November  7,  1901.  JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER. 
415 
Useful  Odontoglossums. 
Besides  the  handsome  Odontoglossum  grande,  O.  crispum 
•and  its  many  varieties,  there  are  two  other  outstanding  Odonto- 
glots  of  great  excellence  for  general  purposes,  and  commendable 
in  the  eyes  of  many  cultivators  because  they  are  not  too  exacting 
in  their  requirements.  These  are  O.  cirrhosum  and  O.  macu- 
latum,  both  of  which  are  figured  on  this  page.  Mr.  Richards 
has  repeatedly  furnished  the  necessary  cultural  comments,  and 
even  so  late  as  September  5  and  26,  pp.  215  and  283,  gave  an 
extended  treatment  of  the  whole  genus.  The  flowers  of  O.  macu- 
latum  are  not  particularly  attractive,  but  they  come  during  the 
dull  days  of  winter,  and  are,  therefore,  the  more  welcome.  In 
colour  they  are  yellowish-brown,  with  a  pleasing  tinge  of  purple 
or  crimson  on  the  lip.  O.  cirrhosum  is  now  an  old  favourite, 
and  is  used  a  good  deal  in  floral  decorations.  The  graceful 
flowers  have  rich  chocolate  spots  on  the  white  sepals,  petals, 
and  lip. 
Leelia  autumnalis  atro-rubens. 
This  was  floweririg  freely  in  a  well  known  collection,  and  is  one  of  the 
richest  colour  varieties  of  this  popular  species.  The  sepals  and  petals 
are  deep  rosy  crimson  at  the  points,  becoming  paler  below,  and  the 
lip  has  an  intense  purple  crimson  blotch  in  front,  with  white  side 
lobes— a  rich  and  effective  combination  of  colour.  It  is  a  good  grower, 
thriving  well  in  company  with  the  other  Mexican  Leelias. 
The  Week’s  Cultural  Notes. 
That  beautiful  Dendrobium  D.  Phalsenopsis  Schroderianum  is 
now  in  full  beauty,  and  those  having  fine  specimens  are  very  apt 
to  expose  them  while  in  flower  to  treatment  very  unsuited  to 
them.  The  conservatory  in  many  places  is  very  ill  adapted  to 
the  requirements  of  heat  and  moisture-loving  subjects  such  as 
this  Dendrobium,  and  although  the  plants  have  a  fine  effect  there, 
they  are  often  badly  checked  in  growth  owing  to  it.  In  a  fairly 
well-arranged  house  a  week  or  ten  days’  sojourn  may  do  the  plants 
no  harm,  but  to  take  them  there  on  opening,  and  leave  them 
until  the  flowers  fade,  has  been  the  ruin  of  many  fine  specimens. 
D.  Phalsenopsis  is  rather  erratic  in  its  habit  of  growth  and 
rest,  and  the  treatment  must  vary  a  little  with  individual  plants. 
When  it  is  plain  that  the  plants  are  not  going  to  make  any  more 
growth,  they  should  be  kept  well  up  to  the  light,  and  slightly 
dried  at  the  roots.  Such  plants  will  start  away  in  spring  with 
vigour,  and  flower  early.  Others  that  seem  inclined  to  grow  must 
not  be  checked  by  drying  off,  but  kept  warm  and  moist  to  finish 
them  up  as  early  as  possible.  In  either  case  they  must  have 
heat,  none  of  the  Australian  species  being  able  to  withstand  cold 
in  winter  like  the  Moulmein  and  Indian  sorts. 
Lselia  purpurata  is  another  Orchid  that  cannot  be  depended 
upon  to  keep  dormant  in  late  autumn.  When  it  does  the  shoots 
always  come  away  with  greater  vigour  in  spring,  and  flower  more 
freely  than  when  they  are  moving  sluggishly  all  the  winter. 
But  it  is  quite  impossible  to  keep  some  specimens  at  rest,  and 
Odontoglossum  maculatum. 
there  is  no  doubt  that  some  varieties  of  this  favourite  species  are 
specially  prone  to  this  fault.  So  are  the  Cattleyas  aurea  and  gigas 
and  the  fine  hybrid  between  them,  C.  Hardyana.  But  when 
they  can  be  kept  dormant  they  are  one  and  all  better  for  it. 
Disa  grandiflora  is  now,  or  should  be,  growing  freely,  and 
will  require  a  very  full  supply  of  water.  Air  in  plenty  is  also 
necessary,  and  there  are  many  worse  places  for  a  batch  of  this 
species  than  a  position  close  to  a  door  or  a  ventilator  in  an 
ordinary  greenhouse  at  this  time  of  year.  Light  dewings  over¬ 
head,  with  water  from  the  syringe,  will  keep  the  atmosphere 
sufficiently  moist,  and,  what  is  equally  important,  will  make  un- 
Od-.iNTOOLOSSUM  cirrhosum. 
comfortable  quarters  for  tlirip  and  other  insect  pests  that  affect 
this  fine  Disa.  The  hybrid  kind,  D.  Veitchi,  is  more  easily  grown 
than  the  type  and  almost  equally  beautiful. — H.  R.  R. 
Hardy  Flower  Notes. 
However  much  the  flowers  may  strive  against  the 
approach  of  their  time  of  rest  and  of  decay,  it  comes  with 
steady  hand.  Chill  frost  may  have  been  withheld  or 
chastened,  yet  yellowing  leaves  and  leafless  or  thinning  trees 
and  shrubs  tell  us  that  the  dull  days  of  the  garden  year  are 
close  at  hand.  As  the  eye  rests  on  the  hillsides,  we  see  great 
fields  of  Bracken  now  russet-brown.  If  that  hardy  plant  is 
thus  fast  losing  its  green,  much  more  may  our  flowers — many 
of  them  from  warmer  lands — grow  weary  of  the  shortening 
days  and  the  autumn’s  storms,  and  grow  tired-like,  and  show 
signs  of  their  desire  for  rest.  All  this  insensibly  saddens  us, 
even  amid  the  many  charms  shown  us  by  these  plants  in  their 
various  stages  of  decrepitude.  As  we  look  with  saddened 
admiration  upon  the  silver  hair  of  the  aged,  so  we  may  look 
upon  the  colouring  leaves  of  our  flowers  and  trees.  They 
are  tokens  of  decay ;  yet  they  are  of  beauty  unspeakable. 
The  Briony  hangs  in  the  thinning  hedge,  as  russet  as  harvest  corn, 
The  straggling  Blackberries  glisten  jet,  the  haws  are  red  on  the 
Thorn  ; 
The  Clematis  smells  no  more,  hut  lifts  its  gossamer  weight  on  high— 
If  you  onlv  gazed  on  the  year,  you  would  think  how  beautiful  ’t is  to 
die.  '“A  Farmhouse  Dirge.” — Austin. 
Though  these  things  are  among  the  treasures  of  the  time,  it 
is  not  to  be  supposed  that  ruddy,  ruby,  brown,  or  golden 
leaves  are  the  sole  pleasures  of  the  garden  now.  It  is  to  the 
remaining  flowers  that  we  turn  for  greater  brightness  to  oiu 
thoughts  ;  for  the  gayer  colours  for  which  we  are  ever  on 
the  search.  Let  us  see  what  these  things  are  !  We  must 
ever  welcome  the  last  blossoms  of  these  flowers  of  the  sun,  to 
which  have  been  fitly  given  the  name  of  Helianthus.  Some¬ 
how,  seeing  them,  it  seems  hard  to  enter  into  the  feelings  of 
William  Blake,  who  spoke  of  the  flower  as 
.  .  .  Sunflower,  weary  of  time, 
Who  countest  the  steps  of  the  sun, 
Seeking  after  that  sweet  golden  clime 
Where  the  traveller’s  journey  is  done. 
Nay,  it  has  too  much  of  joyousness  about  its  flowers  of  gold  , 
too  full  a  message  of  good  cheer. 
