6 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



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Written for The American Garden. 

 FLITTING AND FLIRTING AMONG FLOWERS, 



In the garden were leisurely walking-, 



Brave Robin and Roxy the fair, 

 And Robin, while walking and talking, 



Twined roses in Roxy's brown hair; 



Rosebuds and Roses all blushing, 

 With sprigs of the sweet Mignonette, 



While the blood to their faces kept rushing* 

 When Robin's eyes Roxy's eyes met; 



Jasmine, Laburnum, and Larkspur, 



Verbenas, deep dyed and pale, 

 Gay Pansies and Lilies of the Valley 



Heard Love tell his stammering tale; 



While the lovers kept walking and talking — 

 Four eyes bent down to the ground ; 



Two hearts had been lost, they discovered, 

 And then discovered them —found ; 



But didn't know what to do with them, 

 The lost and found hearts— for a while, 



So each plucked a new and fresh nosegay. 

 And each gave the other a smile ; 



Each a stem .if Forget-me-not gathered, 

 And each said "Take and keep this ;" 



Their vows thus exchanged with fresh flowers, 

 They sealed the exchange— with a kiss; 



Fidelity, secresy, silence, 

 Bach promised to faithfully hold, 



Till Robin could earn for his Roxy 

 A home, and some shekels of gold. 



But alas, some open-eared listeners- 

 Winged messengers, hurrying by, 



Saw what had been done in the garden, 

 And tattled to earth and to sky ; 



" O ! Robin and Roxy are lovers," 

 They piped with a song and a shout, 



"And have plighted their troth in the garden," 

 —So the delicate secret was out. 



The world soon had the whole story 



Which Robin could not deny, 

 And Roxy, when bantered about it, 



Blushed back 'neath a mischievous eye. 



So Cupid, and Robin and Roxy, 

 Made love with flowers for words, 



As they walked and talked in the garden. 

 And nobody told but the birds. 



Clark W. Bryan. 



Great Barrinaton, Mass., December, 1880. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Plans and Preparation* for the coming spring 

 are the principal work to be done now. 



The Catalogues of some of our leading seed 

 houses are now so elaborate and complete 

 as well to serve the purpose of hand-books 

 and guides for tha garden. Much val- 

 uable information may be obtained from their 

 pages, and by studying the descriptions of the 

 different species, one can select, at leisure, such 

 kinds as seem most desirable. By procuring, 

 in addition to those with which we are already 

 familiar, every year, a few packages of such 

 that are new to us, an extensive knowledge of 

 plants may gradually be acquired and many 

 pretty and interesting novelties added to the 

 flower garden. 



Protection of some kind should be given to 

 all herbaceous and bulbous plants remaining in 

 the ground. Even entirely hardy plants are 

 benefited by a light covering. 



Roots of Cannas, Dahlias and bulbs of all 

 kinds, stored in cellars, should be examined oc- 

 casionally. If found damp and mouldy, they 

 should be cleaned of all decaying parts and re- 

 moved to a drier place, Most roots keep well 

 in dry sand, 



WILD GA RDEN EX PERIENCES. 



The Wild Garden has been a decided suc- 

 cess. Even now, when snow covers the border 

 which gave so much pleasure and surprise, we 

 receive many letters in praise of the "Wild 

 Garden Idea." 



Our esteemed friend. "Damon," whose ex- 

 tensive knowledge of plants imparts special 

 value to his opinion, writes : 



' 'I was astonished at the variety of plants 

 obtained from my package of Wild Garden 

 Seeds. They have come up so thick that I 

 determined to transplant some in little groups, 

 by the aid of a good sized garden trowel, 

 being careful to lift them up in quite good 

 sized patches, so as not to disturb the roots 

 any more than I could help placing them 

 in various positions entirely away from the 

 garden proper, a feature that is so enjoyable 

 and so instructive ; giving us an idea of how 

 Dame Nature disposes of her children. A 

 little nook here and a little knoll there sug- 

 gests a position and we have at once something 

 so fresh and novel that makes us wonder why 

 we have not had our Wild Garden before ? 



I am anxious to hear from other friends of 

 The American Garden how they have suc- 

 ceeded with their Wild Garden. Of course I 

 had to make some little preparation for the 

 new comers, so before disturbing them I cleared 

 away the old settlers, in most cases, by digging 

 them under, — the fate of old stagers generally 

 — then a few spades full of well decayed ma- 

 nure and rich soil were spread on the surface 

 and well mixed. The little groups were then 

 planted and made quite firm, and after one good 

 soaking of water, looked as though they were 

 born there. In my little patch of not more than 

 one hundred transplanted plants I found not 

 only a large number of the choicest annuals, 

 biennials and perennials but also some new 

 and quite distinct looking plants which I sus- 

 pect are from California, Nevada, and the 

 Rocky Mountains. I let all the annuals bloom 

 and then pulled them out as fast as they grew 

 past their prime, so as to make room for the 

 perennials and give them a chance to mature 

 before winter. I am looking forward to a 

 great pleasure in my Wild Garden, it is not 

 for a day but looks as though some of the 

 plants might last almost a lifetime." 



R. A. B., from Arkansas says: "The Wild 

 Garden was the wonder of all. There was 

 something new almost every day." M. I. F. 

 writes: "Every day something new comes 

 into bloom. I would give all my other flower 

 beds for the Wild Garden. " These, and many 

 similar letters indicate clearly that the real lov- 

 ers of flowers have become tired of the exclu- 

 sive use of the fashionable bedding plants and 

 long for some relief. 



In carpet or ribbon gardening the principal, 

 and almost the only object, is to produce an 

 attractive or striking effect — to make a show. 

 Appropriate and pleasing to the eye as such a 

 group, situated in a conspicuous place, may 

 be, and especially when seen from some dis- 

 tance, it offers but little opportunity for plant 

 culture proper. In the mixed border, and 

 foremost in the Wild Garden, each flower has 

 its own individuality ; from the day when we 

 entrust the seed to the soil, when the first 

 leaves appear, and through all stages of its de- 

 velopment our attachment increases : with 

 every day and with each opening bud new 

 pleasures and new surprises are in store for us. 

 Here each plant is grown [for its [individual, 

 beauty, for the Jove of it. 



KEEPING FLOWERS. 



A great deal has been written on the pres- 

 t rvation of cut flowers, but the matter is still 

 imperfectly understood by most people. It is 

 important to know, not only how to take care 

 of them after being cut, but how to cut them. 

 On this latter point a practical hint may be of 

 service to our readers. It might not occur to 

 them that it made any serious difference wheth- 

 s r the stems were broken off or cut with a knife 

 or scissors. A sharp knife is the right tool for 

 the purpose, as it leaves the sap vessels of the 

 stems open for the absorption of water, while 

 scissors crush and compress these vessels so 

 that their absorptive power is more or less de- 

 stroyed. Like injury may be done in break- 

 ing off the stems, especially if they are tough. 

 If the flowers are put into water immediately, 

 the ends of the stems should be cut off with a 

 sharp knife, as the sap vessels will probably 

 have become clogged with coagulated matter. 



Cut flowers often suffer from too dry atmos- 

 phere. It is difficult to avoid this in our arti- 

 ficially heated rooms, but we may at least put 

 the blossoms in the coolest part of the room. 

 Near a window, and especially in a bay-window, 

 the temperature is generally several degrees 

 lower than in other parts of the room, as you 

 will see if you will test it with a thermometer. 

 The best authorities say moreover, that the 

 flowers should have the benefit of light, and 

 even of sunshine in most cases, though there 

 is popular prejudice against exposing them to 

 the latter. On the other hand they suffer, as 

 plants do, from draughts and from sudden al- 

 terations of temperature. 



Botany also furnishes us useful hints for pro- 

 longing the life of many single flowers. This 

 may be done by removing the anthers, for 

 when the pollen on these becomes ripe the stig- 

 ma gets impregnated, and the flower having 

 fulfilled its natural destiny, drops its petals and 

 withers. In the case of blossoms that fall to 

 pieces very easily, it is a good idea to let fall a 

 drop of gum or mucilage into the center, 

 which will glue the petals together at the base. 

 To prevent this from running out, before it har- 

 dens, the flowers should be kept upright by put- 

 ting their stems through the bottom of a sieve 

 or sticking them in sand. With the aid of a 

 camel-hair brush or a pointed stick a large num- 

 ber of flowers may be gummed in a short time. 



When flowers have been carried a long dis- 

 tance in close boxes or cases, they often appear 

 withered and worthless, but with proper treat- 

 ment they may be revived and restored to their 

 original beauty. Instead of being at once put 

 into vases and exposed to the hot dry air of the 

 parlor, they should either be spread out on wet 

 flannel or moss and covered with a dish cover 

 or an inverted box, or else put in pans contain- 

 ing moss and water or wet sand, in which they 

 can be set upright, and then shut up in the 

 dark for a few hours. If they do not regain 

 their freshness under this nursing, there is no 

 hope for them ; but in all ordinary cases their 

 recovery is certain. — Journal of Chemistry. 



Hyacinths and other spring flowering bulbs 

 can still be planted where frost is not over six 

 inches in the ground. The frozen soil is easi- 

 ly broken and removed in blocks alongside of 

 the bed. The bulbs are then planted, about 

 two inches deep, in the loose soil beneath, af- 

 ter which the frozen soil is replaced and the 

 insterstices filled with the smaller pieces, and 

 the whole covered well with leaves, or any suit- 

 able mulch. 



