266 TRANSACTIONS OF THE NORTHERN 



accomplishment. Get in the thin edge of the wedge first, by recom- 

 mending those kinds of trees and flowers that can easily be obtained ; 

 and these, teaching silently, will cultivate a more refined taste, and in- 

 spire a longing for all that is beautiful in the tree, or shrub, or flower. 



We could influence, also, the younger members of the family, by giv- 

 ing them a few simple lessons in flower-culture, and stimulate them to 

 increased effort by bestowing a plant, or a few packages of seed. We 

 can teach them how to plant and how to sow, direct their attention 

 to those plants which are of easy culture, and yet bloom long and abun- 

 dantly. 



It is wonderful how flowers will adapt themselves to circumstances, 

 and still be beautiful. One of the most graceful objects we have been 

 privileged to see, was an old-fashioned teapot, minus the spout, sus- 

 pended with twine from the centre of a farm-house window, containing 

 a fine specimen of ground ivy, which grew as luxuriantly as if suspended 

 in a basket of the richest terra-cotta. An old tin pan, that had lain 

 around the yard amongst other unsightly objects, was converted into a 

 " thing of beauty " by enclosing it in bark, setting it upon an old stump 

 which stood in the shade, planting in the center blue and scarlet cardi- 

 nal flowers, surrounded with a ring of spleenwort, maiden-hair and 

 shield fern, while round the edge grew ground-ivy and moneywort in 

 rich profusion. A number of old white lead kegs cut in two and cov- 

 ered with bark, made the finest baskets for trailing lobelias and Seeum 

 Loeboldii we have yet seen, and were admired by all who saw them. 

 An old family washbowl, in which a large family had performed their 

 ablutions for years, enclosed in rustic work, was made the receptacle 

 for a fine specimen of Abutiloii Vexi/Ian'i/in, which throve amazingly 

 and bloomed in vast profusion. An old nail keg was cut in two, thus 

 making two tubs. These were ornamented with the thin bark of the 

 white cedar, and fantastically coiled around the rims and sides with the 

 stems of the wild grapevine. In one was planted a scarlet geranium 

 (Queen of the West), with an edging of Lobelia Paxtonii. In the other 

 a brilliant colored coleus surrounded with a dazzling scarlet nasturti- 

 um. Both were floral gems all the summer and the fall. 



As we are anxious to make this a thoroughly practical essay, we will 

 devote a few brief paragraphs to the cultivation of annual flowers. 

 These are the flowers for every man's garden, their culture being so 

 simple if properly understood. They are not only among the most 

 beautiful ornaments of the summer flower-garden, but the ease with 

 which they are cultivated, and the long time they remain in bloom, give 

 them the highest claim to our attention and care. If their culture is 

 simple the small amount of trouble they give to the grower, as well as 

 their comparative inexpensiveness for their rich array of beauty, render 

 them objects of pleasure to every lover of flowers. Those charming 

 objects of the flower garden, (green-house plants), which require yearly 

 propagation by cuttings, and the labor of watering and potting, besides 

 the wintering of such, is not within every man's means. But a few dimes 



