300 Hollyhock. 



pregnated by each other, we have procured a greater variety 

 in their colors, than is to be found in any one country where it 

 grows spontaneously. Many of the colors of these flowers 

 have been changed by accidental circumstances ; and that the 

 corollas become doubled by the art of cultivation, there can 

 be no doubt in the mind of the florist, who has regarded the 

 formation of the flower. Miller says, although the varieties of 

 the Double Hollyhocks are not constant, yet where the seeds 

 are carefully saved from the most double flowers, the greatest 

 number of the plants will arise nearly the same as the plants 

 from which they were taken, both as to their color and the ful- 

 ness of their flowers, provided no plants with single or bad 

 colors are permitted to grow near them. Therefore, as soon 

 as any such appear, they should be removed from the good 

 ones, that their farnia may not spread into other flowers, which 

 would cause them to degenerate. 



We have but few flowers that contribute more to the embel- 

 lishment of our gardens than the Hollyhock, although their 

 hardy nature and easy propagation have rendered them so 

 common, that they are less regarded by the generality of 

 florists than they deserve, since it yields to no flower for the 

 grandeur and beauty of its appearance, as well as die great 

 variety of its colors, which embraces all the shades of the 

 Rose, from the palest blush to the deepest carmine ; and from 

 a pure white the yellows are equally numerous, until they 

 reach the richest orange, from which the color is carried on to 

 a dark chesnut. Others are dyed of a pale reddish purple 

 running up to a black. Their noble stalks, which resemble so 

 many floral banners garnished with roses, render the Hollyhock 

 particularly desirable for ornamenting the borders of planta- 

 tions, and for giving gaiety to the shrubbery in the later season 

 of the year, since it generally continues its succession of flow- 

 ers until the frost warns the floral goddess to depart. 



The florist who is possessed of taste, will not reject it because 

 it so familiarly flourishes in the rustic gardens of the cottagers, 

 as it will be found equally appropriate for the decoration of 

 the most princely grounds, if properly dispersed and grouped, 

 so as to give effect, and receive assistance from other plants ; 

 for it readily displays its Eastern splendor, whilst many of the 



