October 12, 1907. 
THE GARDENING WORLD , 
Endive. 
j Endive may be blanched either where it 
jis growing or by carefully lifting and set¬ 
ting in frames. Damp is the pest of Endive 
when it is blanching, therefore see'Tt is dry 
before covering. 
Beetroots. 
1 Get up all Beetroots and store. 
Thin out -Spinach to at least 4 inches. 
Keep the hoe going among growing crops. 
Horti. 
The Amateur’s Greenhouse. 
Young Ferns. 
When the lady of the house has a number 
of vases in her rooms which she expects to 
be constantly replenished with plants from 
the greenhouse in winter^ the demand is apt 
to tax the resources of a mere man who gar¬ 
dens only in his spare time. A useful 
wrinkle in this connection which I learned 
years ago is to buy a dozen or so of the 
small Ferns, chiefly Pterises of sorts, which 
hawkers bring to the door, or which a nur¬ 
seryman advertising in these pages will 
supply cheaply. These youngsters should 
go into pots two sizes larger than the ones 
in which they are bought, and the compost 
used should be really good. One part of 
fibrous peat, one part of loam, one part of 
leaf mould, and one part of broken soft 
brick and coarse sand in mixture is my 
favourite, with a liberal sprinkling of arti¬ 
ficial manure, Clay’s or Thomson’s for pre¬ 
ference. Pot firmly, do not give much water 
for a few days, and keep the surroundings 
nicely moist, and the Ferns- will grow al¬ 
most as fast as the good wife can kill them. 
Winter-Flowei'ingr Echeverias. 
Quite unique among winter-flowering 
greenhouse plants is the handsome Eche- 
veria retusa glauca, the blooms of which are 
at once showy and long lasting. During 
September the plants get a splendid roast¬ 
ing in a cold frame, and though this has 
hardened them up well they will not be 
safe in cold quarters any longer. Take 
them into the greenhouse straightway, and 
find them a place as befits their merits. 
Those with spikes pushing up will need a 
little water perhaps once or twice a week, 
but others will do with considerably less. 
These latter may be stood on a high shelf 
near the glass, a place unsuited to other 
things requiring more frequent watering. 
The syringe should never play upon these 
Echeverias, and care should be taken not to 
give them strong doses of manure. 
Winter-Flowering Begonias. 
These require totally different treatment 
from the Echeverias. For the benefit of the 
uninitiated, I may point out that these 
winter-flowering Begonias are totally dis¬ 
tinct from the summer-blooming tuberous- 
rooted sorts. They are generally fibrous- 
rooted, and make many twiggy, leafy 
branches crowned with a profusion of small 
flowers. I give this explanation because I 
once met an amateur who wondered why his 
Begonias never bloomed in winter; they 
were the usual tuberous-rooted sorts. Win¬ 
ter-flowering Begonias proper should now 
be stood at the warmest, moistest end of the 
house, and have the soil kept uniformlv 
moist; anv dryness at the roots causes the 
leaves to fall, and with the loss of the leaves 
goes half the beauty of the plant. Weak 
liquid manure may now be given at almost 
every watering, and th^ branches should be 
neatly tied out to stakes before the flowers 
have so far advanced as to make injury 
probable. 
A Cosy Corner. 
Mention of a warm, moist corner of the 
greenhouse reminds me how few amateurs 
really trouble about making a cosy corner. 
It cannot be too widely known that any im¬ 
pediment in the fairway of a heated house 
is sufficient to arrest an appreciable amount 
of heat, and even a creeper on the roof will 
do so. This being so, it is obvious that a 
few beards, or a sheet of corrugated iron, 
placed across the stage at the warmest end 
of the house will imprison sufficient heat to 
raise the immediate temperature several de¬ 
grees ; will create, in fact, a cosy corner. 
This cosy corner should have a bed of 
ashes or shingle on the stage, to be always 
kept damp. Here will be afforded a home 
for any plant requiring nursing, anj T speci¬ 
men which cannot stand the wear and tear 
of ordinary greenhouse life, any seed or cut¬ 
ting which one wishes to launch into life as 
a new plant. 
Late Cinerarias. 
Personally, I do not care for very late 
Cinerarias, as the sun has so much power at 
their flowering period that their life is gen¬ 
erally a very brief one. Still, I daresay 
some readers have a few June or July sown 
plants, and 1 would warn them to get the 
final potting done before we have really 
cold weather. Six-inch pots will be large 
enough, and the plants may .still be kept in 
a cold frame if a couple of Archangel mats 
can be spared to cover the glass at night. 
Bedding- Plants. 
It is wise now to get into the greenhouse 
all the more tender bedding plants, such as 
Heliotropes, Fuchsias, Coleuses, Mesembry- 
antbemums, etc. If no severe frost seems 
likely, Zonal Geraniums and Marguerites 
will be safe in cold frames a little longer, 
say, until a few ’Mums can be turned out 
to give them room. Pick the bedding plants 
well over to remove dead leaves and stems, 
pick up the surface soil with a pointed stick, 
and then stand the plants in a light and 
dry spot; they will need little water until 
the warm days of spring come round. 
Potting Marguerite Carnations. 
Recent sunshine has plumped up the buds 
of these splendidly, and made the production 
of good flowers very much more certain than 
aopeared to be the case some weeks ago. 
Good specimens may require 6 in. pots,, but 
I like to get as many as- possible into 5 in. 
pots, and rather than overpot would place 
two plants in one pot. Any decent soil will 
do for filling in, but it should err on the 
side of lightness and be made firm. The 
plants will be all right in a cold frame for 
a while—unless- early flowers are wanted— 
but should the foliage show signs of damp¬ 
ing off, all decayed parts should be cut away 
and the plants taken to a dry corner in the 
greenhouse. 
Sunnyside. 
-- 
Single Dahlia Brilliant. 
The ray florets of this Dahlia are of a 
brilliant, glowing crimson, tinted with 
yellow at the base. It received a first- 
class certificate from the London Dahlia 
Union at Regent's Park on September 
13th when shown by Messrs. J. Cheal and 
Sons, Crawley, Sussex. 
Hills of Health. 
“On the Hills of Health: A Part 
for the Week-end Cottage Dweller.” is 
the title of a small illustrated work which 
Messrs. Simpkin Marshall and Co. will 
issue in the course of a few days. The 
district described is little known and lies 
some seven hundred feet above the sea, 
amid the hills of Surrey. 
665 
Orchids for Amateurs. 
Autumn and Winter Flowering Orchids. 
I have frequently endeavoured to illus¬ 
trate the desirability of amateurs paying 
special attention to the cultivation of winter 
flowering Orchids. I always feel that in 
the case of amateurs and others with limited 
glass facilities they should endeavour to 
make such facilities as they possess the most 
attractive at the seasons of the year when 
there is little of interest in the outside gar¬ 
den. I have the greater confidence in do¬ 
ing so because I am advocating in most 
cases the culture of such plants as are easy 
to cultivate and which are the most likely 
to succeed with limited accommodation. 
The fact should not be overlooked that the 
majority of our winter flowering Orchids 
develop their growth during the summer 
months, at which season the sun should pro¬ 
vide the greater proportion of the require¬ 
ments even of the warm and intermediate 
house sections of Orchids that are necessary 
to successful cultivation. To deal fully 
with this section of plants in the space 
allotted to me would be out of the question. 
I must therefore confine my remarks to some 
of the most easily procured and at the same 
time most useful kinds. 
To those in possession of a stove, or a 
house where the temperature is maintained 
at about 65 degrees throughout the winter, 
such kinds as Dendrobium Phalaenopsis and 
D. formosum giganteum should have every 
consideration as they flower from the pre¬ 
sent time until well on to Christmas, and 
they are always attractive as well as service¬ 
able for cut flower purposes. The species 
and hybrids among Cattleyas and their allied 
genera have perhaps one of the greatest 
claims on our attention. C. labiata 
autumnalis, flowers from now until well into 
December or even later if retarded for 
flowering at the New Year season. This 
species has been annually imported now for 
several years, and it has become so common 
that large specimens are procurable for a 
few shillings. They are exceedingly vari¬ 
able, of good constitution, and are excep¬ 
tionally useful where there is a demand for 
cut flowers in the month of November. 
The miniature growing section of Laelias 
of the L. pumila section, such as L. 
praestans and L. davana, are useful when 
grown in baskets or shallow pans where they 
can be suspended near the roof glass, a 
position in which they are able to display 
their flowers to the best advantage. 
The hybrids that have been derived from 
the influence of L. crispa as one of its 
parents are exceedingly useful for winter 
and autumn flowering. The numerous 
hybrids that have been derived from the in¬ 
fluence of Cattleya boweringiana all possess 
good constitutions and produce flowers so 
freely that they claim every consideration. 
One of the best of the whole setion is C. 
Mantinii. Then there are the hybrids that 
have been derived from the influence of C. 
dowiana, which include some of the best 
that have yet appeared. 
The Calanthes in their species and 
numerous hybrids should claim every atten¬ 
tion, these producing their flowers in Decem¬ 
ber and being most attractive as well as use¬ 
ful. 
The claims of the well known Odonto- 
glossum grande cannot be despised when 
properly cultivated, although one of the 
o’dest species in cultivation, and it is very 
difficult to beat. Its flowers produced in 
the autumn months provide one of the most 
beautiful and useful of the Orchids, and 
should be included in evert' amateur’s col¬ 
lection. 
H. J. Chapman. 
