840 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
August 31, 1895. 
Odontoglossum harryanum. —The flowering 
plants in a unique group set up by T. B. Haywood, 
Esq. (gardener, Mr. C. J. Salter), consisted largely 
of healthy well-grown and superbly flowered speci¬ 
mens of Odontoglossum harryanum, the segments of 
which were remarkably firm in texture. The sepals 
were of a deep chocolate with a few transverse 
yellow streaks. The petals had longitudinal white 
or pale coloured lines on the lower half. The lip 
was very handsome, being of a dark violet on the 
lower half and pure white upwards. There was 
little to choose in quality between all of the flowers 
in the group. Award of Merit. 
Odontoglossum wattianum.—The lanceolate 
sepals of this beautiful Odontoglot are rich brown, 
marbled with yellow, and have a yellow tip. The 
petals are blotched and spotted with brown on a 
yellow ground. The large lip is white with a large, 
central purple blotch and numerous small spots of 
the same hue. It received a First-class Certificate, 
a well-deserved recognition. Messrs. F. Sander & 
Co., St. Albans. 
Cattleya Leopoldii Sander's var, Nov. var .— 
The sepals and petals of this fine Cattleya are richly 
spotted with dark purple on a pale rosy ground- 
The transverse middle lobe of the lip is intense 
crimson-purple, and the side lobes rosy. The plant 
bore a magnificent spike. Award of Merit. Messrs. 
F. Sander & Co. 
Cattleya Fowleri, Nov. hyb. —The parentage of 
this hybrid was C. Leopoldii crossed with C. har- 
dyana. The long stems are slender and compressed. 
The sepals are purple, and the obovate petals of a 
darker hue. The upper lobe of the lip is transverse 
like the seed bearer, very broad, wavy, crenate, and 
of a rich dark purple; the side lobes are folded 
over the column aDd rosy purple. It is a distinct 
and highly-coloured Cattleya. First-class Certificate. 
J. Gurney Fowler, Esq. (gardener, Mr. Davis), South 
Woodford, Essex. 
Vanda caerulea Fowler's var, Nov. var .— 
The flowers of this Vanda were notable for their 
great size and rich blue colour, most intensified upon 
the lip. Each spike carried six to ten flowers. 
Those who saw the plants said they never saw the 
flowers more highly coloured. First-class Certificate. 
J. Gurney Fowler, Esq. 
Eria stellata.- —The scapes of this species are 12 
in. to 18 in. long, and bear a long raceme of starry 
flowers. The sepals are deep purple lined with 
white and the petals are paler. The lip is yellowish. 
Botanical Certificate. Admiral R. P. Cator (gar¬ 
dener, Mr. G. E. Day), King’s Langley. 
Laelio-Cattleya Elstead Gem , Nov. hyb. bigen .— 
This was obtained from Cattleya bicolor crossed 
with L. xanthina, and is very distinct. The smooth 
sepals are golden yellow, but the oblong petals are 
more corrugated, revolute at the sides and pale 
yellow. The terminal, transverse lobe of the lip is 
dark purple and ribbed ; the side lobes cover the 
column, and are yellow except the purple tips, and 
the tube is yellow. Award of Merit. Charles 
Ingram, Esq. (gardener, Mr. T. Bond), Elstead 
House, Godaiming. 
Maxillaria fucata. —The sepals and petals of 
this pretty species are white at the base and orange- 
brown upwards, spotted with darker markings. 
The lip is yellow with reddish-brown, wavy side 
lobes. Award of Merit. Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart, 
(grower, Mr. W. White), Burford Lodge, Dorking. 
Laelia monophylla. —The slender stems of this 
rare species are 2 in. to 3 in. long, and bear a 
solitary leaf and flower which is bright orange- 
scarlet. Award of Merit. A well-flowered plant 
was shown by Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart. 
Polycycnis Lehmannii.— The sepals of this 
singularly curious species are concave, the upper 
one being folded together and heavily spotted purple 
on a pale ground. The petals are smaller but 
similar. The lip is a curious organ, white, spotted 
with dark purple, and furnished on the middlewith a 
downy, woolly, white patch of hairs. The lateral 
lobes clasp the slender column. Botanical Certifi¬ 
cate. Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart. 
Polystachya odorata. —The ligulate leaves are 
numerous, and from amongst them springs the 
panicled scape bearing very numerous, small, yellow 
and white flowers. Botanical Certificate. Sir 
Trevor Lawrence, Bart. 
Dendrobium longicornu.— The flowers of this 
pretty Dendrobe are characterised by a long, conical, 
white spur, tinted blush. The segments are white, 
and the interior of the lip is striped with salmon 
and has a median orange band. Botanical Certifi¬ 
cate. Sir Trevor Lawrence, Bart. 
Odontoglossum coronarium. —A flower of a 
fine form of this Odontoglot is now flowering 
splendidly with Mr. T. Henderson, gardener to A. O. 
Shalders, F.sq., Elmleigh, Ilkley. The plant was 
bought at a sale of Orchids belonging to E. Salts, 
Esq., Ferniehirst, near Bradford, Yorks, and is now 
flowering at Elmleigh for the first time. It carries 
twenty-three flowers on a spike and must present a 
fine appearance. The sepals and petals are crisped 
and of usual rich reddish coppery brown, margined 
with golden-yellow, and as glossy as if they were 
polished. The lip is rich yellow, with exception of 
the brownish-orange crest and surroundings as well 
as a darker blotch in front of the same. The column 
of the species is usually white as well as the crest, 
but in this case it is of a dark chocolate-purple. 
Altogether we consider this a very fine and highly 
coloured variety. Unfortunately the plant is rather 
difficult to cultivate, and requires special treatment. 
Its rambling habit prevents it from being grown 
successfully for any length of time in a pot ; but 
it responds better to good cultural treatment 
when grown in a long, narrow, teak box or on a 
raft of similar form so that the rhizomes may have 
some room to run. A compost of peat and sphag¬ 
num, with plenty of the latter, answers its require¬ 
ments admirably ; and the other special conditions 
are that it should be suspended near the glass and 
kept moist all the year round. 
Cypripedium superbiens (Veitchii). —The 
various forms of deformed flowers to be seen 
occasionally amongst Orchids, are always interesting 
and worth recording. From time to time we hear of 
twin-lipped flowers of Cypripediums, but there is at 
present in flower at Falkland Park, South Norwood, 
a plant of C. superbiens with four good flowers, two 
of which have twin lips, each flower producing two 
pouches, each lip being complete and divided from 
the base of the column ; otherwise the flowers are 
normal. I have long been of the opinion that twin 
flowers—two flowers on one stalk—were the result of 
good culture; and in many other plants good 
culture gives rise to doubling. Is this twin-lipped 
slipper the forerunner of the same thing in Cypripe¬ 
dium ?—“ Norweodcnsc." 
-- 
Hardening §[iscellany. 
THE MONTBRETIA. 
About this time last year I wrote you on the hardi¬ 
ness of the Montbretia, and now, after an experience 
ot one of the most severe and prolonged winters, I 
can confirm the opinion I then expressed, that it is 
perfectly hardy, suitable, and highly decorative as a 
herbaceous subject. I have the same fine bed I had 
last year, now crowded with spikes of bloom just 
beginning to burst; and of the thousands of bulbs 
of which this bed is composed I cannot discover a 
single failure, although exposed even without the 
slightest mulch during the whole of last winter. It 
is thus one of the most useful plants cultivated for 
supplying what may be considered a choice ornament 
for table and general house decoration.— D. P. Bell. 
AN EARLY FLOWERING CAMELLIA. 
I enclose you a bloom of a white Camellia which is 
further advanced than I remember ever having seen 
so early in the season. Two buds were left on each 
shoot, the total number of the former being 170 or 
thereby. The plant on which these are growing is 
a rather old specimen, growing in a 12 in. pot and 
considerably root-bound. It measures 4^ ft. from the 
rim of the pot to the top of the plant, the greatest 
diameter being only 3J ft. It will be perceived 
that the plant is not a large one in proportion to the 
number of buds it carries. It has stood in the open 
for about three months.— D. Mackie, Montgomerie, 
Ayrshire. [The fully-expanded flower sent us 
measured 4 in. in diameter, and was perfectly 
developed in all its parts, with broad, neatly im¬ 
bricated petals of firm texture, and pure white. 
Several sprays bore fine buds, which, in the ordinary 
course of growth would have opened in a short time. 
The dark green, leathery leaves bore evidence of 
good cultivation. Such early flowering should 
insure a long season of Camellia blossom.— Ed.] 
TWO CHOICE FUCHSIAS. 
The varieties of Fuchsia are so numerous that selec¬ 
tion often becomes a difficult matter. Here and 
there, however, some stand out more prominently 
from the rest, and amongst these we would place 
Duchess of Edinburgh and Ballet Girl. Both are 
double, light-coloured, and charming in their way, 
owing to the regular arrangement of the flat, ample, 
and imbricating petals. In the case of Duchess of 
Edinburgh the sepals are red and reflexed. The 
broad petals are very numerous, giving the flower a 
solid appearance, without being lumpy, as in the 
case of those whose petals are crumpled and project 
more or less from the flower in an irregular way. 
Slightly smaller is Ballet Girl, but sufficiently large 
to take a place in a very choice collection. The 
sepals are short, bright red, and so recurved as to 
give the flower a neat and sprightly appearance. 
The petals are white, with rosy veins at the base, 
and exceedingly neat in form, as the name would 
suggest. We saw both of these sorts in the collec¬ 
tion of Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Chelsea, and have 
no hesitation in saying that they are two of the finest 
Fuchsias in cultivation. 
A FINE STRAIN OF STREPTOCARPUS. 
Great interest still continues to be manifested in 
the cultivation and improvement of the hybrid strain 
of Streptocarpus in the nursery of Messrs. J. Veitch 
& Sons, Chelsea. The seeds were sown in January, 
and afterwards planted out in a frame which is 
heated with a 2 in. flow and return pipe, but which 
is barely sufficient to keep out the frost in winter 
when the lights are frozen down. The seedlings are 
planted out, and will give an idea of the number 
grown from the fact that twenty lights are occupied 
with them. The flowers possess an endless range 
of colour, from pure white to intense violet or purple- 
violet. In some of the white varieties the blue and 
other hues are so reduced that nothing but three 
faint blue lines or a pale yellow band in the throat 
are seen. Other colours are rose, intense rose, violet 
with blackish-violet bands, blue and violet bands, 
purple, intense purple-violet, intense purple-red, and 
other hues too numerous to mention, but which give 
a charm and vivacity to a collection in which but a 
tithe of the existing colours are represented. 
Whether grown in pots or planted out these Strepto- 
carpi succeed equally well. 
A BLUE ROSE. 
According to report, a reward of 30,000 francs 
has been offered by a florist in Mayenne, France, 
to any one who can raise a blue Rose. 
- 4 *.- 
FLOWER GALA AT ABERDEEN. 
The annual show and gala of the Royal Horti¬ 
cultural Society of Aberdeen was held within the 
Duthie Park on the 22nd, 23rd, and 24th inst. 
Beautiful weather favoured the event. Overnight 
heavy rain fell, and the early morning of Thursday 
looked far from auspicious. In the course of the 
forenoon the atmosphere cleared, and bright sun¬ 
shine, tempered by a cooling breeze from the south¬ 
west, was experienced for the remainder of the day. 
The entire park was utilised for the purpose of the 
fete, but in view of the fact that the charge for ad¬ 
mission was fixed at a nominal figure, and that the 
attractions were numerous, few, if any, of the public 
could complain of the slight inconvenience of being 
for a time kept outside the place which they have 
come to regard as peculiarly their own property. 
The exhibits were superior to anything previously 
got together. The total amounted to 2,021, as com¬ 
pared with 1,375 in 1893, the figures in the different 
sections being :—Pot plants, 282 against 156 last 
year ; cut flowers, 620, against 533; fruit, 392, com¬ 
pared with 129; and vegetables, 727, as against 557. 
The various sectional displays were laid out in large 
marquees. The quality of the exhibits was also 
very good, considering the backward season. Cut 
flowers constituted one of the prettiest items. In 
the arrangements of these for table decoration, Mr. 
Robert Burns, of the New Market, with a capital 
show, carried off first prize. Among professional 
gardeners, Sir William Henderson’s representative 
took the blue ribbon for a nice group of plants, 
defeating many competitors. 
