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NEGLECTED BEACT/EH. 



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Sometimes a single plant will attract great attention on account of the dense masses of tiowers with which 

 it is covered. The most common and perhaps the most desirable species are the A, multiflorus, just 

 alluded to, generally abounding in white flowers; the A. grandiflorus, where the flowers are somewhat 

 larger and usually purple, with a yellow eye; and the A. cyaneus, with lanceolate leaves and large blue 

 flowers; this last is perhaps the handsomest of nil the Asters. It is clear that these plants may be easily 

 cultivated here in their native habitat, when ^o many h:nc been (.■ulti\ atcd in Europe as exotics. They 

 will grow in any soil, providing it is artificially di- nalurally kcjrt nioi-t. Some species grow too large for 

 indoor culture, but the smallest plants of the .\. multirtoja would certainly prove very delightful house 

 plants, as their mild fragrance, abund:uit bloom and comparative indiliVrence to attention could not fail to 

 give satisfaction. 



The wild plants here selected will constitute a nice collection in themselves, and have 

 been chosen because of their general excellence, and also becau.se they will supply a 

 continuous bloom, in about the order in which they ha\e been named, from early spring 

 until early frost. But time antl space would fail us to enumerate half the beautiful wild 

 plants that adorn our woods, prairies, movmtain slopes and shaded \ alle\ s, and the little 

 that has been said is rather by way of suggestion than elaborate treatment. 



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' j^ OR house decoration nothing is finer than ;i gootl climher, anil the 

 Ws^A. ""'"^^'' o'^ varieties that can be grown around a window frame or 

 I^TTi ' doorway, over a mantelpiece, or to entwine a picture, is so great that 

 it is difficult to make a choice. And even in our northern latitudes 

 anybody who is rich enough to afford a fire during the night may 

 I fy indulge in a choice climbing plant. The investment of a few cents in such 

 seeds will furnish, with little care, a beautiful framework of foliage and flowers 

 for a whole winter. The wealthy may indulge in an endless variety of pretty 

 climbers, native and exotic, but every one may have one or more of the native 

 kinds, which scarcely fall behind the more expensive imported beauties. Some 

 are cultivated for the richness and abundance of their foliage, which is, moreover, 

 in a few varieties, remarkably variegated; others for their curiously-shaped flowers — 

 like a bell, finger, or trumpet — which are also often strikingly' marked in various colors. 



There is a pleasure in daily watching a plant climb, creep, or twine itself around the 

 things near it. The rapid growth of many of them is truly wonderful, some making no 

 less than six inches in a single day. The seeming intelligence with which they appear to 

 feel and reach out for supports is one of the inost striking phenomena of plant life. The 

 adjusted proportion with which they push out a flower here and a bunch of leaves there, 

 is truly artistic, being carried on under the guidance of that greatest of all artists, Mother 

 Nature. 



The whole collection here loosely designated Climbing Plants, may more properly be 

 divided into Climbing, Twining, Creeping and Trailing Plants, from each of \\ hich 

 classes a few choice examples are subjoined. 



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