266 The Croctis. 



more northern climates ; and the sugar-cane, cotton, indigo, arrow-root, 

 benne, sisal-hemp, tanyah, banana, rice, and cassava of the tropics. 



On my own grounds here, the trees and shrubs of northern and of south- 

 ern latitudes are everywhere strangely intermingled. The maple and the 

 magnolia marry their boughs in the glen ; the hickory and the ash have 

 grouped themselves with the live-oak and the red bay near the house (for 

 art has had nothing to do with these combinations) ; and thickets of inter- 

 woven myrtle, hazel, holly, and alder, skirt Bay Brook and Spring Branch. 

 The modest violet, the retiring wood-aster, and the tiny, pale houstonia, 

 seem as much at home here as the queenly Atamasco lily, the fragrant 

 yellow jasmine, the gorgeous trumpet-flower, or the magnificent blazing- 

 star. 



In such a climate, on such soils, and under the conditions and with the 

 surroundings I have thus briefly noted, the horticulturist's experience is 

 necessarily novel, varied, and interesting. D. H. jfacqiies. 



Glen Evergreen, Fi.a. 



THE CROCUS. 



There is a certain sentiment which attaches to the first flowers of 

 spring peculiarly their own. The blossoms which summer lavishes upon 

 us.may surpass them in richness of coloring, symmetry of form, or in fra- 

 grance ; but they never collect around them the associations which cling 

 to the snowdrop, the crocus, the violet, and the anemone. 



After the snowdrop, the crocus is the first of spring-flowers. Its bright 

 and varied colors, its free-blooming qualities, hardiness, and ease of cul- 

 ture, all combine to render it a favorite. But, the reader may say, " Why, 

 in autumn, do you write of spring-flowers?"' Simply because now is the 

 time to prepare the garden for a rich display in April and May. 



Like most hardy bulbs, the crocus must be planted in the fall, — and the 

 earlier the better, — though often a fine spring-bloom is produced from 

 bulbs which are planted just before the ground freezes up. 



