74 



THE FLOWER GARDEN. 



virtues were believed to have been conferred by each of 

 the twelve heathen gods and goddesses, — Jupiter, Juno, 

 Apollo, Mars, Venus, Ceres, Neptune, Mercury, Vulcan, 

 Minerva, Diana, and Vesta. What the plant was 

 exactly, we know not ; but Linnaeus paid a graceful com- 

 pliment to the greatest physician of his age, by coupling 

 his name with a classical herb of medicinal power, while 

 he avoided the anachronism of applying, to an American 

 plant, a name used in Greece before America was disco- 

 vered, by styling it Mead's Dodecatheon. Hardy, and 

 yet not easy to keep. Grow it- in a mixture of one-third 

 light loam, two-thirds heath-mould, in a half-shady 

 spot. Never let it be dry, and never wet; in either 

 case, you are apt to lose it. " Another reason of its being 

 lost," as shrewdly remarked by Mrs. Loudon, "is, that 

 as the stem and leaves die away in winter, the root is 

 often dug up and thrown away as dead by jobbing gar- 

 deners, who are unacquainted with the plants of the 

 garden they are working in. To prevent this, a mark of 

 some kind should always be fixed to the plant in small 

 gardens ; or when a new gardener is employed, its situa- 

 tion should be pointed out to him." They have much 

 to answer for, those jobbing gardeners. The American 

 Cowslip is perhaps safest in a pot in a cold frame. 



Antirrhinum majus — Garden Snapdragon. In French, 

 Mufle de Veau, Calf's Muzzle, and Gueule de Lion, 

 Lion's Mouth. — Has produced numerous varieties, one 

 of the most esteemed of which is striped with red on a 

 white ground, like a carnation ; others are shaded with 

 orange and yellow. Prefers dry, loamy, or calcareous 

 soil ; an exceedingly ornamental plant for the tops of 

 walls. Seedlings produced in abundance, but not to be 

 depended on. Propagate choice kinds by cuttings from 

 the young shoots every year. 



Aquilegia vulgaris — Columbine, — so called because the 

 flower can be separated into portions, each of which 

 resembles a columba, or dove. In Prench, Gant de 

 Notre Dame, or Our Lady's Glove. — Has been grown in 

 gardens for centuries past, and varies through shades of 



