4 



lO spring Flowers. 



the showy Chinese dielytra now so common. It is of low growth, with 

 clusters of pink-and-white flowers, which, from their eccentric shape, have 

 given the plant the popular name of " Dutchman's breeches." Like many 

 other forest-flowers, its culture requires some care, which, if successful, is 

 repaid by the delicacy and prettiness of this very graceful little plant. 



April 2 1. — Forsythia viridissima. The flowers of this shrub, like those 

 of the mezereum, appear before the leaves. Its tendency is to a loose, 

 straggling growth ; but this can be completely corrected by a judicious 

 pruning. When the bush is thus induced to grow compactly, it becomes, 

 in the spring, a mass of vivid yellow ; each one of its slender shoots being 

 covered with flowers, followed, a week or two later, by the rich green 

 foliage to which it owes its specific name. The other Forsythia — For- 

 sythia siispensa — is hardly worth cultivating. 



The following currants — the Missouri, Seaton's, and the Ribes san- 

 guinea — follow close on the Forsythia, with their drooping clusters of yellow, 

 orange, and red, than which few early flowers are more ornamental. At 

 the same time, the flowers of the Cydonia, or Pyrus Japonica, begin to open. 

 No family of shrubs is more beautiful, or more worthy of culture ; for they 

 are hardy and enduring as they are attractive. Their flowers run through 

 various shades, from deep scarlet to a flesh-color, approaching white. There 

 are semi-double varieties, and it is said that a yellow Cydonia has lately 

 been discovered. For depth and vividness of color, the old red Cydonia 

 has scarcely a rival in the whole catalogue of shrubs. 



* 



April 24. — Corydalis nobilis. A fine perennial, remarkable for the 

 beauty of its foliage, and for its large, dense clusters of yellow flowers, 

 spotted with black. 



April 26. — Ibcris sempervirms and Iberis corrcBfolia, side by side widi the 

 opening buds of the " Guinea-hen tulip," — Fritillaria meleagris. These 

 Iberis are perennial candy-tufts. The first is pretty well known ; but the 

 second is scarcely known at all, though it is one of the finest of hardy 

 herbaceous plants. It is covered with clusters of the purest white flowers, 

 contrasted with evergreen foliage of a deep shining green, and its bloom 

 continues a long time. It has stood here five winters uninjured. 



Magnolia conspiaia and Magnolia Soiilangcatia are opening their large, 

 cup-like flowers ; the one of a creamy white, the other deeply shaded with 



