33° 



The Canadian Horticulturist. 



FLOWERS AWAY FROM HOME. 



E are apt, as we wander along our roads and over our fields, 

 to imagine that what we see, as representatives of plant 

 life, are much the same wherever we go. It only requires 

 a trip such as the writer lately made to learn how erroneous 

 this idea is. While attending a summer school at Colorado 

 College, located at the base of the Rocky Mountains, in 

 the vicinity of the famous Manitou Springs and Pike's 

 Peak, an excellent opportunity was afforded to study the 

 marvellously varied and attractive flora of the district. We 

 shall not attempt to write an extended article upon the 

 flowers of Colorado, but simply direct attention to some of 

 the most common and attractive, readily observed by any one, as he wanders in 

 the vicinity of this beautiful place. You are 6,000 feet above sea level, in a 

 region where rain is comparatively scarce ; the air is very rarefied, but clear, dry 

 and invigorating ; your lungs will require to respire 700 times more in a day 

 and your heart beat 8,500 times oftener daily than it does in the east. Places 

 seven miles distant do not appear farther than a tenth of the distance. 



With such conditions as an environment it is not a matter of surprise that 

 the nature of the flowers should be so modified as to result in forms widely 

 different from what we see in Ontario. One of the first plants to arrest your 

 attention upon vacant lots is the " Soap Plant " or " Spanish Bayonet " {Vucca\ 

 a flower cultivated in Ontario with great care. It grows from 2 to 4 feet high, 

 and bears beautiful blossoms all tHe way down the stalk. These are nearly as 

 large as tulips, and much the same shape. Thus, here we find one of our most 

 beautiful flowers a weed. The leaves are sword-shaped, sharp and stiff, and 

 twelve to twenty inches long. The root is used by the Indians instead of soap, 

 and hence the name soap plant. 



Not common on the plains, but readily found on the mountains, is the 

 beautiful Columbine {Aqtiikgia Ccsrulea), now regarded as the " State flower." 

 No where does the Columbine grow so large and beautiful as here ; the colors 

 are so rich, lilac and pure white, while the flowers are four times as large as ours 

 will form. In the " Garden of the gods " at the base of Pike's Peak we found 

 the much sought for Mariposa lily {Calochortus). This is another choice flower 

 of Colorado, with its delicate lavender color, touched with yellow or orange, 

 brown and white. No more attractive object could be seen than these beautiful 

 blossoms adorning some shady spot. 



The Primrose is found in great variety, and decks the plains in every 

 direction. The blossoms vary in size from a penny to three inches across. 

 Many are white, but some are a beautiful pink. Wild roses grow in profusion, 

 some of the most beautiful were found not far from where the Mariposa lily 

 grew in the " Garden of the gods." 



