BKITISH PLANTS. ,55 



Mr. Johnstone hopes the ladies, who take a delight in the floral art, 

 may be induced to effect the removal of the sweet wild! ings. It would 

 seem somewhat ungallant in us not likewise to invite tiie ladies to take 

 an active part, and we would solicit them to do so. But we bear in 

 mind that fair fingers are ill fitted for tearing up roots, and that 

 fashionable slippers are somewhat unsuitable for scrambling up rocky 

 heights and rugged hills. And we hope that considerations of that 

 kind may induce the hardier sex to join heart and hand in the move- 

 ment. Being ready to do our part, we propose in this and succeeding 

 papers to analyse the British Flora, and see what species really deserve 

 the attention of the florist, and to give such hints as may occur to 

 us on the system of cultivation likely to prove most successful for 

 the respective species ; and thus to present our readers with a manual 

 for the guidance in the good cause. It is not our intention to com- 

 prehend in our list all the beautiful British plants ; but only those 

 which seem peculiarly eligible as objects for garden ornament. It is 

 a fact very well known, that many plants which have a most beautiful 

 appearance when growing in their natural situations, lose much of their 

 beauty when cultivated in the garden ; nay, often cease to be objects 

 of admiration. It is likewise a known fact, that many plants, from the 

 peculiarity of their habits, are very difficult of cultivation, and some 

 cannot indeed be grown at all in ordinary gardens. With the plants of 

 neither of these classes do we propose to deal. We intend to treat of 

 those only which, from their great beauty and neat habit, appear fully 

 deserving a place in the flower-garden, and, from the nature of the soil 

 and situation in which they generally grow, and their geographical and 

 local distribution, seem likely to be cultivated with success. 



1. Ankmone nkmqkosa, or Wood Anemone. This lovely vernal 

 flower must be known to all those of our readers who indulge in occa- 

 sional wanderings in the woods and shady dells, for in such situations it 

 raises its beautifully delicate blossoms at a season when no other wood 

 flower appears, and seems to tell us that it will soon be followed by 

 the sweet Primrose and Cowslip. It is a plant quite easy of cultiva- 

 tion, for we have seen it cultivated, although we believe it to be a rara 

 avis in gardens. The intrinsic beauty and graceful habit of this 

 flower render it well deserving of a place in every flower-garden ; but 

 it is rendered even much more valuable to the florist from the circum- 

 stance of its flowering at a season when flowers are scarce, and when 

 there is little life in the borders, it fills up the gap betwixt the season 

 of the Snowdrop and Crocus, and the Primrose and Auricula. It has 

 a tuberous root, somewhat similar to that of the common garden 

 Anemone, and the root may be removed from the woodland to the 

 garden border at almost any season. The best season for removal is 

 the autumn, when in a state of comparative rest : but it is somewhat 

 difficult to find at that season in consequence of the plant not being in 

 flower and covered by the luxuriant herbage around. Although dis- 

 advantages attend the transplanting of the plant in the spring, when in 

 flower, still we would recommend that season, for then it is easily 

 found, and there is, at that time, no chance of any other plant being 

 mistaken for it. It should be planted in liglit, not over-rich soil, and, 

 if possible, in a shady border. From its dwarf habit it should occupy 



