Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 36.djvu/376

362 ways of growing. Some, like the lady's-slippers (Cypripedium) and the superb Odontoglossums, are ground-plants; others, perhaps most of the class, are epiphytes, attaching themselves to the bark of trees, where they live at considerable heights above the soil. Of this class are the fragrant Cattleya and the splendid Phalænopsis, so elegant with great bunches of white or rose-colored flowers.

It follows from this great diversity of exigencies that orchids lend themselves readily to all possible combinations in the ornamentation of rooms. Some are cultivated in pots and help in the decoration of jardinères (Fig. 2); others, which live on the trunks



of trees, can be placed in hanging baskets, or fixed in front of a mirror which will reflect their graceful figures.

Orchids will last a long time in a room if proper care has been taken in cutting and transporting them. The flower will sometimes keep its freshness for two or three weeks. Their preservation may be prolonged by covering them every evening with a sheet of silk paper, which will protect them from dust and excessive evaporation. They lend themselves remarkably well to the formation of bouquets, where their quality of keeping fresh for weeks gives them much value. An effective bouquet shown at a horticultural exhibition in Paris, which was formed by attaching orchids mingled with branches of asparagus to moss-covered bamboo sticks, is shown in Fig. 4. On account of their enduring freshness orchids are favorite flowers for bouquets to be worn on