10 A GUIDE TO FLORICULTURE. 



PLANTS. 



" I have sweet thoughts of thee ! 

 They come around me like the voice of song ; 

 They come like birds that in the south belong, 

 And wear a gayer wing, and brighter crest, 

 Than those that on the roof-tree build the nest 

 They come more tender, beautiful, and bright, 

 Than any thoughts that others can excite." 



Plants are divided and known as Annuals, Biennials, 

 and Perennials. Annuals are such as flower the first sea- 

 son, ripen its seed, and then its functions cease to exist. 

 Of this class of flowering plants we have some very beau- 

 tiful to decorate the flower garden, at the same time some 

 of the most worthless. To point out any particular variety 

 would be usurping the pen in a delicate cause, as the mer- 

 its of Flora's beauties are as various as people's tastes ; for 

 there are no flowers, however humble, but what possess 

 some intrinsic beauty ; but the eye that admires one may 

 dislike another, and that baneful one may be interesting to 

 another person. Annuals are a class of flowers indispensi- 

 ble to the flower garden ; their seeds should be sown in 

 March and April ; much depends on the season and when 

 wanted to flower. Some annuals will not bear removing, 

 but the generality should be removed, when small, for seed- 

 lings ; the sooner removed, after out of the seed-leaf, the 

 better, for when the root-fibres are small the seedlings do 

 not feel their removal so sensibly as when large. Then 

 again in the arrangement of plants their different colors and 

 height must be guided by fancy ; but to contrast their col- 



