March 19, 1904. 
THE GARDENING WORLD 
233 
florum section, cto not require annual repotting; the decaying 
compost should be carefully removed from about the roots and 
be replaced with living material. Keep the house close for a 
few days after repotting has been done, and carefully shade 
from strong sunlight. H. J. 
The Flower Garden. 
Mention ha.s been made in previous issues of the use of 
foliage plants in the flower-garden, and beds composed of these 
have a very pretty effect when tastefully arranged. Any 
plants with silver, bronze, or yellow foliage may be brought 
into use, and preparations may be made now for getting up a 
stock of suitable plants. Many different things may be used! 
for the above purpose, but a few of the best silver-leaved 
plants are: Abutilon Savitzi, Veronica Andersonii variegata, 
several Centaureas, Cnicus Diacantha., Artemisias, Santolina 
Chamaeeyparissus, Solanum marginatum, Pelargonium Man¬ 
gles!, etc., and with these may be associated such bronze-leaved 
plants asi Iresine Lindeni, bronze-leaved Beet, Amarantus cau- 
datus, Perilla nankinensis, Coleus Verschaffelti, etc. Of yellow 
foliage plants we have: Abutilon Tkompsoni, several golden¬ 
leaved Fuchsias, Pelargonium Mrs. Pollock, and others; also 
Solanum pyracanthum and yellow-leaved Coleus. With these 
again may be associated the bronze-leaved plants noted above. 
As a carpet plant for the silver beds the variegated Alyssum 
or Sedum glaucum may be used, and for the golden beds varies 
gated Mesembryanthemum cordifolium or Lysimaehia Num- 
mularia aurea. 
The propagation of border Chrysanthemums must now be 
taken in hand. Old stools that were laid in. a cold framei last 
autumn are now throwing any quantity of cuttings which may 
be struck in bo-ses of light soil in a cold frame, merely keeping 
close and shaded for a few weeks. When rooted, the young 
plants may be potted up or planted in nursery beds till their 
flowering quarters are available. Many good varieties have 
come out of recent years; among others 1 , Pink Marie Masse, 
Piercy’s Seedling, bronze, Ralph Curtis, creamy white, Market 
White arei good; while of the older varieties, Flora, rich 
yellow, and Sulphide, pale yellow and late flowering, are ex¬ 
cellent. 
Lobelia fulgens is one of the most useful plants for the 
flower-garden, requiring plenty of moisture at the root to do 
really well; its erect, habit of growth and brilliant flowers 
render this plant very .suitable a,s a dot plant or for massing. 
This is the plant that is usually found in gardens under the 
name of Lobelia cardiniaJis. The true cardinalis, however, lias 
dark green leaves and bright crimson flowers, while L. fulgens 
has bronze leaves and dark crimson flowers. Lobelia, fulgens 
Queen Victoria is a great, improvement on thei type. Roots 
of Lobelia, fulgens taken up in autumn and stored in a. cold 
frame are now pushing numerous growths and may be divided 
up into, pieces, each with two or three shoots'; these, if potted 
up or placed in boxes, will make tine plants for bedding out. 
Seeds should be sown now of ten-week Stocks, Asters, and 
any other half-hardy annual plants requiring more than 
ordinary care in the early stages. B. W. J. 
jack to its origin:, a.s it is a tree that appears to die back ; 
vben pinning old branches, at least., I have noticed such is 
he oa.se with the few trees we have here. Any trees ex¬ 
hibiting signs of decay may be improved by giving a. top dress- 
ng of rich soil or decayed manure, first removing the turf, 
oiling the same back 8 ft. or 10 ft. from the stem, forming a 
•adius, and replacing the turf again afterwards'. There are 
wo varieties in general cultivation—Moras’ alba and Morus 
ligra., the latter considered the hardier of the two. 
The Grape Vine. —The end of March is a good time to plant, 
vhere not dcnei in early autumn, choosing a warm, sheltered 
orner so that the canes can be trained against, the wall. Direc- 
:ions as to soil, priming, etc., were given in these pages for 
lanuary 23rd. James Mayne. 
Briton, Devonshire. 
Among the Orchids. 
The East Indian House. —Some of the species, belonging to 
Lei Eastern world will now be showing signs of renewed vitality 
jy commencing to emit new growths; it is never advisable to 
aermit these growths to become too far advanced before exar 
mination lias been made of the potting compost, and where 
repotting or top-dressing is necessary it should be attended to 
without delay. Vandas, Aerides, Saccolabiums a.nd other allied 
genera, may now with safety be attended 1 to. In the case, of 
Yandas of the V. tricolor section the plants are apt to become 
leggy from loss of leaves at the base, but. if the plants have 
been well cared for there will be plenty of roots between the 
pot and the lowest leaves, so that if the plant is turned out of 
the pot the stem may be cut off with discretion, and thus 
bring the plant down again, so that the foliage may be within 
•reasonable distance from the rim of thei pots. When working 
the remaining roots into, the pot care must be taken, not to 
damage them. If broken asunder or cracked even they gen¬ 
erally become useless afterwards, so that if they cannot readily 
be brought within the pot it is far better to. let them remain 
and roam at will outside. The greatest amount of support is 
provided to this class of plants through the aerial roots, SO' 
that it. is better to permit them to remain outside than to 
damage by forcing them within the pot. 
Ample drainage is necessary, as they require an abundance of 
moisture both at the roots and in the atmosphere during the 
growing season. The potting compost, should consist wholly of 
chopped sphagnum moss and rough sand. Some growers advo¬ 
cate leaf-soil in the compost for potting the East Indian Or¬ 
chids. I cannot find any benefit from its use in, this class of 
plants, but where it is desirable to add leaves to the compost 
it should not be in the form of ordinary leaf-soil, but select 
clean, diy leaves—Rhododendron, if possible. Failing this, Oak 
or Beech leaves will do'. After they have been thoroughly 
dried rub through a J-in. sieve and mix plenty of sand with it. 
It should never exceed one-third of the compost, the remaining 
two-thirds consisting wholly of living sphagnum moss. 
V. caerulea liaving been, resting in the cooler divisions since 
the late autumn should now be removed to its growing 
quarters. Any potting requirements that may be necessary 
should now be attended to. The plant does best suspended 
close up to the roof-glass. Although it needs protection from 
the scorching rays of the sun, it is a plant that require® a great 
amount of light, without which it is well-nigh impossible to 
induce the plants to flower. It should thus be placed in, a 
position where it will not be too heavily shaded. 
Saccolabiums, which had their potting compost removed from 
about the roots in the autumn, should now have all dirty 
drainage removed, and after replacing with fresh, cover the 
surface with chopped sphagnum moss and press moderately 
hrm among the roots. It is not advisable to disturb Sacoola- 
Jiums.more often than is absolutely necessary. 
Aerides. The robust-growing varieties of this genus may 
be treated in almost every instance as advised above for Vandas. 
I he smaller-growing but thicker-leaved kinds, such as the 
maculosum section, which include the beautiful A. Veitchii and 
A. bchroden, also the more freei-growing kinds of the A. multi- 
Montbretia Morgenrolh. 
This splendid new Montbretia was raised by Wm. Pfitzer, of 
Stuttgart, Germany, the raiser of the well-known, Germania,. 
It differs in colour from this latter and surpasses it in size of 
flower. With me it has proved extremely floriferous and 
lasted three months in bloom. The bright orange flowers are 
3 in. across, and have widely expanded reflexing segments. 
The three lower segments are marked at the throat, with dark 
orange brown 1 , while the three upper ones are slightly shaded 
at the base with the same colour. This, variety is remarkably 
vigorous, growing to 1 the height of 3 ft., and as the flowers 
scarcely droop they show themselves off to their best, advan¬ 
tage. Altogether it is one of the most desirable hardy plants 
I have come across for some time, Arthur R. Goodwin. 
