286 Bell Flowers. 



itself to any shape ; sometimes bending its branches round 

 like a hoop, forming a complete circle ; at others, taking a fan 

 shape, so as to serve as a blind either to the window, or to the 

 rustic grate of a country parlor. 



So did the maidens with their various flowers, 

 Deck up their windows and make neat their bowers. 



We have sometimes seen its branches trained over hoops so 

 as to form a complete globe, which is an ingenious device ; but 

 Nature has formed this plant so peculiarly graceful, that to 

 attempt to mend it is only to add deformity. This species is 

 biennial, and grows naturally in some parts of France, Savoy, 

 and Carniola. It is usually increased by offsets, but those 

 raised from seed produce the tallest plants, and give the great- 

 est number of flowers. The seed should be sown in the 

 autumn in pots or boxes, filled with light unmanurcd earth, 

 and placed in the open air until the frost or hard rains come 

 on, when they should be removed under cover of a frame, 

 always giving them free air when the weather will admit. 

 The young plants will appear in the spring, when the pots 

 should be placed in a warm situation until the summer, at 

 which time they should be situated so as to receive only the 

 morning sun. About' September, they may be transplanted 

 into a border of light sandy soil, without any mixture of 

 manure, which is fatal to these plants, as is too much mois- 

 ture. They will require the protection of hoops covered with 

 oiled paper or matting, to screen them from severe frosts. 

 In this bed they are to remain two years before being planted 

 for flowering. On account of its susceptibility to culture, it 

 has been made the emblem of Gratitude. 



Campanula Speculum — Venus' Looking-Glass ; this is 

 an ornamented green-house annual, bearing a pretty purple 

 flower in July and August. It has a prostrate stem. The 

 flower-stalks very long, coming out at the angle formed by the 

 leaf and stem, solitary, and bearing one flower, which has a 

 salver-shaped corolla. There is an ancient fable which tells 

 us, that Venus accidentally let one of her mirrors fall on the 

 earth. A shepherd found it, and casting his eyes upon the 

 glass, which had the power of adorning the object it reflected, 

 he forgot his mistress, and had no other wish than to admire 



