February 27, 1897. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
407 
Potting Davallias. —Having regard to the way 
in which the rhizomes spread, shallow pans, are the 
best receptacles for Davallias, as they afford plenty 
of surface room, without too great a depth of soil. In 
overhauling old plants that have been growing in 
pots or pans many sizes too large for them, it will 
often be found that a great part of the rhizomes is 
dead, and that considerable reduction will be neces¬ 
sary. Drain the pans well and use a compost of 
equal parts of peat and loam with silver sand. Do 
not bury the rhizomes, but only the roots attached to 
them, the former being allowed to lie upon the 
surface of the soil. A few pegs will be necessary to 
keep them in their places. The larger and heavier 
fronds will also require to be supported in many 
cases, and neat stakes must be used. In the case of 
plants which have been much reduced, it will be 
advisable to remove them to a close pit, in which 
they will pick up much quicker than they would in 
the more airy stove. 
Pits and Frames. 
The time has again come round when the sowing of 
seeds of the various plants required during the 
summer season for conservatory and flower garden 
decoration has to be thought about. A sufficiency 
of suitable pans and soil should have been got in 
readiness during the dull weather, and where this is 
the case more than half the battle is over. The pans 
should not be filled higher than to within three- 
quarters of an inch of the top of the rim. Make the 
soil moderately firm, and level it carefully prior to sow¬ 
ing by pressing it with a flat surface, such as a piece of 
board. The soil should contain sufficient moisture 
for the time being, so watering will not be needed. 
The seed pans should all be covered with a sheet 
of glass, which will prevent too rapid evaporation of 
moisture from the soil. A place should be found 
for them in a light pit, and if it is needed a tem¬ 
porary stage should be built for them in order to 
bring them up close to the glass. Shade will be 
necessary during the middle of the day, if the sun is 
bright, and if the presence of other subjects in the 
house renders it undesirable to shade the whole, a 
few newspapers may easily be laid over the seed 
pans. When watering, take care to use a very fine 
rose, and to handle the pot lightly, or the seed will 
be washed up together. 
Impatiens Sultani.— In order to succeed with 
this pretty plant, thin sowing is absolutely neces¬ 
sary. The seedlings do not exhibit sufficient strength 
to warrant potting off until they are at least an inch 
in height. Consequently, if the young plants are at 
all crowded, they are very liable to damp off. A 
sowing should be made during the first or second 
week in March in a brisk heat. 
Balsams.— The remarks made concerning Impa¬ 
tiens Sultani will apply to Balsams with nearly equal 
force. The first sowing should be made within the 
course of the next week. 
Cockscombs.— Although these plants are distinctly 
oddities, yet are they much in favour for conservatory 
decoration. In addition to the old crimson purple 
variety, we have now many forms exhibiting some 
truly marvellous gradations of colour. A packet of 
mixed seed should produce an abundance of plants 
with a considerable range of variation. Make a 
sowing the first week in March. Celosia pyramidalis 
plumosa may also be subjected to similar treatment. 
—A. S. G. 
-^-- 
Cattleyas. —A selection of twelve Orchids admits 
only of one species of each genus. Undoubtedly it 
is a close race between three Cattleyas, namely, C. 
Trianaei, C. Mendelii, and C. labiata autumnalis. 
Thus the difficulty in choosing the best one is at once 
apparent. After due consideration we came to the con¬ 
clusion that C. labiata autumnalis was the most useful. 
It comes into flower at a time when there is very little 
of quality to be had in the way of cut flowers. 
Those that grow cut flowers for market are not 
slow to recognise the kinds that pay best, and we 
find C. labiata is a great favourite, selling readily at 
good prices. The reason for this, perhaps, is not far 
to seek. There are few other choice flowers to com¬ 
pete with it, whilst in the spring there is a host 
of other things, such as Lily of the Valley, Roses, 
and a host of other kinds of Orchids. There¬ 
fore we feel justified in giving the first place to this 
fine Cattleya. 
Culture. —It grows well either in pots, pans, or 
baskets ; but taken from every point of view, we 
think pots or pans are the best, for this reason, the 
repotting is done quicker and with considerably less 
damage to the roots. Should the roots adhere firmly 
to the sides of the pots, they may be easily detached 
by the thin blade of a knife, or the pot may be broken 
and the pieces with the roots attached placed care¬ 
fully into the new pot or pan. Not so those growing 
in baskets; for the roots will entwine each rod 
in every conceivable way, making it impossible 
to give a fresh basket without a certain amount of 
damage being done to the roots ; and to put basket 
and all into a larger one we do not advise. 
Compost. —Use good lumpy peat, with most of the 
fine particles shaken out, a little live sphagnum moss 
inserted here and there as the work proceeds, together 
with pieces of crock or charcoal. The moss when 
growing gives a better and more healthy appearance 
to the whole, not but that they will do equally as 
well without it. Good drainage is as necessary as 
daylight, as they require plenty of moisture at the 
roots when growing ; but newly potted plants must 
be attended to in this respect with the utmost care. 
Many a failure can be traced to the non-observance 
of these simple precautions, which are advocated by 
all growers of plants in pots, no matter what they 
be. The plants will soon be starting into growth, 
and should then be repotted forthwith. 
General Remarks. —The next few months will 
be a busy time with growers, for the repotting 
of a great number of things must now have atten¬ 
tion. The early or winter flowering Angraecum 
sesquipedale, Vandas, &c., will now require a 
top-dressing of live sphagnum moss, and a 
general clean up, always taking care to allow them 
to get moderately dry at the roots before taking them 
to the potting shed. Stop ! though ; every one has 
not a properly appointed potting shed, nicely 
heated and so on, so that it would not be wise to 
take them into a cold draughty place. In such cases 
it would be better to do the potting in the house 
in which they are grown, to avoid possible chills. 
Temperatures. —These may be allowed to rise 
somewhat higher without forcing, when the weather 
is mild, with a free circulation of air through the 
bottom ventilators.—C. 
PLANTS RECENTLY CERTIFICATED. 
The undermentioned subjects received certificates 
from the Royal Horticultural Society, on the gth 
inst. 
Orchid Committee. 
Phalaenopsis Hebe, Nov. hyb. —This hybrid is 
intermediate between its parents P. rosea and P. 
sanderiana, the latter being the pollen bearer. The 
sepals and petals are white, but the latter have a 
flush of purple at the base. Tbe terminal lobe of 
the lip is deep purple with a bronzy tint at i.ts base. 
The side lobes are beautifully netted all over with 
reddish-purple, while the crest is spotted with crim¬ 
son. The flowers are larger than those of P. rosea, 
and very pretty. Award of Merit. Messrs, j. 
Veitch & Sons, Ltd., Chelsea. 
Laeliocattleya Violetta, Nov. hyb. bigen .— The 
seed parent of this bigeneric hybrid was Cattleya 
gaskelliana, and the pollen bearer Laelia purpurata. 
The progeny has the short pseudo bulbs of the 
former. The sepals and petals are of a soft lilac- 
purple. The lip is large, with a rich, crimson-purple 
lamina having a crisped lilac margin ; the side lobes 
are deep purple. The throat is of a well defined 
golden-orange, spotted and streaked with broken 
lines of crimson. It is a bold and handsome type. 
Award of Merit. Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Ltd. 
Cattleya Trianaei Imperator, Nov. var .— 
Messrs. Linden, L’Horticulture Internationale, 
Brussels, would seem to have dropped upon a rich 
find of this well-known Cattleya. The variety under 
notice seems, at first sight, to belong to some other 
species, so distinct is it. The sepals and petals are 
of a soft lilac-purple; but the lip, including lamina, 
side lobes, and throat is almost of a uniform crimson- 
purple, the usual orange blotch in the throat being 
almost completely obscured by the rich colouring ex¬ 
tending down from the lamina. The basal portion of 
the interior of the tube is of a pale purple variegated 
with white veins in lines. Award of Merit. 
Cattleya Trianaei eximia, Nov. w.- This 
variety is notable for the great size of its well-formed 
flowers and the boldness of all its parts, while the 
colours are light and pleasing. The petals are 
very broad and of a light rose. The large round lip 
is also of a light purple ; but its chief characteristic 
is the large and prominent orange blotch in the 
throat. Award of Merit. Messrs. Linden, Brussels. 
Laelia anceps kienastiana, Nov. var .— Dark 
varieties of Laelia anceps are often most admired; 
but that under notice has been selected for the 
pleasing, light colours of its flowers. The sepals are 
white, tinted with a faint lilac, and the petals are 
somewhat darker. The apex of the lip is dark 
purple, the middle white, with a central yellow 
crest; the lateral lobes are pale purple. Award of 
Merit. Frau Ida Brandt, Riesbach, Zurich, 
Switzerland. 
Floral Committee. 
Iris Bakeriana. —Coming as it does early in the 
year, this pretty, bulbous Iris is all the more 
welcome. The falls are of a rich, blackish-violet at 
the apex, and this colour partly surrounds a whitish 
area lower down, and which in its turn is beautifully 
blotched or spotted with violet. The stardards and 
the petaloid stigmas are of a beautiful light blue. 
The whole plant is only 4 in. high, and the flowers 
are delightfully fragrant. First-class Certificate. 
Messrs. R. Wallace & Co., Kilnfield Gardens, 
Colchester. 
Violet Amiral Avellan.— The flowers of this 
Violet are large and carried on footstalks about 6 in. 
in length. They are single and deliciously fragrant, 
but their chief distinctness consists in their being of a 
dark but decided purple,not violet like the majority of 
varieties. The foliage, conformably, is also of a bold 
and vigorous character. Award of Merit. Messrs. 
R. Wallace & Co. 
Lapageria rosea Warnham Court var. —the 
flowers of this handsome variety are of great size, 
fleshy texture, and funnel-shaped, with the segments 
spreading widely at the mouth. Each segment 
measures 3 in, to 3J in. in length. The colour is of 
a rich crimson-red, spotted with white all over the 
face of the revolute portion of the segments and in 
the interior of the tube. First-class Certificate. C. 
J. Lucas, Esq. (gardener, Mr. Duncan), Warnham 
Court, Horsham, Sussex. 
--*#—- 
miqamnija front f(p» Jforlb 
of Science. 
Co n iferous Wood s. —At the meeting of the Scientific 
Committee of the Royal Horticultural Society on the 
9th inst., Dr. Masters exhibited specimens of Deodar 
Larch, and Cedar of Lebanon, grown by Mr. J 
Simpson at Wharncliffe. They were said to have 
been planted at the same time, about thirty years 
ago. It was remarkable that the heart-wood of the 
Larch and Deodar were much alike, while that of 
the Cedar was different, in not being so darkly 
coloured like the others. The quality was in each 
case good, especially that of the Larch. It has been 
observed by Dr. Tristram that the wood of the 
Cedars grown on Mount Lebanon is much closer in 
grain and darker in colour than that of trees grown 
in England (The Nat. Hist, of the Bible p. 343). 
Species of Thuya.—Dr. Masters also exhibited 
specimens illustrative of confusion in the nomencla¬ 
ture of this genus. He observed that T. occidentalis 
grows in the Atlantic States of North America, and 
T. gigantea (Lobbi) on the north-western or Pacific 
side. A form originally named T. plicata was intro¬ 
duced at the end of the last century by Menzies 
from Vancouver. In Don’s Catalogue of the Plants of 
the Botanic Gardens at Cambridge this plant is recorded, 
but without description. As this is a western 
species, it is really synonymous with, or at most, a 
variety of T. gigantea. But the original T. plicata 
having probably died out the name plicata has 
now become transferred to a form or variety of 
T. occidentalis from the Atlantic side of the United 
States. It is probable that both species are repre¬ 
sented by a “plicata ” variety, but it is not certain 
whether the Pacific variety is now in cultivation. 
Specimens of the original plicata from Vancouver 
are in the Herbarium of the British Museum, so 
that it is a question whether, strictly speaking, the 
name T. gigantea should not be superseded by that 
of T. plicata. The plant now bearing that name 
should then be called T. occidentalis var. plicata. 
