582 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
May 11,1895. 
PTERIS NOBILIS VARIEG AT A. 
This must not be confounded with Pteris cretica 
nobilis, now so well known in gardens and extensively 
cultivated for decorative purposes. The plant under 
notice belongs to the section Doryopteris, and the 
fronds pass through various stages of development. 
An early stage is arrow-shaped, like the fully 
developed fronds of P. sagittifolia; then the next 
series develops short lateral lobes, becoming hastate, 
and the fronds of the ultimate or adult form are five 
lobed. They are bright green in the ordinary form 
of the Fern, leathery in texture, and shining, but the 
variegated variety under notice has a broad creamy- 
white band running along the centre of each segment, 
so that there would be from one to five of these 
creamy bands, according to the stage of development. 
Well grown plants are distinct in character, hand¬ 
some, and well worthy of a place in a collection to 
brighten up and give variety to the ordinary green 
foliaged kinds. There is a large batch of seedlings 
in the nursery of Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Chelsea. 
ORCHID NOTES AND GLEANINGS, 
By John Fraser, F.L.S., Kew. 
Cypripedium Lawrenceanum. Recently a 
very vigorous plant of this species belonging to Pro¬ 
fessor Redwood, Ballard’s Lane, Church End, 
Finchley, came under our notice. The flower 
scape was 20 in. high and in other respects showed 
evidence of good cultural treatment. The dorsal 
sepal was orbicular, rich purple with nearly black 
veins and white at the apex, and measured 2J in. in 
diameter. The petals though less richly tinted, 
measured 5J in. across and were prominently marked 
with black spots along the central portions and along 
both edges. The lip was of great size and dark 
purple The foliage of this species is always 
attractive, independently of the flowers, and when 
pots or pans are well filled with healthy crowns the 
space which the plants fill is always worthily 
occupied whether in flower or not. 
Dendrobium Wardianum —The interest in this 
beautiful spring flowering species is not only kept up 
amongst cultivators but seems to be increasing. 
This must be owing to a real liking for it and its 
utility for decorative purposes in various ways. 
Some flowers as well as a photograph of D. Wardia¬ 
num, and D. crassinode, have been sent us by Mr. 
Francis H. Moore, superintendent of the Royal 
Infirmary, Liverpool. Three stems of the species 
under notice bore an aggregate of thirty-nine flowers, 
and the photograph showed that the stems produced 
in this country were far superior to the imported ones 
in size. The stems of D. crassinode also testified to 
the greater vigour of the growths developed under 
glass, and showed that the cultural^ treatment 
accorded to them was in agreement with'their likings. 
In the near future the cultivation of this magnificent 
Burmese species will be more generally understood ; 
then we may expect to see it as common and as well 
flowered as D. nobile now so useful for cut flowers 
and other decorative w'ork. 
Cymbidium eburneo-Lowianum —The name 
of this fine hybrid indicates its parentage and is a 
sort of guarantee of the value of the progeny. As 
might have been expected the colour of the latter is 
a compromise between those of the parents, so that 
the flowers are not pure white, nor possess the green¬ 
ness of C. Lowianum The sepals and petals are pale 
creamy-yellow tinted with pink externally. The lip 
is similar except that it possesses the dark zone at 
the tip characteristic of C. Lowianum. The flowers 
on the raceme are more numerous than those of C. 
eburneum yet the scape never as far as we have seen 
attains the length of that of the other parent. The 
plant is vigorous in growth aud flowers regularly and 
well during the winter and spring months. It was 
raised in the establishment of Messrs. J Veitch 
& Son, Chelsea, where it might have been seen for 
months together in bloom ; it has also appeared in 
public frequently and on every occasion found many 
admirers. 
Laeliaflava. —The pseudo-bulbs of this species 
are subulate and taper much to the apex like a long 
narrow-necked bottle bearing one oblong, leathery 
bronze leaf at the apex. The flower stem is about 
18 in. high or mere and bears a short raceme of 
flowers at the top. The sepals and petals are narrow 
but golden-yellow with a darker lip much crisped at 
the edges of the terminal lobe ; the tube is somewhat 
paler. It is a native of two or more of the mountain 
ranges of Minas Geraes, a province of Brazil to the 
northward of Rio de Janeiro, and is always found at 
a considerable elevation. Specifically, L. flava is 
closely allied to L. cinnabarina but may be dis¬ 
tinguished at once by its short, relatively stoucer, and 
usually deep purple pseudo-bulbs. The treatment 
required for the last named would also suit L. flava. 
It may be seen in the nursery of Messrs. J. Veitch 
& Sons, Chelsea. 
THE PLANT HOUSES. 
The Stove. 
The burst of genial spring weather with which we 
are now being favoured is a most welcome change 
from the dull sunless days and raw cold winds which 
insisted on staying with us for so long. In the stove 
the ordinary routine of summer treatment must now 
be gone through. The watering of course must 
receive the first consideration, as it is most important 
that plants which are in full vigour of growth should 
not be allowed to suffer from lack of moisture. The 
plants should, therefore, be looked over early in 
the morning, the syringe then being plied vigorously 
about them. The paths and stages must be damped 
down several times during the day, in fact, never 
allowing them to get dry. Shade from the direct 
rays of the sun is of course an absolute necessity 
during the forenoon and early part of the afternoon 
of bright days. Watering should again be seen to 
between two and three o’clock in the afternoon, 
another liberal application of the syringe given, the 
the blinds drawn up, and the house closed, thus 
imprisoning a portion of sun heat with a view to 
avoiding the driving of the fires as far as possible. 
Ventilation must also receive the strictest attention. 
During this early part of the season it is not 
advisable to give too much air, for it follows that the 
more air there is put on the more difficult will it be 
to maintain the moist-growing atmosphere that 
stove plants love, and which is indeed a necessity 
for their well-being. The temperature ought there¬ 
fore to be regulated by means of judicious shading 
rather than by giving a lot of air. 
Gardenias. —These beautiful and useful plants 
are always sure of a place in any and every fairly 
representative collection of stove subjects. The 
wax-like appearance of the flowers, coupled with 
their delicious fragrance and the ease with which 
the plants themselves may be grown, have combined 
to make them favourites with all. Plants which are 
opening their flowers must be treated liberally with 
regard to water, and frequent supplies of liquid manure 
will be necessary. Although in many establishments 
it is the custom to save the old plants and grow 
them on year after year, a great number of cultiva¬ 
tors prefer to strike cuttings each season, and thus 
obtain a stock of medium sized plants that.are almost 
sure to bloom profusely if properly treated. Cuttings 
which were inserted in the early spring will by this 
time have rooted sufficiently to warrant potting off. 
Small 6o-pots will be found a convenient size to use, 
and a compost of equal parts of peat and loam with 
the addition of some sharp sand and a few nodules of 
charcoal will answer admirably. The young plants 
should be grown on in a temperature of about 75® 
Fahr., shading them pretty closely, and keeping the 
syringe at work amongst them twice or thrice a day, 
for Gardenias revel in plenty of heat and an abun¬ 
dance of moisture. Red spider, green fly, mealy 
bug, and scale are all very fond of attacking the 
plants, and thus an ever careful watch must be kept 
to see that they do not obtain a foothold. 
Crotons and Dracaenas. —Young plants of these 
which were obtained from cuttings a couple of 
months ago will now need to be potted on according 
to their size. A compost of two-thirds of good 
fibrous loam and one of peat, to which must be 
added a good sprinkling of silver sand, should be 
employed , potting firmly but on no account filling 
the pots too full of soil. If possible young plants 
of this kind should be grown in a heated frame or 
pit where they can be kept close to the glass for 
some weeks subsequent to their potting, after which 
they may be removed to the stove as occasion 
requires. 
Greenhouse and Cool Conservatory. — In 
most cases the ordinary run of winter and spring 
flowering plants will now have had their day, and 
many of the more tender subjects which stand a 
greenhouse temperature during the summer will be 
waiting to take their places. If time can be spared 
before these latter are brought in, the house should 
receive a good cleaning, at least as far as it is possible 
to do so. Any glass and woodwork that may be 
dirty should be washed, and the climbers on the roof 
looked after, both for tying in, where this is necessary, 
and to see that green fly or mealy bug has not 
effected a lodgment. The shingle on the stages must 
also be washed, and the whole house left clean and 
tidy in readiness for the plants that are waiting to 
be brought in. 
Richardias.— After these have been turned out of 
the greenhouse they may be stood out-of-doors in an 
out of the way corner without fear of their sustaining 
damage. Here they may remain until time can be 
found to plant them out or to pot them up as the 
case may be. Although they will need less water 
now than they did when they were in the heydey 
of their beauty, they should on no account be 
suffered to become dust-dry at the root, a condition 
which cannot fail to be fraught with considerable 
injury to them. 
Plants for Edging. —In arranging the plants 
upon the shelves it is necessary to have some of 
dwarf and pendant habit to hide in a measure the 
pots of the other subjects, and to form a suitable 
finish to the whole. For this purpose the pretty 
little Isolepis gracilis is almost indispensable, whilst 
those gems of Campanulas, C. isophylla and C. i. 
alba, have few to equal and certainly none to surpass 
them in beauty and effectiveness. The Ivy-leaved 
Pelargonium Madame Crousse when grown in pots 
and allowed to hang down over the edge of the 
stage is also of great value as a suitable subject for 
edging. Pots of Musk and of blue Lobelia will also 
afford a bright and pleasing effect, and a quantity 
should be always in stock during the summer 
months. 
- 
Most of the cold pits and frames will up to the 
present have been filled to overflowing with bedding 
plants of all kinds and in all stages of growth. The 
room taken up by this class of plants is often sadly 
bewailed by the gardener who finds himself cramped 
for want of space. The time has now arrived, how¬ 
ever, when zonal Pelargoniums and the plants 
obtained from the earlier struck cuttings of Verbenas, 
Heliotropes, etc., may be stood out of doors and a 
portion of under glass space thus set at liberty. Any 
plants that are turned out in this manner, however, 
must be placed in a sheltered corner, if such is 
obtainable. A temporary framework should also be 
erected over them, so that in case of the visitation of 
a few late frosts, protection may be easily and 
quickly given by means of Russian mats or tiffany. 
As the pits and frames have usuailly to cater for 
the wants of the stove and greenhouse, attention 
must be paid to the potting off of such subjects as 
require it. Thus, the later batches of Fuchsias will 
need attention in this respect. Coleuses too are 
splendid plants for standing in the conservatory or in 
vases in the mansion during the summer months; 
and their bright and highly coloured foliage is both 
gay and handsome when the plants are suitably 
arranged amongst other subjects. Batches of 
cuttings should therefore be put in at intervals so as 
to keep up a continual supply of dwarf plants for 
furnishing purposes in the show houses ; the older 
cnes which evince a tendency to become leggy as 
they advance in age being thrown away to make 
room for the younger ones. 
The following varieties of Coleuses will be found 
very suitable for all ordinary purposes: Mrs. 
Sanders, The Queen, Miss Rosina, Miss Simpson, 
Illuminator, Lord Rosebery, and Mr. G. Simpson. 
Shading. —A word of caution here may be neces¬ 
sary. All plants which have been potted will for a 
few days after need to have special care bestowed 
upon them in this respect. Instead of deluging them 
with water immediately after shifting, it is far better 
to syringe them lightly several times a day and to 
shade them closely until they recover in a measure 
the check which is sure to result from potting in a 
greater or less degree, no matter how carefully the 
operation is performed. Other plants which have 
thin or delicate foliage will also need to be shielded 
from the direct rays of the sun. The giving of 
shade is, however, one of those operations in which, 
like many another that could be mentioned, practical 
experience is the best teacher.— A.S.G, 
