December  12, 1895. 
JOURNAL-  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
547 
A  Shower  Bouquet. 
We  have  more  than  once  been  desired,  especially  by  colonial 
correspondents,  to  describe  a  shower  bouquet.  We  have  felt  it 
practically  impossible  to  do  so  intelligibly,  and  therefore  we  have 
had  reduced  from  a  photograph  an  example  of  one  of  these  bouquets 
(fig.  84)  which  was  made  by  those  well-known  experts  in  this 
work,  Messrs.  Perkins  &  Sons,  Coventry,'  for  H.R.H.  the  Duchess 
of  York.  As  may  be  seen,  it  was  composed  largely  of  Orchids 
with  pendent  sprays  of  Asparagus  plumosus  nanus.  The 
charm  of  these  bouquets  consists  in  their  flowing  elegance 
and  grace.  Many  are  too  packed  and  formal,  while  the 
obtrusively  stiff  and  wire-twined  stems  impart  a  bristliness 
that  is  entirely  objectionable.  A  natural  taste  is  essential 
to  secure  a  perfect  combination,  but  much  may  be  learned 
by  incessant  practice  and  the  close  examination  of  the  handi¬ 
work  of  such  experts  as  the  firm  mentioned.  Though  Messrs. 
Perkins  &  Sons  do  not  win  the  first  prize  for  bouquets 
everywhere  their  record  is  a  remarkable  one,  and  probably 
unparalleled — 495  first  prizes  in  564  competitions  at  the  best 
shows  in  the  kingdom. 
Orchids  in  Winter. 
It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  in  Orchid  growing  that  all  the 
year  round  the  cultivator  must  have  his  wits  about  him — 
must  be  always  on  the  watch,  and  can  never  think  that  the 
season’s  work  is  done.  To  a  certain  extent  this  is  true  of 
all  departments,  but  most  of  these  have  their  quiet  seasons, 
when  the  work  is  practically  done  for  one  year,  and  the 
cultivator  makes  notes  of  successes  achieved,  considers  how 
in  the  future  to  avoid  failures,  and  takes  a  retrospective  view 
of  the  season  in  general. 
The  immense  number  of  species  and  their  widely  differing 
habits,  times  of  resting,  growing,  and  flowering,  the  make¬ 
shifts  that  have  to  be  resorted  to  in  order  to  cater  for  so 
many  of  these  under  one  roof,  the  incidental  peculiarities  of 
this  or  that  kind,  and  the  means  taken  to  accommodate  them  ; 
all  these  are  only  too  well  known  to  any  thoughtful  culti¬ 
vator  who  has  spent  a  few  years  among  these  beautiful 
plants. 
Of  course  at  this  season  the  majority  of  the  species  are 
at  rest — that  is,  they  are  not  in  active  growth — but  then 
here  again  the  same  thing,  they  are  as  variable  in  their 
manner  of  resting  as  of  growing,  and  to  treat  all  alike  at 
this  season  would  be  far  worse  than  when  all  are  growing. 
For  instance,  take  a  bundle  of  the  dry  looking  and  apparently 
lifeless  stems  of  Thunias,  hung  up  in  some  out  of  the  way 
corner  of  a  warm  house ;  these  are  at  rest,  and  so  is  this 
piece  of  Cattleya  Trianse.  Turn  the  latter  out  of  its  pot  and 
keep  it  dry  for  a  month  or  two,  and  what  would  the  result 
be  ?  But  these,  of  course,  are  extreme  cases,  and  it  is  not 
in  this  way  that  orchidists  of  only  limited  experience  are 
puzzled,  but  in  the  various  kinds  of  almost  identical  habit, 
members  perhaps  of  the  same  genus,  but  with  tastes  or 
rather  habits  of  resting  quite  different. 
In  such  cases  observation  is  the  one  thing  of  all  most  needful. 
Note  each  species  or  perhaps  each  plant’s  peculiarities  ;  observe 
how  much  later  Dendrobium  macrophyllum  is  in  making  up  its 
growth  than  D.  Devonianum,  also  that  Cattleya  Mossiae 
and  C.  labiata  are  still  rooting  while  C.  Gaskelliana  is  quite 
dormant,  and  get  into  the  habit  of  considering  these  things  as  the 
work  of  watering  the  plants  is  in  progress,  for  if  it  is  to  be  done 
with  dispatch  there  is  quite  as  much  work  for  the  head  as  the 
hands  in  the  operation.  To  a  beginner  this  sounds  a  rather 
formidable  task,  but  a  little  practice  soon  enables  anyone  who 
takes  a  real  interest  in  their  work  to  overcome  the  seeming 
difficulty,  while  those  who  do  not  had  far  better  leave  it  alone 
altogether. 
Bidding  the  plants  of  insect  pests  is  an  important  part  of  the 
winter  work  among  Orchids,  and  one  that  requires  more  care  than 
is  usually  bestowed  on  it.  The  work  should  be  gone  about  in  a 
systematic  manner,  beginning  at  one  end  of  the  plants  in  a  house 
and  carefully  examining  each,  cleaning  it  thoroughly,  and  also  the 
pot  it  is  growing  in  before  going  on  to  the  next.  ISy  this  means 
ihere  is  no  chance  of  a  dirty  plant  being  overlooked,  as  is  too  often 
FIG.  84.— A  beautiful  SHOWER  BOUQUET. 
partment  is  devoted  to  the  purpose  of  a  flowering  house  it  will 
probably  be  full  to  repletion. 
That  grand  late  autumn  and  winter  flowering  kind,  Dendrobium 
phalaenopsis,  is  a  host  in  itself,  and  with  the  latest  plants  of 
Cattleya  labiata  autumnalis  and  the  deciduous  Calanthes  make  a 
fine  winter  picture.  The  old  Zygopetalum  Mackayi  looks  well  in 
conjunction  with  the  latter,  while  Oncidiums  tigrinum  and  vari- 
cosum  are  amongst  the  most  beautiful  of  their  class.  Nothing 
could  be  more  cheerful  looking  than  the  brilliant  Sophronitis 
grandiflora,  the  amount  of  flowers  produced  by  healthy  plants  being 
truly  remarkable  when  compared  with  the  size  of  the  pseudo-bulbs. 
Laelia  anceps,  in  almost  endless  variety,  gives  an  airy  grace  and 
lightness  to  any  group  to  which  it  may  be  added,  and  contrasts 
well  in  its  brilliant  colouring  with  the  more  sombre  tints  of  the 
Cypripediums,  of  which  the  good  old  C.  insigne  is  at  this  time 
the  best  of  all.  But  while  the  old  form  is  so  useful  many  of 
the  newer  varieties  should  also  be  grown  where  the  convenience 
for  doing  so  exists,  as  though  not  perhaps  quite  so  floriferous  they 
are  valuable  by  reason  of  the  diversity  of  colouration  that  they 
afford. — H.  R.  R. 
the  case  when  the  work  is  done  by  fits  and  starts  on  wet  days  and 
in  odd  times.  There  is  no  need  to  describe  the  manner  of  cleaning 
the  plants,  as  this  has  been  many  times  done  in  these  pages  ;  but  a 
caution  that  seems  necessary  is  to  beware  of  damaging  the  leaves 
of  these  with  the  sponge  by  friction. 
The  foliage  of  Cattleyas,  for  instance,  although  very  thick  and 
leathery  looking,  is  in  reality  easily  damaged,  and  the  worst  of 
it  is  the  injury  is  not  often  apparent  at  the  time,  but  shows 
perhaps  months  after  in  brown  unsightly  spots  where  the  outer 
skin  or  cuticle  was  rubbed  off  in  sponging.  The  stages,  walls,  and 
roof  glass  ought  to  be  well  cleaned,  as  this  produces  a  sweet 
atmosphere  in  the  houses,  and  admits  all  the  light  possible  during 
the  dark  winter  days.  This  is  especially  needful  in  the  cool  house 
where  Odontoglossums,  Masdevallias,  and  other  alpine  species  are 
accommodated,  the  heavy  shading  so  necessary  during  the  summer 
accounting  partly  for  this.  Thanks  to  the  many  fine  winter¬ 
flowering  kinds  the  houses  are  looking  very  gay ,  and  if  a  com- 
