320 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
October  1, 18tC. 
The  habit  of  this  Dendrobe  is  to  flower  not  from  the  old 
ripened  stems — though  many  spikes  are  produced  in  this  way — 
but  on  the  apex  of  growth.  From  the  time  the  young  shoots 
start  until  the  flower  spikes  show,  a  moist  heat  and  buoyant 
atmosphere  most  be  maintained.  Sun  heat  must  be  made  the  most 
of  by  closing  the  house  early,  with  plenty  of  moisture,  as  this 
produces  just  the  atmospheric  conditions  that  tropical  Dendrobiums 
delight  in,  and  that  cannot  be  caused  by  firing  or  any  artificial 
means  except  this. 
After  the  growths  are  fully  matured  the  plants  should,  if 
possible,  be  induced  to  rest  awhile,  as  this  is  conducive  to  free 
blooming.  They  must  not,  however,  be  dried  much  at  the  root, 
and  never  allow  the  growth  to  shrivel,  lessening  the  water  supply 
too  soon  in  autumn  being  a  frequent  cause  of  this.  In  spring  or 
whenever  the  young  shoots  start  very  little  water  will  be  needed, 
and  care  is  necessary  both  in  watering  and  shading.  The  roots  do 
not,  as  a  rule,  appear  until  the  shoots  have  made  considerable  head¬ 
way.  Increase  the  supply  when  these  begin  to  run  freely,  as  this 
is  a  sign  that  the  plants  have  need  of  more  moisture. 
It  is  a  characteristic  of  D.  Phalaenopsis  that  the  young  growths 
often  start  high  up  the  stem  in  such  a  position  that  the  roots  cannot 
possibly  enter  the  compost.  Consequently  they  are  not  so  strong 
as  they  may  be,  and  it  is  inadvisable  to  take  them  ofi^  the  present 
plant  until  one  new  pseudo-bulb  at  any  rate  has  been  completed.  I 
have  seen  good  results  attained  by  splitting  a  small  pan  in  half  and 
placing  this  close  under  the  young  shoot,  filling  it  up  with  compost 
as  soon  as  seen  to  be  necessary.  In  this  way  the  plants  have  the 
dual  advantage  of  the  compost  and  the  help  of  the  parent  plant, 
and  although  rather  a  troublesome  mode  of  dealing  with  a  large 
number  of  plants,  where  only  a  few  have  to  be  treated  it  answers 
admirably. 
The  varieties  of  this  Orchid  that  have  been  separately  named 
are  almost  endless,  but  no  good  can  be  served  by  enumerating 
them.  Some  are  really  good  and  distinct,  but  aa  is  too  often  the 
case  with  Orchids,  many  of  them  have  been  separately  named  by 
the  persons  who  have  flowered  them,  two  or  three  names  having  in 
some  caaes  been  given  to  varieties  that  are  nearly,  if  not  quite, 
identical.  All  are,  however,  of  great  beauty,  and  should  be  grown 
in  quantity  by  everyone  having  a  suitable  house  at  disposal .  The 
flowering  season  extends  from  the  beginning  of  August  till  well  in 
the  new  year,  that  is  if  a  good  stock  of  plants  are  grown.  The 
typical  D.  Phalaenopsis  was  introduced  from  North  Australia  in 
1880,  the  present  variety  being  a  native  of  New  Guinea,  and  was 
introdaced  by  Messrs.  Sander  &  Co.  of  St.  Albans  about  four  years 
ago. — H.  R.  R. 
HARDY  FLOWER  NOTES. 
Though  one  of  the  poets,  writing  of  the  season,  says  : — 
“Thine,  Autumn,  is  unwelcome  lore — 
To  tell  the  world  its  pomp  is  o’er,” 
the  tale  seems  engrossed  in  an  illuminated  missal  ao  bright  with 
gold  and  colours  that  the  sadness  of  its  lesson  is  almost  nnperceived. 
We  feel  that  autumn  has  still  its  pleasures  for  ns  in  the  garden, 
though,  like  those  of  men  past  the  zenith  of  life,  they  seem 
chastened  by  age.  Longfellow  seems  to  express  our  feelings  better 
than  Trench  when  he  says  : — 
“*  *  *  with 
A  sober  gladness  the  old  year  takes  up 
His  bright  inheritance  of  golden  fruits, 
A  pomp  and  pageant  fill  the  splendid  scene.” 
It  is,  as  it  were,  the  sunset  of  the  garden’s  glory,  and  fitly 
enough  the  flowers  of  the  time  seek  to  rival  in  brightness  of 
colouring  the  brilliancy  of  the  western  sky  when  the  sun  is  sinking 
behind  the  hills.  It  is  almost  with  pathos  that  we  look  upon  all 
this  brightness,  that  we  see  these  Sunflowers,  these  Torch  Lilies, 
these  Star  warts,  these  Coneflowers,  these  Roses,  and  the  many 
other  flowers  still  giving  us  their  welcome  companionship.  We 
feel  that  too  soon  their  glory  will  be  “  faded  and  gone.”  But  if 
we  feel  thus  of  our  favourite  flowers  which  we  miss  for  the  time, 
but  which  we  know  shall  again  appear  to  delight  us  or  others,  what 
shall  we  say  of  these  bright  annual  flowers  whose  life  is  all  too 
shorti?  We  can  only  say  as  Herrick  says  of  the  Daffodils  : — 
“  *  *  *  We  weep  to  see 
You  haste  away  so  soon,” 
and  strive  to  picture  to  ourselves  the  awakening  of  a  new  season 
of  flowers.  It  will  be  time  enough  hereafter  to  tell  of  the  death 
of  the  flowers,  and  now,  though  leaves  begin  to  fall,  and  the 
Virginian  Creeper  is  crimson  as  if  dyed  with  its  life's  blood,  we 
must  pass  to  a  cheerier  strain,  though  it  seems  hard  to  do  when 
a  wild  west  wind,  accompanied  by  sheets  of  rain,  surges  'mid 
the  trees  and  hedges  and  flowers,  and  whitens  the  crests  of  the 
Solway’s  waves  as  if  with  snow. 
First  must  come  the  Sunflowers,  which  seem  as  if  they  had 
from  the  time  of  piercing  through  the  soil  drank  in  the  sunlight, 
to  give  it  forth  again  in  these  golden  blooms.  I  have  just  looked 
out  at  a  good  clump  of  that  very  fine  one  named  Miss  Mellish,  and 
was  grieved  to  see  how  it  was  being  tossed  with  the  wind.  It  is 
not  tied  up,  its  stout  stems  standing  well  against  ordinary  winds, 
and  looks  finer  far  without  stake  or  tie  ;  but  one  looks  regretfully 
at  the  way  in  which  it  is  being  whirled  and  tossed.  Now  it  reels, 
as  a  gust  fiercely  sweeps  down  upon  it !  Now  it  bows  before 
another  blast,  as  if  cowering  to  Mother  E  irth,  to  seek  her  protec¬ 
tion  !  Now  it  lifts  again,  with  its  petals  quivering  with  a  less 
remorseless  wind  !  Beautiful  it  is  when  it  is  thus  upraised,  but 
far  more  beautiful  still  when  a  soft  breeze  only  fans  it,  and  makes 
it  move  gently  to  its  dalliance.  But  when  to  this  is  added  the 
charms  of  the  mid-day  autumn  son,  which  streams  upon  it  and 
among  its  flowers,  we  stand  by  it  and  look  fondly  at  its  bright¬ 
ness,  thinking  how  appropriately  some  of  these  flowers  have  been 
named  Helianihus,  the  “  Sunflower.” 
This  Sunflower  is  one  of  the  type  formerly  known  as  Harpa- 
lium,  and  now  merged  in  Helianthus.  The  Rev.  C.  Wolley-Dod  is 
of  opinion  that  it  is  near  H.  Isetiflorus,  and  that  it  may  be  a  garden 
cross.  I  do  not  suppose  we  shall  ever  discover  anything  about  its 
parentage,  but  fortunately  its  first  introduction  is  not  unknown. 
The  plant  was  found  by  Mr.  Joseph  Mallender,  bead  gardener  to 
Miss  Mellish  of  Hodsock  Priory,  in  a  clergyman’s  garden.  Mr. 
Mallender,  who  has  charge  of  a  large  collection  of  hardy  flowers, 
was  struck  with  the  beauty  of  the  flower  and  secured  the  plant. 
It  was  sent  to  Chiswick,  and  was  worthily  honoured  by  the  Royal 
Horticultural  Society.  Mr.  Mallender  named  the  plant  in  honour 
of  Miss  Mellish,  and  it  will,  for  some  time  to  come  at  least,  stand 
in  the  front  rank  of  flowers  of  its  class. 
A  handsome  plant  it  is  with  its  chocolate  brown  and  green 
items,  its  large,  roughish  leaves,  and  its  golden  flowers  with  their 
many  petals.  It  is  a  flower  which  seems  to  improve  when  estab¬ 
lished,  and  the  fault  it  has  in  common  with  H.  rigidas — that  of 
spreading  rapidly — is  hardly  a  fault,  but  more,  perhaps,  a  virtue  in 
the  case  of  so  desirable  a  plant.  True  autumn  flowers  are  the 
Meadow  Saffrons,  coming  with  their  bright  flower-cups  in  August 
and  September  days.  There  are,  it  is  true,  two  or  three  spring 
flowering  species,  but  they  only  come  to  make  the  exceptions  which 
are  said  to  prove  the  rule.  Very  fine  has  been  Bornmuller’s  one 
(Colchicum  Bornmulleri)  ;  but  though  it  is  larger,  I  should  not 
like  to  say  it  adds  so  great  a  charm  to  the  garden  as  C.  Sibthorpi, 
which  blooms  so  profusely  and  has  such  prettily  chequered  flowers 
of  good  form.  It  is  said  to  be  synonymous  with  C.  latifolium ;  but 
if  that  is  the  case  the  latter  name  was  most  inappropriately  applied 
to  the  plant.  I  think  I  have  read  somewhere  of  an  error  having 
been  made  in  the  plate  of  the  flowers  by  which  the  foliage  of  a 
broad-leaved  species  was  figured  with  the  flowers  of  C.  Sibthorpi. 
I  cannot  at  present  refer  to  this  statement,  but  I  know  that  I  have 
received  from  Italy  another  Colchicum  as  latifolium  which  has 
broader  leaves  than  C.  Sibthorpi,  and  that  several  others  have  much 
broader  leaves. 
Mr.  J.  G.  Baker’s  descriptions  of  the  various  species  in  the 
Journal  of  the  Linnsean  Society  are  not  very  accessible  to  many  in 
their  present  form,  and  th\t  eminent  botanist  would  confer  a  boon 
upon  many  if  he  could  find  time  among  his  pressing  engagements 
for  a  revision  and  re-issue  of,  at  least,  his  descriptions  of  these 
aberrant  tribes  of  the  Liliacese.  My  clump  of  this  fine  Meadow 
Saffron  is  in  rather  light  soil  to  produce  flowers  of  the  largest  size, 
and  Mr.  W.  E.  Gumbleton  recently  sent  me  a  larger  bloom  than 
any  of  mine.  This  is  a  very  free-flowering  and  easily  grown  species, 
and  neither  easily  destroyed  by  wind  or  rain.  Quite  a  number  of 
flowers  are  in  bloom  as  I  write,  and  give  a  finer  effect  than  one 
could  expect  from  the  small  number  of  bulbs.  One  singular  thing 
about  this  Meadow  Saffron  seems  to  be  that  the  bees  do  not  find  it 
so  fatal  as  the  majority  of  the  plants  of  the  genus.  They  frequent 
the  flowers  of  all,  and  in  some  casea  seem  to  be  overcome  by 
their  poisonous  properties.  It  comes  from  Greece  and  adjacent 
countries. 
From  the  Meadow  Saffrons  our  thoughts  naturally  turn  to  the 
autumnal  Crocuses,  which,  if  smaller,  are  of  more  varietj'  of 
colour  with  more  delicacy  and  refinement.  They  seem,  alas !  a 
little  too  fragile  for  such  weather  as  prevails  as  I  write,  and  which 
is  an  unwelcome  change  from  what  we  had  for  a  time.  It  was  but 
yesterday  that  some  opened  their  chaste  chalices  to  the  sun,  and 
to-day  some  of  them  are  soaked  and  battered,  and  bespattered  with 
splashes  from  the  soil  which  gave  them  birth.  Some,  however, 
more  fortunate  remain  erect  and  undefiled,  ready  when  a  happier 
time  comes  to  show  us  their  now  hidden  inner  beauty.  There  are 
the  deep  coloured  and  beautifully  marked  C.  speciosus ;  the 
exquisite  C.  zonatus  ;  the  equally  lovely  C.  pulchellus,  with  some 
