MARCH AND APRIL. 



11 



appears in such variegated colors that it would be 

 difficult to describe even the commonest types. In 

 one strain there are specimens which approach as 

 near to a black flower as it seems possible. I con- 

 sider the French pansies of M. Bugnot by all odds the 

 finest. But this is a matter of opinion which I am 

 not disposed to urge. Cassier's 

 Odier is a variety of large size 

 and fine color, usually three or 

 five sported. The pansy should 

 be treated as a biennial; if we 

 wish fine flowers we must raise 

 them from seed each year; they 

 bloom from early spring to mid- 

 summer. The Sweet Yiolet ( V. 

 odorata), a relation of the pansy, 

 comes from England and Italy, 

 and is not hardy in our gardens 

 of the North. The double-flow- 

 ered varieties do not seed. 



The tulip comes 



to us from Asia 



Minor, but indi- 

 rectly from Holland. In Ara- 

 bian ornament, particularly in *^* 

 decorative painting, the flower is frequently repre- 

 sented. Our finest tulips come from Haarlem, Hol- 



Tulip. 



Tulipa Gesneriana. 



