478 
THE GARDENING WOR^D 
March 23, 1901. 
out when large enough, 6 in. apart. Any select 
variety may be pricked off in another portion of the 
border. 
Old birch brooms and brushwood will hold up the 
delicate varieties. Apply water, should the border get 
dry. Attend to Dutch hoeing once a week. The 
above is the system of an exhibitor of annuals which 
may not be favourable for each district. The district 
spoken of is Perthshire, where soil and climate 
are very favourable for hardy annuals. The 
half hardy annuals in the list are, Salpiglossis, 
Scabious, Nemesia, Sweet Sultan, and Nigella, 
requiring to be sown in heat now, planting out first 
week of June. Salpiglossis, Scabious and Sweet 
Peas, take first honours for effect in ribbon borders 
and for cut flower. To describe each individually 
would occupy too much space.— A. V. M., Coltness 
Gardens, Wishaw, N.B. 
SUNFLOWER MINIATURE GOLDEN 
STAR. 
Many of the annual Sunflowers are too gigantic for 
cut flower purposes, and are best used for garden 
decoration in beds, borders, shrubberies or other¬ 
wise according to circumstances and the require¬ 
ments of the growers. There are small flowered 
annual Sunflowers, however, the product of Hehan- 
thus debilis, better known in gardens under the long 
name of H. cucumerifolius. The former name, how¬ 
ever, is quite as expressive of the appearance of the 
plant as the latter. Miniature Golden Star is a 
variety of the species named, and is characterised by 
its dwarf habit, slender stems and small flowers 
(that is by comparison with other annual Sunflowers, 
for they are quite of appreciable size). The golden 
yellow rays overlap one another, and the disc or 
centre is black, thus affording a beautiful contrast as 
shown in the illustration lent us by Messrs. R. 
Veitch & Son, 54, High Street, Exeter. The variety 
may be sown in the open ground in April, or under 
glass at once, and afterwards hardened off and 
planted out in May to urge it forward so that flowers 
may be available for cutting purposes at an earlier 
period if necessary. The gardener will have to 
decide whether he need go to this trouble even, as 
the plants grow rapidly and bloom for a long period. 
If planted or sown in lines, 12 in. from plant to plant, 
they will form quite a hedge from which any quantity 
of flowers can be obtained. Clumps in the border 
also look well. 
Animals that never Drink.—In the Hawaiian 
Islands (Polynesia) there are horses and cattle that 
never drink during the whole course of their lives. 
By eating a short, jointed, juicy grass, this furnishes 
both food and drink. 
GODETIA WEBB’S NEW BRIDEGROOM. 
The flowers of this new variety of Godetia are of 
large size, and of a pleasing salmon colour, with a 
crimson blotch on the centre of each petal. All the 
popular Godetias of the present day are notable for 
their large flowers, dwarf habit, and the character 
of producing a large quantity of blooms all open at 
the same time. For this reason they are very 
effective for garden decoration, either in beds or 
borders. A field of them may not be the best way to 
grow them for decorative purposes on account of the 
overpowering quantity and breadth of bloom; but as 
seen in the accompanying illustration placed at our 
service by Messrs. Ed. Webb & Sods, Wordsley, 
Stourbridge, they are grown for seed and planted 
thickly so as to get the flowers of the leading shoots 
to bloom at one time and early so as to ensure a 
good and even harvest of seed. On the contrary 
gardeners must avoid planting thickly ; and if sown 
where they are to bloom, the seedlings must be 
subsequently thinned to 9 in. apart in the lines on 
light and poor soils, but on those of good quality 
12 in. would not be too great a distance between the 
plants. This enables them to throw out side shoots 
and to keep up a succession cf bloom for a much 
longer period. The variety under notice is a novelty 
for this year and a very pretty one. 
PLANTS RECENTLY CERTIFICATED. 
THEjawards mentioned below were made by the Royal 
Horticultural Society on the 12th inst.:— 
Orchid Committee. 
Odontoglossum crispum Queen Empress. —The 
flowers of this splendid variety are of large size, 
with much imbricated and wavy segments. The 
sepals are rosy, while the petals are silvery blush. 
The lip is also blush coloured, with a large ye'.low 
blotch where the crest is situated. A large spike 
was carried by the plant exhibited. (First-class 
Certificate). W. Thompson, Esq. (gardener, Mr. 
W. Stevens), Walton Grange, Stone, Staffs. 
Cypripedium Lord Derby.— The huge size of the 
flowers and the vigour of the spike of this hybrid 
attracted a considerable amount of attention. The 
parentage was C. rothschildianum x C. superbiens, 
both being vigorous species well exemplified in the 
progeny. The dorsal sepal is ovate, densely lined 
with brownish-purple along the veins on a pale 
yellow ground. The petals are decurved, oblong, 
and densely spotted with blackish-crimson on a pale 
straw-yellow ground, which is nearly white at the 
apex. The lip is large and dull purple. The leaves 
are about a foot long and beautifully tessellated with 
dark green on a light green ground. (First-class 
Certificate.) Messrs. F. Sander & Co., St. Albans. 
Laeliocattleya Vacuna. —The parents of this 
bigeneric hybrid were Laelia cinnabarina (female) 
and Cattleya guttata. The segments are incurved 
and of good substance like the last named parent. 
The sepals and petals are soft, clear primrose- 
yellow ; while the lip has a golden tube, with a 
crimson lamina, and crimson tips to the side lobes. 
(Award of Merit.) Messrs. J. Veitch & Sons, Ltd., 
Chelsea. 
Dendrobium Edithae superbum. —While this 
belongs to the same group as the hybrid D. Ains- 
worthi it is a finer thiDg, being raised from D. 
aureum crossed with D. nobile nobilius. The large 
flowers have rosy sepals with darker edges; the 
petals are rose and purple on the upper half of their 
Sunflower Miniature Golden Star. 
