The gardening world. 
36 
January 14, 1905. 
formidable name, one of the very finest basket Ferns I know. 
A well-grown specimen presents a really fine appearance when 
suspended at a fair height clear of all obstructions that the 
mass of lovely herring-bone fronds may spread or droop in 
their own delightful way. Some few years since I had charge 
of some grand specimens of this Fern, many fronds on the 
larger plants measuring over 9 ft. in length, and I have always 
held the variety in high esteem, for few plants possess so 
imposing an appearance whether at home in the fernery, or 
temporarily transferred to conservatory, hall, or flower-show. 
Heather Bell. 
Codiaeums. 
Correctly named, although still known in gardens as Crotons, 
these graceful plants, owing to their diversity of colour and 
form, usually take the leading place amongst our stove plants, 
being extremely useful for decorative purposes when grown in 
comparatively small pots. To obtain the most satisfactory re¬ 
sults the best method is to root the tops early in the season 
while on the parent plant, and this is best done by taking.out 
a ring of the bark where the growth is sufficiently hard, also 
well amongst the leaf-stalks, or leggy plants will be the result. 
Bind up with a little damp moss with which has been mixed a 
sprinkling of silver sand, and keep moist by frequent sprayings 
with tepid water. 
As soon as the roots make an appearance, preparations .must 
be made for potting them off, which is best performed on a tem¬ 
porary bench in the house, as the plants are then subjected to 
as little check as possible. Prepare some well-drained clean 
thumbs or small 60’s and a compost consisting of equal parts 
of loam, leaf-soil and peat, which should be passed through a 
t-in. sieve with a good, sprinkling of sand, also ensuring that 
the whole is well wanned through before using. 
Cut off the young plants and remove as much of the moss as 
possible without injuring the roots, and pot carefully but 
moderately firm. Stand them in as light a position as pos¬ 
sible (frequently found on shelves), but much better if they 
can be stood on a moist stage, and spray them over on favour¬ 
able occasions, but water carefully until they begin to root 
freely into their new quarters. 
The night temperature should not fall below 60 deg., rising 
to 70 deg. by day. When they are found to be rooting freely 
to the sides of the pots they should receive another shift, this 
time using a heavier compost, mainly consisting of loam, with 
a slight addition of peat and leaf-soil and a sprinkling of bone 
dust. Pot firm and grow on as before, gradually increasing the 
temperature of the house as the days lengthen. Syringe as 
soon as the mercury rises in the morning and as early as pos¬ 
sible in the afternoon, when the plants will diy before dusk. 
Admit air when the house reaches 75 deg. to 80 deg., avoiding 
cold draughts. 
When the plants get established they should never suffer for 
want of water, shading only when the sun is very hot. 
Alternate waterings with weak liquid manure and some 
approved fertilisers, also damping down last thing with manuie 
water, will prove very beneficial to the plants. 
Should mealy bug or scale make an appearance, the plants 
should be dipped in an insecticide, the latter being best re¬ 
moved with a tooth brush. 
Some of the strongest plants may require a further shift into 
6-in. pots, but not unless they are badly pot bound. 
There are a great many varieties, but the following will be 
found a few useful varieties of the narrow-leaved section: — 
Cheisonii (best propagated by cuttings, as it is liable to snap), 
Laingii, Golden Ring, Mrs. Dorman, Interruptum aureum, 
Smitzianum, The Countess, Weismanii : and the broad leaved, 
Baron Rothschild, Inimitable, Queen Victoria, Sunshine, 
Thompsonii, and Reidii. 
Trees ox Iyf.w Greex. —The Lime trees by the side of Ivew 
Green, which died as the result of heaping mud over the roots, 
are to be replaced. 
Aconitum pyrenaicum. 
Distinct in itself, and pleasing as a contrast to the preva¬ 
lent blue shades among the taller Aconites, the plant nam£d 
above commends itself to our notice as worthy a place in 
gardens large or small. Its colour, though not of dazzling 
brightness, is attractive by reason of the soft blending of deli¬ 
cate shades of cream, sulphur-yellow and pale green, and the 
whole plant with its elegantly-cut foliage and branching 
stems, along which the flowers are lightly dispersed, has an 
aristocratic appearance. It has grown well with me in a 
border of deep gritty soil by the side of a flourishing patch of 
the lovely Campanula Van Houttei, backed up by Aconitum 
Napellus bicolor, another beautiful and popular Monkshood. 
I have found, however, that unless divided and replanted 
every third year the flower spikes of A. pyrenaieuin deteriorate 
in size and colour to such an extent as to rob the plant of its 
attractiveness. • Heather Bell. 
A Fine Exhibit of Cypripediums. 
At the meeting of the Royal Horticultural Society on the 
3rd inst. a splendid exhibit of Cypripediums was put up by 
Captain G. L. Holford, C.I.E. (gardener, Mr. A. Chapman), 
Westonbirt, Tetbury, Gloucester. The quality of this group 
may be judged from the fact that it was accorded a Gold Medal 
for the group, as well as the Bindley Medal for cultivation. 
Although it may be described as a group of Orchids, Cypripe¬ 
diums were by far the most numerous, both in plants and varie¬ 
ties, as might be expected at this season of the year. 
It was made up of hybrids and imported varieties, and many 
of them were large plants carrying a fine lot of flowers. It 
too often happens that Cypripediums are cut up into small 
pieces in order to multiply them, but in private establishments 
where the owner values his plants he allows them to grow into 
specimens of large size, and this is a feature of Orchid growing 
to be commended, as it indicates the capabilities of the cul¬ 
tivator, as showing that- the plants have really thriven under 
his care and increased to large size. Many are capable of keep¬ 
ing small plants in a healthy state, but have difficulty in keep¬ 
ing the same healthy until they grow into large specimens. 
Part of the exhibit was a fine piece of C. leeanum giganteum 
carrying twenty-two flowers, and another piece of C. 1. super- 
bum carrying twenty flowers of large size. C. 1. Burford var. 
had seventeen of its handsomely marked flqwers. A somewhat 
similar plant was C. 1. Keeling’s var. with a short deep chest¬ 
nut-brown lip. C. leeanum was a hybrid between C. insigne 
and C. spiceranum, and several batches of seedlings have been 
raised from it by different cultivators, giving rise to a consider¬ 
able amount of variety, widely appreciated everywhere on 
account of its flowering so handsomely about Christmas and the 
new year. 
C. insigne was represented by some of the finest forms or 
imported varieties of this useful winter-flowering species. One 
of the most prominent and handsome was C. 1. sanderianum, 
having a greenish-yellow 1 dorsal sepal bordered with white, 
without any spots, and a bright lemon-yellow lip. This differs 
from C. i. Sanderae by lacking the group of small spots on the 
dorsal sepal and in a slightly deeper shade of colour. The 
flowers are certainly amongst the most handsome and attrac¬ 
tive of the genus on account of the clear colours without any 
of the brown shading so frequently present. Another hand¬ 
some variety w^as C. i. purpuratum, having very large orbicular 
brown blotches on the light greenish-yellow portion of the 
dorsal sepal, giving place to bright purple on the white apex. 
Another beautiful hybrid was C. Euryades, which was de¬ 
rived from leeanum villosum Boxallii. The latter is amply 
evident in the dorsal sepal owing to the presence of black 
blotches, here more or less running into a uniform mass in the 
centre of that segment. C. Sallieri aureum is notable for the 
greenish-yellow colour of its dorsal sepal. The petals and lip 
are also lightly shaded with brown, but scarcely concealing the 
rich yellow ground. A well-grown plant carried nine of its 
large flowers. Another grand piece of C. nitens superbum 
