Orchids

The first tropical Orchid to flower in the British Isles appears to have been _Bletia verecunda_ (_Helleborine americana_), figured in _Historia Plantorum Rariorum, 1728-1735_....

Most people are familiar with the regular arrangement of the segments of the flowers of Amaryllids and Lilies, with their prominent pistils and anthers. The first stage in the a...

Some of the difficulties which the cultivator of Orchids has to contend against arise from the fact that his houses have to accommodate plants which have been brought from widel...

So far as the improvements in present-day Orchid houses are concerned, these are not due to the imagination of the horticultural builder, but to the experience of the Orchid gro...

We are often asked what season is the best for potting and basketing Orchids. Experienced growers say that, with the exception of the winter season, they are engaged in potting...

An unsightly appearance is given to many collections of Orchids by the presence on some of the plants of a number of damaged or yellow leaves. These are often supposed to be the...

It used to be thought a very delicate operation to divide an Orchid, or to remove any portion of it for the purpose of obtaining another specimen, and, when the operation was ca...

Success or failure with any class of Orchids depends largely on the exercise of discretion in watering. While it may be said that more specimens are lost by having too little wa...

It should be distinctly understood that, in the case of true epiphytes, there is no need for manures, and, that artificial chemical manures are almost certain to bring about dis...

Whilst we may definitely say that all Orchids require a resting season in some degree, the cultivator must be careful to arrange the resting season, in the matter of its duratio...

While every plant in the collection should be given the best possible care and attention, it is advisable to keep the more rare and valuable specimens immediately under the eye...

There is very much in the old-time advice, "Grow your plants clean," for a very large proportion of Orchid diseases and insect pests are due to errors in cultivation, more espec...

Whenever the time is to be spared, it is a good plan to overhaul one or other of the sections of Orchids thoroughly, and to have a more general inspection as soon as possible af...

There are many dwelling-houses of moderate pretensions, especially in towns and suburban districts, in which the sole accommodation for plant-growing consists of the conservator...

Orchids having flowers with persistent perianths, in which the segments do not drop as in many other flowers, are of the highest value for cut flowers, as some or other of them...

Many interesting Orchids have been imported by amateurs who have friends or correspondents in the countries which the Orchids inhabit, and many more would have arrived alive if...

Much depends on the condition of the importations, whether they have been collected at the proper time, and whether they have been properly packed and forwarded. Many imported O...

Many Orchids have fragrant flowers, while in some sections the fragrance is emitted by the whole plant. A large number of Burmese and Indian, highland Orchids, such as _Dendrobi...

A new interest has been added to Orchid culture by the pursuit of hybridising and raising seedling Orchids, which commenced with _Calanthe Dominyi_, raised in the nurseries of M...

~Acanthophippium.~--A small genus of terrestrial plants with oblong pseudo-bulbs, and broad, plicate leaves. Scape erect, flowers ventricose, yellow and reddish-purple. Warm hou...

It is impossible to enumerate the immense number of home-raised hybrids in the scope of this book. It must therefore suffice to name some of the principal genera which have been...