456 
THE GARDENING WORLD. 
March 18, 1893. 
beautifully margined with red. Any of the forms 
are beautiful in spring, commencing as a rule in the 
early days of March. The trees or bushes are of 
course perfectly leafless, but of close habit and 
twiggy growth and simply laden with small yellow 
blossoms in clusters which in the aggregate are very 
attractive even from a distance. By planting the 
variegated forms in the vicinity of the mansion, they 
would be objects of beauty while in flower in spring 
and again while in leaf. The ordinary form may be 
relegated to the shrubbery and clumps of trees and 
shrubs in the pleasure grounds. 
HEPATICAS. 
These beautiful spring-flowering plants are just now 
in perfection at the Old Hall, Southborough. Mr. 
Powell, the proprietor, takes great interest in hardy 
herbaceous and Alpine plants, as well as Orchids, 
and he has been most successful in hybridising many 
things. Just now he has his reward in some splen¬ 
did hybrid Hepaticas, from the purest white to the 
deepest blues. Some delicate rose-coloured ones 
are also very beautiful. Mr. Powell seems to have 
increased the size of the flowers and introduced 
some new shades of colour. They are very free 
flowering also.— Rusticus. 
PRIMULA ELATIOR CCERULEA. 
Very few hardy plant growers evidently know of 
the existence of this old-fashioned but greatly 
neglected garden Primula. It is one of the 
Polyanthus type, bearing numerous flowers in an 
umbel, just rising clear above the leaves. The 
flowers are of a peculiar shade of blue, laced with 
white in the same manner as a gold-laced Polyanthus, 
but differing in colour. The centre is occupied with 
five yellow blotches. The leaves are spathulate, 
and taper to the base, like those of the grrden 
Polyanthus. This pretty variety then bears the 
same relation to the ordinary type as the blue 
variety of the Chinese Primula bears to the other 
colours, or as Scott Wilson, Blue Gem and others 
bear to the common Primrose. Flowering pieces 
of it may be seen in the cold frames in the nursery 
of Messrs. J. Laing & Sons, Forest Hill. 
THUNBERGIA HARRISI1. 
What a gem this is! I was lately delighted to 
meet with the grand but much neglected old climber 
in splendid condition in one of the stoves in the 
Moat Gardens, Maidstone. It covers a space upon 
a back wall of about 15 ft. spread, and there are 
dozens of fine racemes of its pale blue flowers, 
having from two to three dozen flowers upon a 
raceme. A charming plant for such a position and 
flowering at this season of the year makes it doubly 
valuable.— Rusticus. 
ANOIGANTHUS BREVIFLORUS. 
The bright yellow flowers of this bulbous plant 
remind one to some extent of those of a Hemero- 
callis, both in'colour and general outline. Of course 
they are structurally different and tha persistent 
portion of the plant is also quite different. The 
flower is regular, with a very short tube and six erect 
segments, and are produced in umbels of five to ten. 
The linear or strap-shaped leaves are of a slightly 
sea green hue and as long as the flower stalks which 
they accompany. As the species comes from the 
mountainous districts of Natal and the eastern parts 
of Cape Colony, it only requires a greenhouse 
temperature like most other Cape bulbs, and flowers 
during the winter months. At present it is compara¬ 
tively little known, but appears to be of easy culti¬ 
vation and may be seen in the temperate house at 
Kew. 
SAXiFRAGA BOYERI ALBA. 
The habit of this plant is similar to that of Saxifraga 
Burseriana, being dwarf and densely tufted with 
large white flowers borne in small clusters on stems 
about 2 in. or 3 in. high. The anthers and ovary 
are yellow and the disc surrounding the latter of a 
golden hue. The leaves are subulate, more flattened 
and wider than those of S. Burseriana, with a white 
incrustation on the upper surface which the latter 
does not possess. It is no doubt as hardy as the 
better known plant, and equally well adapted for cul¬ 
ture on the rockwork. It would appear to form a 
succession to S. Burseriana, to which it forms a 
complement. Some flowers may still be seen on the 
latter even on plants that have been kept in a cold 
frame all the winter, but the first flowers appeared 
many weeks ago, while S. Boyeri alba is just now in 
perfection in the nursery of Messrs. J. Laing & Sons, 
.Pores t Hill. 
ORCHID NOTES AND GLEANINGS. 
The Heaton Collection. 
Steady progress is being made in the well-appointed 
establishment of Messrs. Charlesworth, Shuttleworth 
& Co., Heaton, Bradford. During a recent,visit I 
was shown a new system of shading, which seems to 
me to meet a long-felt want and eclipses anything I 
have seen before. The blinds are constructed of 
thin wooden laths 1 in. wide, fastened together with 
staples and rings in a most ingenious fashion ; they 
roll up and down very easily, look neat and give a 
very good shade. Anyone in want of good durable 
blinds should go and see them ; no doubt Messrs. 
Charlesworth will be very glad to give any informa¬ 
tion. There is an air of comfort and sturdy strength 
about the Orchid houses at Heaton. Observe the 
fine bank of Oncidium macranthum in the first 
house we enter ; they are the acme of perfection, the 
plants with their long spikes giving abundant proof 
of the good culture and treatment they receive. 
Odontoglossum Halli is well represented with strong 
plants in flower, some of the spikes having up to 
eighteen and twenty-two flowers. Odontoglossum 
Edwardi with spikes over a yard long throw out a 
delicate perfume of sweet Violets. A well-grown 
batch of Odontoglossum polyxanthum, O. Harry- 
anum, and miscellaneous lot of Odonts. are growing 
in this house together with a batch of specimen 
plants of Od. crispum. 
The Cattleyas here are also grown to perfection, 
the houses devoted to them containing a large 
number of fine forms of C. Trianae in bloom, to¬ 
gether with some good C. amethystoglossa. Cattleya 
labiata is represented in good numbers, also the new 
C. Victoriae Reginas and C. Alexandras. Laslia 
grandis tenebrosa seems ta be a very kind grower, 
nearly every plant having shown a considerable im¬ 
provement on last year’s growth. We note a large . 
numbsr of Laslia purpurata exceedingly clean and 
well grown, amongst them a few specimen plants of 
unusual size full of sheaths. The importing of 
C. aurea has been a special feature with the firm, 
and some magnificent and valuable forms have 
flowered out of the consignments received. The 
plants are grown in shallow pans and baskets, and 
show signs of vigorous breaks. Cattleya Law- 
renceanum, imported last year, has done well and 
the plants are now beginning to push flowers. 
Passing along we note a very good plant of C. inter¬ 
media alba, C. Wagneri, C. Skinneri alba, C. 
Schofeldeana, C. Schilleriana, and other good 
things. 
Cypripediums are strongly represented, noticeable 
amongst them in flower wereC. Elliottianum, a grand 
plant with two spikes : one of the best for hybridising 
purposes. C. Lathamianum, C. Argus, a very good 
form of C. barbatum Warneri, C. Niooe, C. 
Germinyanum superbum, C. Boxalli atratum, C. 
Galathea, C. Alice, pushing flowers, C. Pallas, C. 
pavoninum, and many choice hybrids too numerous 
to mention. The Cypripedium house contains also a 
well grown batch of O. Roezli, O. Phalaenopsis, and a 
most interesting variety of seedlings. 
The intermediate house is gay with flowers of the 
charming Maxillaria Sanderiana, a plant which seems 
to require special treatment to induce it to flower. 
Lselia harpophylla and Laelia cinnabarina, show their 
flowers to great advantage if staged with light co¬ 
loured shades of Odontoglossum cirrosum blandum, 
&c., intermixed with Maidenhair Fern. Specially 
attractive are a good supply of Oncidium sarcodes 
and O. Weltoni. In another compartment we find 
a miscellaneous collection, chiefly Oncidium Rogersi, 
Laelia Dayana, Coelogynes, amongst them the white 
form with twelve spikes. Dendrobium Ainsworthii, 
and Wardianum, bsautifully flowered, and a strong 
plant of the rare and beautiful Cymbidium Lowianum 
concolor with three spikes. 
In the small cool houses is the beginning of what 
will be a grand display of Odontoglossum crispum 
and its varieties. Many choice forms are represented 
here : Odontoglossum Hennisi, a unique plant with a 
nice spike, O. Ruckerianum insigne, O. Andersonia- 
num, O. Wilkeanum nobilior, O. praenitens, and a 
healthy lot of Oncidium Marshallianum, pushing 
spikes. Sophronitis grandiflora and rosea are here 
represented in large number and just passing out of 
flower; they are grown in shallow pans and seem to 
be perfectly at home.— Ebor. 
The Orchid Growers' Calendar. 
General Notes.— With the advent of bright 
weather everything has become active, so that all 
due care should be taken to see that each plant gets 
what it requires, whether it be fresh compost, mois¬ 
ture, or shading. Here on bright mornings the fires 
are drawn as soon as the sun gets on the houses, and 
when the temperature has risen by solar heat to the 
required height, the blinds are let down, and more 
air is admitted through the bottom ventilators ; the 
syringe is used somewhat freely in the morning in 
each department amongst the pots and on the 
shingle, as our houses dry up rather quickly at 
night. 
Cattleya House. —Cattleya gigas has commenced 
to grow, and will require careful treatment as regards 
moisture at the root for some time. An overdose of 
water causes the young growths to become black, a 
condition of things which this species is very much 
subject to. The best time to pot this (one of the best 
Cattleyas grown) is after it has done flowering, about 
August, as it makes plenty of roots just about that 
time. Still if there are any in an unsatisfactory 
state I should not hesitate to pot them at once, 
though it may check them and prevent their flower¬ 
ing. Cattleya labiata Warnerii may be re-potted 
now. This fine summer flowering Cattleya is becoming 
rather scarce, and an importation of it would, I am 
sure be very much welcomed by Orchid growers. After 
flowering ours rather heavily three or four years in 
succession, and allowing them to carry their flowers 
a long time for exhibition purposes, they dwindled 
away until they became but a shadow of their 
former selves, but with patience and careful treat¬ 
ment they have pulled together again, and are now, 
I am pleased to say, in vigorous health. They do 
best with us when grown in baskets, using as a com¬ 
post good fibrous peat alone. 
Odontoglossum citrosmum will new be throw¬ 
ing up from the young growths its flower spikes, 
and a sharp look-out must be made for little shell 
snails, or they will clean them off wholesale Not 
much water must be given until the spikes are well 
up ; at thesams time the other extreme must not be 
reached, but just enough water be given to keep them 
from shrivelling too much. 
Cool House. —Sophronitis grandiflora will now 
be rooting freely and should any require it may be 
re-potted, using peat and moss in equal parts inter¬ 
mixed with bits of broken pots. These beautiful 
little plants enjoy a little warmer house during winter, 
but there is no place that suits them so well as the 
cool house in summer. Any Odontoglossum crispum 
that were not repotted last autumn should now be 
seen to. It is a mistake to allow them to go more 
than two years without replacing the compost; ours 
are potted annually, and are recognised as some of 
the best grown around London. Our houses are just 
now gay with fine spikes of Od. Hallii, Od. luteo- 
purpureum, Od. Wilkeanum, Od. Rossii Majus, 
Od. Edwardii, Od. triumphans, Od. Andersonianum, 
and Od. crispum. Syringing the plants overhead 
on all bright days will be beneficial, being careful not 
to wet those in bloom. Thrips will sometimes 
attack the young growths, and if left to themselves 
will take the life out of the plant in no time besides 
disfiguring the foliage. It is therefore hardly neces¬ 
sary for me to point out the advisability of rigourous 
treatment, dipping them into a strong solution of 
tobacco water is generally effective. 
Ccelogyne sparsa. 
There is a quiet beauty about several of the smaller 
species of Coelogyne that makes them desirable in 
collections, even of moderate extent. They occupy 
small space and may be grown in small pans or 
baskets and suspended from the roof on a level with 
the eye. Their intrinsic beauty may then be seen to 
the best advantage. The plant under notice is a 
native of the Philippines, from whence it was intro¬ 
duced in 1883. The ascending and short raceme 
bears from one to seven flowers according to the 
condition and vigour of the plant. The individual 
blooms are of medium size, with lanceolate sepals 
and linear petals, all of which are white. The lip is 
also of the same hue with a brownish-orange blotch 
on the disc, while the side lobes are speckled with 
brownish-orange on both surfaces. Flowers are pro¬ 
duced in winter and early spring, when they are very 
acceptable. 
Ccelogyne cristata 
This grand Orchid, a native, I believe, of Nepaul, is 
grown to perfection at Broomhill, Tunbridge Wells 
