The Fascination of Flowers [301 



PANSIES PERFECT FOR CHILDREN 



Youthful gardeners can ask for no more delightful flower 

 than the pansy. Its coloring is beautiful and its markings often 

 give it an appealing face. The dark spots at the bases of the side 

 petals and the lines radiating from them suggest eyes and eye- 

 lashes, the opening of the nectar tube makes a nose, and the 

 spot near the base of the lower petal will pass for a mouth. 



Many varieties of pansies may be easily raised from seed sown 

 in the spring or early summer, and seedlings may be set out in 

 the garden in early spring. They do better in shady areas than in 

 full sunshine. 



Pansies Are Ideal for Picking: Children love to pick flowers. 

 This makes the pansy an ideal plant for a child, as the flowers 

 should be picked as soon as they open, or shortly afterward. If 

 the pansy's seeds are allowed to ripen, the plant will bloom for 

 only a short time, its life purpose having been accomplished. 

 Persistent picking of the blooms, on the other hand, constantly 

 produces new buds. 



How Bees Help Fertilize the Pansy: The nectar sought by bees 

 in the pansy is contained in the spur formed by the lower petal 

 extending behind the flower. As the insect probes the nectar well 

 with its tongue, pollen from a flower previously visited brushes 

 off against the stigma. At the same time the bee receives a fresh 

 coating of pollen dust. Shortly after a pansy has been fertilized, 

 you can notice the ribbed seed pod becoming prominent. Finally 

 this opens in three valves, and the seeds are scattered as the edges 

 of each valve curl inward. 



TULIPS THE NATIONAL PASSION OF HOLLAND 



This famous flower was introduced into Europe from the 

 East in the sixteenth century, and about a hundred years later 

 became the national passion of Holland. The Dutch growers 

 speculated in outstandingly beautiful varieties of the tulip as 

 some people speculate in stocks! Anyone who is familiar with 

 these lovely flowers will understand the hold they took on Dutch 

 tulip-fanciers. 



