ANNUALS. 



coaxing along the Trumpet Flower as 

 it clambered, was altogether unique. 



I was informed that the American 

 Ivy was unfit for a tree garniture, its 

 embrace being too tenacious — like our 

 evils. Therefore an English bishop 

 once wrote : 



" The Ivy, fairest plant to seize, 

 And promptest on the neighb'ring trees, 

 O'er bole and branch, with leaves that shine 

 All glossy, bright, tenacious twine ; 

 And the else naked woodland scene 

 Clothe with a raiment fresh and green. 

 Fair is that Ivy twine to see ! 

 But as ye love the goodly tree, 

 O rend away the clasping wreath, 

 'Twill pay the kind support with death ; 

 Ah, that beneath such semblance fair. 

 Should lurk, conceal'd, such deadly snare !" 



The shrubbery of this garden was 



old-fashioned, but arranged with finest 

 taste. In front of the large bay window, 

 Hollyhocks and Dahlias flourished in a 

 bed six feet wide. I had never seen 

 Fuchsias at their best, and their nook 

 under three Birches grown near toge- 

 ther was a charming sight. 



Roses in borders and in beds, and 

 annuals of every kind, I thought, greeted 

 us along the walks. I greatly wondered 

 how he could achieve so much beauty ; 

 but his small greenhouse — where his 

 Hoyas clambered — which held about 

 three hundred plants, solved the prob- 

 lem, and I thought how infinitely greater 

 the satisfaction of this garden than the 

 delusive vanities of the outside world. 

 M. Agatha Hoskins. 

 Newport, Vt. 



ANNUALS. 



THE inexpensive annual, like children, so trouble- 

 some and yet so lovely, are not to be neglected 

 or despised. Most of them grow with little or 

 no care, and these correspond to the natural 

 good innate in mankind, while others, far lovelier and 

 consequently more prized, require minute attention. 



These, like the higher 

 qualities of the soul, 

 are often considered too 

 much trouble, and are 

 left to the painstaking 

 few. The garden teaches 

 us "it is more blessed 

 to give than to receive.'' 

 We grow to love the 

 plants we care for, as 

 we learn to love chil. 

 dren. The delicate 

 flowers, to my mind, are 

 always preferable. The Swan River Daisy is a charming flower, and requires 

 little care. The Schizanthus, is another in bloom a long time, and is especially 

 delicate and beautiful for cut flowers. The Corn-flower, so beloved by Ger- 

 mans, is little or no trouble, and worthy a place ; given a rich soil it will attain 



195 



