Select Biennial and Perennial Plants. 127 



Art. II. On the Cultivation of some of the most select Bien- 

 nial and Perennial Plants, with some Remarks upon their 

 Beauty. By S. Walker. 



"A breath of unadulterate air, 



The glimpse of a green pasture, how they cheer 



The citizen, and brace his languid frame! 



E'en in the stifling bosom of the town, 



A garden, in which nothing thrives, has charms 



That soothe the rich possessor; much consoled, 



That here and there some sprigs of mournful mint, 



Of night-shade or valerian, grace the wall 



He cultivates. These serve him with a hint 



That nature lives ; that sight-refreshing green 



Is still the livery she delights to wear. 



Though sickly samples of the exuberant whole." 



These elegant lines from Cowper, are so full of beauty, and 

 soul-stirring spirit, to every lover of Flora, that I have thought 

 them peculiarly adapted to my present purpose as an introduction 

 to a few remarks, upon some of our hardy and beautiful plants, 

 which it is my present intention to make, and which I may, in 

 some future communication, carry out to a more extended length. — 

 My observations will be confined to such plants as, in my estima- 

 tion, are most deserving of the care, and are most likely to reward 

 the novice in the culture of flowers. I shall not address myself to 

 the initiated cultivator ; he will seek better authority, and more de- 

 tailed information ; it is to those who have taken only their first 

 steps in the garden that I would presume to offer myself as a 

 guide, — it is the young and the fair that I wish to see engaged in 

 floral pursuits, and, if they are still more ambitious, in the science 

 of botany. It requires but little effort to begin. The task will 

 not be one of labor, but of pleasure, and perseverance will ensure a 

 reward. Flora may be said rather to give fruition than hope ; her 

 rewards are ever in anticipation, and are ever at hand. Let us 

 but for a moment look at her progress ; after the healthy recreation 

 of preparing the soil to receive the seed, and it is deposited, the 

 spot becomes sacred, and an object of our anxious care ; the ger- 

 mination of the seed is watched until the plant in its first state is 

 realized ; over this we hang in fond anticipation of all that shall 

 hereafter delight our senses in richness of color, delicacy of texture, 

 or sweetness of perfume, and in some cases with all these qualities 

 combined ; with the strength of the plant our cares and expecta- 

 tions keep pace, our sympathies are all called into action, the rude 

 wind or the scorching rays of the mid-day sun are to be provided 

 against ; in some cases, the foliage of the plants, of the same kind, 

 are day by day examined, to ascertain if they in any manner differ 

 from each other in form or color ; the least shade in color, the least 

 alteration in form, raises the hopes of the florist ; he is full of expecta- 



