144 A GUIDE TO FLORICULTURE. 



soil. When by age or otherwise they become naked for 

 some distance from the ground, injuring their appearance, 

 cut them down to within a foot of the ground ; this will 

 make them put out young wood near the roots, and in the 

 following season they will flower again. There is an ever* 

 green variety (Loniccra Jlexuosa), that flowers all the sea- 

 son, which may be considered the best of this family. It 

 is a native of China, and should be treated the same as 

 others. The beautiful dark green foliage of this last named 

 variety is a great ornament, but in the winter quite the 

 reverse. 



HYACINTHINE. 



(GRIFFINIA HYACINTHINA.) 



This beautiful exotic, better known as the " Violet 

 colored Griffinia," is a native of Brazil, and was first im- 

 ported into Europe in 1815. It bears some alliance to the 

 Amaryllis family. The climate of Europe is too humid 

 for it, but no doubt in the delightful clime of the Ohio Val- 

 ley, it could be brought to great perfection. This rare and 

 valuable plant is thought to possess considerable beauty. 

 The color is a rich blue, the same used by some of the 

 ancient painters, made by the calcination of the stone 

 called lapis lazuli, therefore not to be surpassed ; this rich- 

 ness and softness of tint are perceptible in this flower 

 alone. Its magnitude and novelty of color, with a 



