safeguard against injury 
in case of the sun coming out very strong should be 
provided by carefully ventilating the hoirse top and 
bottom—an inch or so of each ventilator being opened. 
Catasetums, Mormodes, and Cycnoches as they finish 
up their growth should be put away on"a shelf near 
the glass in a cool house, where they may get plenty of 
light, and may be kept dry for winter—in fact, treated 
as resting Dendrobes—but those that are still grow¬ 
ing should have abundance of water until growth is 
completed. —James O'Brien. 
Eriopsis rutidobulbon. —The very singular¬ 
looking and, at the same time, beautiful or ornamental 
Orchid of the above name, is now flowering at Burford 
Lodge, Dorking, in the far-famed collection of Sir 
Trevor Lawrence. The pseudo-bulbs are black and 
corrugated, or raised into coarse blunt elevations, which 
give them an unwonted appearance in the family to 
which this plant belongs. On the top of these are pro¬ 
duced two or three broad arching lance-shaped leaves. 
The long arching flower-spike bears twenty flowers of a 
showy but exceedingly curious combination of colours; 
the sepals and petals are orange with a broad black 
border ; while the three-lobed lip is brown with a 
white tip, at the base of which are a few comparatively 
large jet-black spots. The latter organ has upturned 
lateral lobes, and, together with the general aspect of 
the plant, bears some resemblance to a Ccelogyne. An 
intermediate temperature is most suitable to its well¬ 
being, as it comes from New Grenada. 
Lycaste tetragona. —This curious species is 
wrongly described in several works, where the sepals 
are said to be oblong-obtuse and erect. They are, on 
the other hand, ovate-acute (the lateral ones broadly 
so), and erect, of a greenish yellow, suffused and lined 
with brownish purple. The petals are similar but 
several times smaller ; and, on the whole, the flowers 
cannot be described as showy, compared with some of 
the more common and popular species, but the lip is 
singularly curious and highly coloured. It is some¬ 
what saccate at the base, and bulged out into a strange 
transverse ridge above the middle, while internally it 
is furnished with a large blackish purple tongue as 
wide as the throat itself; and the whole lip forms a 
tube which stands against the column, being held in 
that position by a highly elastic claw fixed to the long 
foot of the column. Internally the lip is blackish 
purple, and white externally with the exception of the 
top ; all the three lobes are somewhat bearded. A 
well-flowered specimen may be seen in the Orchid 
house at Pendell Court. 
Miltonia spectabilis. —At the present time two 
finely-flowered pieces of this Orchid may be seen at 
Coolhurst, Horsham. Some thirty or more flowers are 
all fully expanded ; while numerous others, as yet con¬ 
cealed by the large yellowish bracts of the inflorescence, 
will keep up a succession for weeks to come. Con¬ 
sidering that the pieces were comparatively small, we 
seldom have the opportunity of witnessing instances of 
such profuse flowering, as plants of the same size may 
frequently be seen bearing less than a third of that 
number. The flowers are smaller than those of the 
magnificent variety M. s. Moreliana, and differently 
coloured, the sepals and petals being pure white, while 
the labellum is of a beautiful rosy violet, fading to a 
paler tint towards the apex. Curiously enough, the 
petals in M. s. Moreliana are more deeply coloured than 
the labellum—a circumstance which one would hardly 
expect. The best specimens of this, as of other Orchids, 
are transferred to the rooms of the mansion when in 
flower, and last in perfection there for many weeks 
unhurt. Being stood in a quantity of wet moss, they 
require little watering. 
-- 
Tl Gardeners’ Calendar, 
-- 
THE PLANT HOUSES. 
Early risers, by the chilliness of the mornings, will 
be reminded that autumn is fast approaching, and will 
take time by the forelock. Propagating must now be 
thought of, although it is somewhat of a query where 
the necessary stock of cuttings can be obtained. All 
the Pelargonium tribe are terribly deficient in this 
respect, and, of course, will not submit —without 
greatly spoiling the effect — to the usual August 
thinnings-out. However, every effort must be made to 
get the best possible early stock of cuttings, remem¬ 
bering that in an emergency these will each afford one 
or two spring cuttings, a great number of which will 
doubtless find their way into the flower garden next 
season, and somewhat detract from the usual gorgeous 
display of bloom. 
We have potted up our Lachenalias, which had just 
re-started, but not sufficiently to injure the young 
roots. Care should be taken that the crown of the 
bulbs is kept quite an inch under the surface, or 
during the resting period many of the crowns are 
injured, and go partially blind if exposed. After 
potting up let them be returned to the cold pits, simply 
giving a rather heavy damping through the “rose” 
to settle the soil about the bulbs, after which the only 
attention necessary will be to ventilate during the 
day, and keep the soil sprinkled to avoid shrivelling of 
the bulbs, until active growth takes place, when they 
should be regularly watered, and kept as hardy as 
possible. 
The First Batch of Roman Hyacinths should 
now be potted ; the flowers are most useful for bouquet 
work, and should on that account receive due attention. 
If not already done, let the heap of soil for these and 
the other Dutch bulbs to follow be prepared without 
delay ; if the loam at hand to be used is of a heavy 
nature make a liberal use of leaf-soil and sharp sand, 
but by all means avoid as much as possible the adding 
of cow-manure to the soil. I am quite sure that it is 
frequently a source of failure in the cultivation of 
plants ; far better give a sound compost and feed with 
liquid manure when in active growth than to add 
an ingredient to the soil so provocative of failure, as we 
have proved this to be, by the introduction of insect 
pests. My advice is, by ’all' means avoid the use of 
any matter whatever in the mixing of the soil ; and 
whatever food is necessary "give it ,in a 'liquid state, 
when the plant is in a fit condition to receive the 
fullest amount. We have completed the layering of 
Carnations, including a goodly batch of Mal- 
maison, for which purpose old stools were planted out. 
After the layers are taken off (they are layered in small 
pots) they will be cut back, and then we hope to secure 
a good batch of grass for next season’s stock. This is, 
without doubt, a grand Carnation, but to obtain any¬ 
thing like satisfactory results it must be specially 
treated; that is, if blooms by the hundred are expected, 
and they can be had readily enough if special structures 
are devoted to their culture. A fit companion for 
special culture now to hand is the beautiful, as well as 
useful, Pride of Penshurst. 
THE FRUIT HOUSES. 
Melons. —Care must now be taken that plenty of 
bottom heat is afforded the late Melons ; if this should 
be neglected a stunted dirty growth will be the certain 
result. On the contrary, if good -flavoured well-netted 
