118 



THE AMERICAN GARDEN. 



[August, 



r |Jhe |Wep ||ipfci e 



CROWN IMPERIAL. 



This, one of our oldest garden plants, 



WITHERED, 



I lift them to my drooping face; 



My heart above them grieves; 

 Of all the beauty, not one trace 

 Lies on those leaves. 



And yet, with trembling lip, I kiss 



Each precious withered flower; 

 Baptized in tears, I still do bless 

 Their gentle power. 



For none can know what feelings wake 



In passioned heart like mine, 

 That hoards a trifle for sweet sake 

 Of dreams divine ; 



That gives to dust and ashes Love 



Which lived in Hope's own bower; 

 That broods, with yearning pain, above 

 A faded flower. 



Through shower of kisses, mist of tears 



There rises from the Past 

 A vision that no coming years 

 Can overcast. 



The small, white hand, so soft and true, 



That gave those flowers away, 

 Still sparkling with the bridal dew 

 Of yesterday. 



The smiling eyes, that seemed to gaze 



Beyond Earth's cloudy rim, 

 As if their holy power could raise 

 Life's curtain dim. 



The tender heart, so fain to shed 



Its sunshine everywhere. 

 Oh, blossoms fragrantless and dead, 

 Yet once so fair ! 



0 flowers, she loved, ye were so bright, 

 I took you as a sign, 



For winsome words and laughter light 

 With flowers entwine. 



And flowers and words and touch and tone 



Seemed wreathed around my heart 

 In garland immortelle, that none 

 Might tear apart. 



My cherished Hope ! my cherished Flower ! 

 Dear tokens that she gave, 



1 lay you— withered in an hour— 



Upon her grave. 



— GJiamberx' Journal. 



SEASONABLE HINTS. 



Out Flowers. — Most persons do not cut 

 enough flowers. Every blossom should be 

 removed as soon as it commences to fade. 

 The formation of the seed of a single flower 

 draws more strength from the plant than a 

 whole bunch of buds. The strain of pro- 

 ducing seed is so great that plants do not 

 rally even after these seeds have been re- 

 moved: they have fulfilled their mission. 

 The more flowers you cut, the more richly 

 will you be rewarded with new ones, and the 

 plants will grow more vigorous ; they thrive 

 under this kind of robbery. 



Liquid Manure is a grand invigorator for 

 stunted flowers, and it is poor economy to 

 stint growing plants of their necessary nour- 

 ishment. An occasional application of guano- 

 water, or some other good liquid fertilizers, 

 acts like magic. 



Staking. — In tying up plants to stakes, 

 which, with tall growing plants, as Dahlias, 

 Gladiolus, Tuberoses, etc. , generally becomes 

 a necessity, avoid making the stake the most 

 prominent object. The natural habit of 

 the plant should be preserved as much as 

 possible, and the stake placed so as to be en- 

 tirely or partly hidden by the stem or leaves. 



still unexcelled for brilliancy of effect 

 among the earliest spring flowers. When 

 neglected and starved, the plant does not 

 present much attractiveness, but a well- 

 grown and eared-for Crown Imperial, with 

 its crown of rich, pendent, bell-shaped flow- 

 ers, surmounted by the tuft of bright green 

 foliage, is really a beautiful object. 



CROWN IMPERIAL. 



They grow well in any good garden soil, 

 but do best in deep, rich ground, and are 

 much benefited by top-dressing of decom- 

 posed manure. They should be planted about 

 six inches deep, and be covered in winter. 



GUINEA-HEN FLOWERS. 



These, botanically known as FritiUaria 

 Meleagris, have peculiar nodding, bell- 

 shaped flowers, one to two on a stem, and of 

 a brownish purple, gray, or whitish color, 

 much dappled or mottled. They blossom at 

 the same time as the Hyacinths, and last 

 through the Tulip season. They grow about 

 twelve to fifteen inches high ; are very hardy, 

 and flourish among the bushes and the 

 trees where the ground is much impover- 



ARUf 



ITALICUM. 



ished, but attain their best in a rich and 

 slightly shaded border. Unlike the Crown 

 Imperials, some Narcissus, Hyacinths, and a 

 few other bulbous plants, that as they ad- 

 vance in age will waste in strength unless 

 they have good living, the Guinea -Hen 

 Flowers, if once you get them, will stay with 

 you forever. 



SOME GOOD OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS. 



I am fond of old-fashioned flowers. I have 

 heard my mother say that my grandmother 

 never thought of going to meeting, in the 

 summer-time, without a sprig of Eose- 

 mary, or a cluster of Pinks, or Gillyflowers 

 between the leaves of her hymn-book. I 

 like the old custom, and I like the old 

 flowers. 



Now that the Sunflower is becoming 

 popular, perhaps there will be a revival of 

 interest in other flowers which our mothers 

 and grandmothers made their gardens gay 

 with. I hope so. Many of our modern 

 flowers are very fine, but most of them 

 lack the solid merit which belongs to the 

 sturdy old inhabitants of the gardens of 

 twenty-five and thirty ye'ars ago, and require 

 more care and attention. 



I always have an "old-fashioned corner" 

 in my garden. Here, I grow Larkspur 

 Marigolds, Poppies, Gillyflowers, Grass and 

 Clove Pinks, Johnny-jump-ups, and Rose- 

 mary, and over the fence I train Sweet-peas, 

 and Morning-glories. Perhaps it is because 

 we see so few of these old flowers nowa- 

 days, perhaps because most lovers of flowers 

 have a fondness for these old-time favorites, 

 — any way my " old-fashioned corner" is the 

 most frequented part of my garden. Last 

 summer I cut a bouquet from it for an old 

 lady who came to visit at a neighbor's. I 

 put into it all the flowers I used to see in my 

 grandmother's garden,— Bachelor's Buttons, 

 blue as the sky above them, with daintily 

 fringed petals, Pinks of beautiful color and 

 delicious fragrance, velvet Marigolds, gor- 

 geous in brown and gold, spikes of Lark- 

 spur in pink and blue, Sweet Peas in many 

 colors and of a spicy sweetness that set 

 one dreaming of " banks whereon the wild 

 Thyme grows," and Gillyflowers that clus- 

 tered along the stem like little Roses. How 

 pleased the dear old lady was with the 

 flowers ! Her eyes sparkled, as she held 

 them up to her face, and she touched them 

 caressingly, lingeringly, as we do a friend we 

 have not seen for a long time. 



" It takes me back to old times to look at 

 them," she said. "We used to grow every 

 one of these flowers at home. It seems like 

 seeing old friends. Mother used to think 

 there was nothing half so sweet as Pinks. 

 The day after she was buried, father took up 

 a great bunch of them from her little garden, 

 and set it on her grave, and when I was there 

 last, there were Pinks growing there. I thank 

 you for giving me so much pleasure. I love 

 all flowers, but someway these old ones seem 

 best and dearest. There's something home- 

 like about them. 



All the kinds I have named can be grown 

 with the greatest ease. They do not need coax- 

 ing. Spade up the soil well, give it a dress- 

 ing of manure, and, when all danger of frost 

 is over, sow your seeds. All you will have 

 to do, after that, is to keep the weeds down 

 and see that your plants do not suffer for 

 lack of water if the season is dry. These old 

 flowers will give you an abundance of bloom, 

 and you will have all you care to use for 

 vases and to give to friends, and your gar- 

 den will not look " as if it had been robbed 

 at any time." Give the good old flowers a 

 trial and see if you aren't better pleased with 

 them than with the fashionable ones that need 

 coaxing and petting, and then, half the time, 

 prove failures. 



E. E. Rexpoed. 



