Hardy Orchideous Plants

M. F.Otto has written as follows upon these:-

"The best time for transplanting Orchises is early in autumn, when the plants are in a state of rest, and the cultivator must devise the means of finding them, although they are almost withered upon the ground.

"They grow much better if placed between other plants, as they find themselves in their natural situation.

"They should be brought into the garden not only with the whole of their ball of earth, but also with all the sorts of plants belonging to it. They never thrive so well as if they stood among the other plants which naturally surround them.

"Experience has taught that the greater part of the Swiss and Tyrolese Alpine Orchises, as well as those from the south of Europe, are cultivated in pots, but in this situation the plants weaken from year to year, until the tubercles at last disappear. If we would retain them longer in our gardens, particular attention must be paid to the soil in which they grow, and it would probably be best to cultivate them in boxes, which may be covered during the winter months.

"It may be useful to those who would collect the northern species into gardens, to know the situation and soil in which they naturally grow.

"Malaxis paludosa upon very wet peat earth, among sphagnum. Coral-lorrhiza innata upon stumps of roots in wooded peaty marshes. Liparis Loc-selii, in peat meadows, among sphagnum. Orchis morio, in meadows and pastures. O. pnlustris, in damp meadows, often half under water. O. mas-cula, in meadows and pastures. 0. pallens, upon chalk, in mountain pastures. O. militans, in meadows. 0. fusca, upon chalk, in mountain meadows. O. coriophora, in meadows. O. ustulata, in meadows. 0. globosa, in meadows. 0. sambucina, in meadows. 0. maculata, in very dry meadows. O. latifolia, in meadows. O. anacamptis pyrnmidalis, in meadows. 0. gymna-denia conopsea, in meadows. O. con-densiflora, in meadows. O. platan-thera bifolia, in dry meadows, on mountains, and in forests. O. herminturn monarchis, in meadows. Ophrys myodes, in shady forests, particularly upon chalk. 0. arachnites, in meadows, also upon limestone. 0. apifera, upon limestone hills. Epipogium gmelini, upon mouldering roots of trees, in mountainous woods. Spiran-thes autumnalis, in meadows. Neottia Nidusavis,"growing upon roots of trees, in woods. Listera ovata, in damp places, in common woods. L. cordata, in mountain meadows and woods. Epipactis latifolia, in forests. E. atro-rubens, in mountain woods, particularly upon limestone.

E. viridiflora, in shady places. E. palustris, in meadows. Goodyera repens, in fir woods among moss. Cephalanthera rubra, in shady woods. C. ensifolia, in shady forests. Cypripedium calceolus, in shady woods." - Gard. Chron.

Stove For Tender Species

The following is the plan of a stove for these plants erected at Ealing Park, and for which I am indebted to the Gardener's Chronicle.

Fig. 105.

Stove For Tender Species 110

"The roof consists of three spans, which cover a breadth of something more than fifty feet, and is supported by columns, c c, to which creepers are trained. In the centre is an irregular piece of water, a a, called the ' lake,' surrounded by rock-work edging, heated by pipes passing through it from the boiler b, and containing aquatic plants. The flooring of the house and the shelves, b b, are of slate. Parallel with the shelves, and separating them from the narrow part of the lake, are beds, d d, raised two feet and a half above the level of the floor, and each furnished in the middle with a tank, c c, the water of which is heated by a turn of pipe passing through it. At the north end, the house is closed by a solid wall, covered with bark and rough projections for ferns and such plants, at the other end it opens into what is called the plant house by two doors. The heating apparatus consists of a boiler, b, at the close end of pipes running through the water and under the slate shelves.

"The heating apparatus," Mr. Butcher says, "is found to suit admirably as regards the temperature, both of the house and of the lake and tanks of water. The circulation of heat being continued under water, communicates sufficient warmth for the double purpose of creating an evaporation beneficial to the plants, and making the water of suitable temperature when applied by syringe or watering pot.

"We can always command ten degrees of heat in this house above the temperature of the plant stove, connected with and heated by the same apparatus, an arrangement of some importance, as it allows for placing in the plant stove those Orchidaceae; which require a lower temperature when in a state of rest.

"The boiler is formed of cylindrical pipes placed in rows alternately above each other, all heated by one or two fires at pleasure.

"From the roof as well as from trees placed in the centre of the lake, we suspend the Orchidaceae in baskets; and on logs of wood on the two large raised pits and wide shelves around the house, which complete the internal arrangements, we place plants in pots. Those of your readers conversant with floricultural affairs during that period, may remember the many prizes which have been awarded to specimens from our collection, and as this fact forbids the charge of presumption, I will explain our mode of treatment by taking the genus Zygopetalum for an instance.

"When the plants are commencing their growth, (generally about the month of October,) a pot of suitable size is filled three parts full of potsherds and the remainder with close peat, fastened down with pegs of wood. I prefer close peat for this genus, as I have found it do better than in lighter or more fibrous peat.

"The plant so potted is then placed in the Orchidaceous house, temperature ranging from sixty to seventy degrees, the atmosphere moist, the plant kept moist and more liberally supplied with water as it advances in growth.

"When it has completed its growth, it is removed to the plant-stove where the temperature is from fifty to sixty degrees, and water is given sparingly, but the plant is never allowed to become quite dry. It there remains until it again commences growth, when it undergoes the same routine as before".