FLORIDA NURSERY GARDEN NEWS 
Plant your home to make Florida more beautiful 
VOL. II MARCH, 1955 NO. 5 
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A PLANTING OF PHAIUS GRANDIFOLIUS IN FULL BLOOM IN APRIL 1954 
Here is a wonderful start for your orchid collection—for of course YOU CAN GROW ORCHIDS-~and it’s lot of fun, 
too! The Phaius is a terrestrial or “earth-growing” orchid, and it is commonly known as the “NUN’S LILY ORCHID” 
because within the lip is an ivory-like replica of a white-hooded nun! 
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This versatile plant may be grown either as a potted plant or directly in the ground in the garden. The broad green 
leaves which come from a pseudo bulb are attractively veined, and are decorative for foliage even when not in bloom. 
The foliage and the bloom spikes vary in height according to the age of the plant and how it is fed; it is not uncommon 
to see well grown plants with leaves two feet long, and with bloom spikes three to four feet in height with dozens of 
Orchids on each stalk. The picture above will show you somewhat how they grow and bloom out in the open in 
Central Florida. 
The flowers are three to four inches wide, with the petals and sepals somewhat pointed. They are a warm shade of 
brown flecked with silver and magenta, with a purple lip margined with yellowish brown. They make wonderful cor- 
sages, and since they open usually a few at a time up the spike, you have Orchids to make corsages or wear in your hair 
for weeks! 
Natives of India, China, Malaysia and Australia, Phaius prefer a shaded location where they get plenty of light, a soil 
rich in humus, plenty of water, and lots of food. For best results, fertilizer should be applied about every two weeks; 
this assures you better foliage and more bloom. Many of our plants have two bloom spikes per plant. 
We recommend that if you grow your Phaius in a pot that you repot them every year just after blooming season, shifting 
the plant to a larger pot. Large clumps may be divided to secure new plants, or they may also be propagated by layering 
the basal portion of the old flowering stems in sand or spaghnum. 
THE FLORIDA NURSERY AND LANDSCAPE CO. has one of the largest collections of healthy, well grown Phaius 
in the south. 
CHOICE BLOOMING PLANTS, ONLY $3.50 AND UP 
