11(^ THE ANNUAL SUN-FLOWER. 



root, or be increased by budding or grafting very readily. Tliis beau- 

 tiful rose is also increased by budding upon stocks of the other sorts, 

 which is generally performed in the month of May ; but these plants 

 are not so durable as those raised by layers. 



THE ANNUAL SUN-FLOWER. 



The sun-flower is not equalled in its noble and magnificent display of 

 flowers, and may justly be styled the king of the flower-garden. I have 

 often grown it witli flowers above a foot across, and the dark centre, 

 margined round with the rich yellow petals, render it most strikingly 

 beautiful. It has been a great favourite with me for many years, and 

 I am induced to recommend its more general culture. 

 The poet Churchill speaks of it as 



" tlie proud giant of the garden race, 



Who. madly rushing to the sun's embrace, 

 O'ertops her fellows with aspiring aim, 

 Demands his wedded love, and bears his name." 



It is not called sun-flower, as some have supposed, from turning to 

 the sun, but from the resemblance of the full-blown flower to the sun 

 itself; Gerarde remarks, that he has seen four of these flowers on the 

 same stem, pointing to the four cardinal points. This flower is a native 

 of Mexico and Peru, and looks as if it grew from their own gold. It 

 flowers from June to October. 



The dwarf annual kind, Avhich grows from eighteen inches to three 

 feet in height, is a little more within compass. 



The perennial sun-flower is much esteemed for bouquets ; tlie 

 flowers are about eight or ten inches in diameter ; tliere is a constant 

 succession from July to November. It is a native of Virginia. 



The dark-red sun-flower, and the narrow leaved, are of a more 

 moderate height ; tlie first, two or three feet, the latter, a foot and a 

 half Both are natives of Virginia, flowering in September and Octo- 

 ber. 



The sun-flowers are hardy plants ; the perennial kinds are increased 

 by parting the roots into small heads ; this should be done in the 

 middle of October, soon after the flowers are past, or very early in the 

 spring, that they may be well rooted before the droughts come on. 

 They will require watering in dry weather, particularly when in pots. 



Several of the sun-flowers are natives of Canada, wliere they are 

 much admired for their beauty, and cultivated, in gardens, by tiie in- 

 habitants ; in the United States they sow whole acres of land with 

 them, for the purpose of preparing oil from their seeds, of which they 

 produce an immense number. This oil is very pure, fit for salads, and 

 for all the purposes of Florence oil.* 



Thomson supports the popular notion that this flower turns ever 

 towards the sun : — 



* See Lambert's Travels in Canada, iS:c. 



