August  t),  I9o0. 
JOURNAL  OF  HORTICULTURE  AND  COTTAGE  GARDENER, 
121 
Cattleya  F.  W.  Wigan. 
The  meetings  of  the  Royal  Horticultural  Society  that  are  held  in 
^he  Drill  Hall  at  this  period  of  the  year  are  not  usually  conspicuous 
for  the  large  number  of  Orchids  that  are  exhibited.  As  a  matter  of 
/act  these  iplants  are  almost  invariably  represented  to  a  limited'degree, 
make  the  plan  more  popular,  for  there  are  often  spare  plants  of  various 
well-known  kinds  that  are  too  good  to  throw  away,  but  get  crowded 
out  by  rarer  forms,  and  these  are  the  best  to  use. 
It  is  too  much  to  expect  that  Orchids  of  any  kind  will  thrive  on 
bits  of  rockwork  underneath  the  stages  like  Periwinkles  and  some  of 
the  more  easily  grown  Ferns  and  Mosses,  but  in  planting  out  ferneries 
on  back  walls  and  odd  corners  that  are  filled  with  rockwork  many  will 
thrive.  For  instance,  there  is  the  section  of  Cymbidium  of  which 
0.  giganteum  and  C.  Lowianum  are  typical.  In  a  cool,  moist,  and 
comparatively  shady  structure  these  make  a  splendid  growth,  and  in 
one  large  place  in  the  Midlands  they  are  planted  all  along  a  Fern- 
lined  corridor  on  each  side,  their  fine  arching  foliage  being  as  hand- 
soine  and  fresh  as  that  of  the  Ferns. 
I  did  not  see  the  plants  in  flower,  but  the  effect  must  be  very 
Fig.  33.— cattleya  F.  W.  WIGAN. 
and  quality  has  to  take  the  place  of  quantity.  Amongst  the  few 
shown  at  the  Drill  Hall  on  July  28th,  Cattleya  F.  W.  Wigan  (fig.  33) 
was  very  handsome.  The  plant  was  exhibited  by  Mr.  W.  H.  Young, 
Orchid  grower  to  Sir  Frederic  Wigan,  Bart.,  Clare  Lawn,  East  Sheen, 
and  was  recommended  for  a  first-class  certificate  by  the  Orchid 
Committee  of  the  society.  It  is  a  hybrid  that  resulted  from  a  cross 
between  C.  Schilleriana  and  C.  aurea,  and  the  flower  is  strikingly 
handsome.  The  sepals  are  rose  with  crimson  venations,  the  petals 
also  being  rose,  but  of  a  bright  shade  ;  the  sepals  have  a  suspicion  of  a 
bronze  green  suffusion.  The  broad  flat  lip  is  crimson  with  lighter 
'markings,  and  yellow  at  the  base ;  it  has  a  white  fimbriated  margin. 
Orchids  on  Rockwork  and  Walls. 
It  is  not  every  species  of  Orchid  that  is  suitable  for  planting  in 
rockwork  or  dressed  walls,  but  there  are  many  that  are,  and  some  few 
perhaps  that  cannot  be  so  well  grown  in  any  other  way.  This  should 
good.  In  this  case  separate  pockets  had  been  made  at  various 
heights,  but  the  plants  had  outgrown  these  completely,  so  vig  rous 
was  the  growth.  That  singular  Oypripedium  Pearcei  I  have  noted 
doing  well  on  several  occasions,  with  its  rambling  rhizomes  and 
crowns  pushing  in  all  directions  on  the  rockery.  This  is  by  no 
means  always  a  success  when  grown  in  pans  in  the  usual  way,  and 
doubtless  the  freedom  obtained  by  the  roots  in  the  rockery  is  a 
help  to  it. 
Most  Cypripediums,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  make  a  fine  growth  when 
grown  this  way,  and  flower  freely  provided  the  light  is  good.  They 
should  he  planted  below  the  line  of  vision  where  possible,  as  the  shape 
of  the  flowers  shows  up  better.  The  least  satisfactory  species  for  the 
purpose  are  those  which  require  exactly  opposite  conditions  winter 
and  summer,  such  as  Thunias  and  deciduous  Dendrobes.  But  with  a 
careful  selection  a  very  interesting  feature  may  be  made  in  Orchid 
houses  by  these  means. 
