• . ' * , I 
March 9, 1901. 
THH GARDENING WORLD. 
441 
LYCASTE SKINNERI ALBA. 
Notwithstanding the many importations of 
Lycaste Skinneri from Guatemala, the white variety 
above named continues to be the best of its class. 
The flowers are fully the average size cf the species, 
and pure white with the exception of the yellow 
colouring of the tongue or crest upon the lip, and 
even this is usually very pale, the whole of the rest 
of the flower beiDg pure white, very chaste, and, for 
an albino, of excellent substance. Growers continue 
to cherish it, and specimens continue to make their 
appearance at meetings of the Royal Horticultural 
Society. Another point of merit it possesses 
is that it blooms in winter or very early in 
spring, say from the dull days of February onward. 
It seems to put up with quite as much bad usage as 
POPULAR FORGET-ME-NOTS. 
The true Forget-me-not, or that to which the name 
is most properly applied, is Myosotis palustris, which 
often finds a place in private gardens, but as far as 
we have observed does not reach the public flower 
markets or the florists’ windows to any great extent. 
Equally curious to relate, it is more often found in 
the hawkers’ baskets, being gathered by them on the 
banks of streams and rivers within easy reach of 
London or other flcwer-buyiDg centres. 
Till comparatively recent years the Forget-me- 
not, or Myosotis, most extensively cultivated in 
gardens, was M. sylvatica, and its white variety, 
M. s. alba. The reason for this is not far to seek, 
seeing that it was so largely used for spring bedding 
purposes. We have several times bought it in 
that named Victoria is of neat, dwarf habit, with 
large flowers of a much brighter blue than those of 
M. sylvatica. It is propagated in the same way and 
with the same facility as M. sylvatica. Both, 
indeed, sow and perpetuate themselves if left alone 
shrubbery and garden borders to ripen and scatter 
their seeds. 
Of course it pays the market growers to prepare a 
piece of ground for these two popular Forget-me- 
nots, and otherwise tend them so as to secure the 
richest harvest off a given piece of ground. In any 
case we commend the matter to the attention cf 
those who have shrubbery borders, wild gardens, 
or other suitable places, to sow seeds of these two, 
and allow them to become naturalised. Both are 
perfectly hardy, even in the far north where I have 
Lycaste Skinneri alba. 
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the ordinary forms receive from time to time. A 
large number of the more distinct varieties have 
received special or varietal names. That which 
comes nearest to the plant under notice is L. S. 
vestalis, which has a faint tint of pale rose on the 
inner face of the petals, with faint rosy markings on 
the lip, but is otherwise pure white. 
Supporting Carnations.—Many men have each 
turned their mind to invent a support for Carnations 
that is valuable and useful in all respects. The 
newest idea seems to be that of Messrs. R. Jeffrey & 
Son, of Bellmore, Long Island, America, who spread 
a 6-in. meshed wire-nettiDg over the bed of Carna¬ 
tions. The tips of the stems grow through this and 
are thus supported. 
m 
Covent Garden, and have reason to believe it is the 
plant that passes current amongst growers and 
retailers as M. dissitiflora, and reckoned one of the 
best. Its large flowers, easy culture and propaga¬ 
tion by seeds, and the fact that it can be grown in 
any ordinary garden soil, would readily account for 
its popularity with the market growers and retailers. 
After flowering no further trouble is taken with the 
plant, which is thus treated as a biennial. 
Another garden and market Forget-me-not is 
Victoria, of comparatively recent origin, being a 
dwarf and large flowered variety of M. alpestris. 
The latter is perennial, and may be propagated from 
cuttings, but is so given to flowering that the plants 
are liable to run to seed and perish in the absence of 
young shoots from the base. Many fine varieties of 
it have recently been raised on the Continent, and 
noted M. sylvatica that had perpetuated itself for 
many years without farther attention than letting it 
alone. This species will grow in the shade of trees ; 
but M. alpestris and its varieties should be accorded 
a more open position. 
M. sylvatica and M. alpestris Victoria are grown 
to some extent in pots, and sold as pot plants in the 
market; but to a much greater extent are they cut, 
tied in bunches, having a girth of 7 in. to 8 in., and 
sold chiefly for buttonhole work. For this purpose 
they are largely grown in the open air; but a greatly 
enhanced price is obtained for the flowers offered 
between Christmas and March, when the supply can 
be obtained from the open ground. The method of 
preparing them for market is to raise plants in the 
ordinary way in the open air, and to lift them in 
October for pot work. Loam, leaf mould and sand 
