CITY AND NATIVE AMERICAN FLOWER GARDEN. 119 



AHT. 2. The Native American Flower Garden. 



Native plants and flowers are those which are found grow- 

 ing spontaneously, without the aid of culture. Perhaps no 

 country has a finer or more numerous collection of hardy 

 flowering plants than the United Slates; indeed, no collection 

 can be said to be complete without the American Flora, 

 which has engaged the attention of horticulturists to such an 

 extent in Europe, that grounds have been prepared and 

 adapted for American plants ; and it is greatly to be hoped, 

 that the present good taste for gardening in this country, 

 will be the means of introducing the many pretty varieties 

 of flowering shrubs that are to be found in every part of the 

 Union, particularly the beautiful families of Spireas, Mag- 

 nolia, rfzelias, Kalmias, Rhododendrons, and many others, 

 that are much wanted in the flower garden. 



There are also a very numerous collection of hardy her- 

 baceous plants, indigenous to America, deserving the attention 

 of the lovers of flowers, of which the beautiful family of 

 Phlox forms a prominent character, its different varieties be- 

 ing distributed in every part of the Union ; some of which 

 completely cover and decorate thousands of acres of the 

 western prairies in the spring. The Penstemon, Coreopsis, 

 Rhudbeckia, Liatris, are also pretty families of native plants, 

 abounding in almost all parts of the Union. There are also 

 several beautiful varieties of Orchideous plants, that are na- 

 tives, as the Cypripediitm, or Mockasin plants ; the Lady 

 Slipper, of which there are two or three beautiful varieties, to 

 be found on the borders of groves, and on the prairies, near 

 the barrens. To these may be added, several pretty varieties 

 of native bulbous rooted plants, particularly the Lily, of which 

 the Philadelphicum and Canadense are fine specimens ; and 

 are found growing on the borders of groves, and margins of 

 woods, in most parts of the Union. To these, the beautiful 

 genus of Trillium is also found in shady groves ; and with it 

 the Orchis, of many varieties, are to be found growing spon- 

 taneously hi most parts of the Union. 



