1 



CHAPTER XIY. 



Orxa^^iextal Foliaged Plaxts. 



" Oh ! who that has an eye to see, 

 A heart to feel, a tongue to bless, 

 Can ever nndelighted be, 

 With nature's magic loveliness.*' 



Variegated leayed plants are quite the fashion at this time, and are 

 becoming more popular every year. They produce a fine eflFect when 

 planted in oval or circular beds. The furore for these plants has pro- 

 duced a great variety ; the whole world has been searched for rare 

 specimens, and these have been hybridized, and greatly improved. A 

 bed of them, well arranged as to color, is a most gorgeous sight, equal 

 to any display of flowers. 



A recent writer speaks of them thus : — 



"Do not these curious plants, that among their leaves of light have 

 no need of flowers, resemble those rare human plants that develop all 

 the beauties of mind and character at an exceptionally early age, and 

 rapidly ripen for the tomb ? They do not live to bring forth the flowers 

 and fruits of life's vigorous prime, and therefore God converts their 

 foliage into leaves, crowns the initial stage with the glories of the final, 

 and makes their very leaves beautiful. By the transfiguration of His 

 grace, by the light that never was on sea or land. He adorns even their 

 tender years with all the loveliness which in other cases comes only with 

 full maturity." 



A very pretty bed of Ornamental Plants can be sown from seed. In 

 the center, plant the Striped-leaved Japanese Corn. A foot from it on 



