WILD FLOWERS. 
growtli, it is neoessaiy, about the beginning of July, to diminish, the quantity of water previously 
necessary, so that the wood may be thoroughly hardened before cutting down. Some of the varieties 
do not require any cutting down at all — as, I tuid, Anais, Ibrahim Pacha, and some others of the more 
slender-growing kinds, do best by pvilling out the flower-buds in the autumn, leaving them to grow on. 
By the end of July the plants will require to be shaken clean out of the soil, to h;^.ve the roots pruned 
a little at the points, pre\'ious to repotting. When autumn flowering-plants ax-e requhed, I find that 
cuttmgs, taken in the early summer months, when they strike fi-eely, make nice compact plants, and 
flower tln-ough the autumn and early winter months. As the season advances, it is necessary to give 
them a little warmth to make them expand their blossoms freely. In putting in the cuttings, I find it 
requisite to fill the pots about half full of broken potshei-ds, as they are susceptible of damp, which 
is very injurious to them. The compost I have foimd them to do best in for winter flowering, is 
equal parts of good turfy loam, peat, well decomposed cow-dung, and leaf-mould, with a good portion 
of silver sand, — always taking care to di-ain the pots properly. 
Below will be found a few varieties enumerated, with an asterisk attached to the most beautifid : — 
Eini)rcss. Lady Rivers. 
Fairy Queen (Ambrose). Madame Mielez. 
Formosa (Ambrose). Madame Eosati (Gaines). 
*Magniiica (Ambrose). 
Mazeppa Superb. 
Minei'va (Ambrose). 
Modesta (Ambrose). 
Alboni (Henderson). 
Anais. 
*Beauty (Ambrose). 
Supreme. 
Bouquet Tout Fait. 
Defiance (Ambrose). 
Duchesse d'Aumalc. 
Garland (Ambrose). 
*Hero of Surrey (Gaines). 
Jenny Lind (Ambrose) . 
La Belle d'Afrique. 
Ne plus ultra (Gaines). 
*Pictinata (Ambrose). 
Queen Superb (Ambrose). 
*Eeiue des Fran(,'ais. 
*Statiaski. 
Village Maid. 
Zebra. 
WILD-FLOWERS— A Sketch Inteoductoet. 
FLOWERS ! Wild-flowers — ^whence come they ? What are they ? Whither, in pursuit of them, 
do they invite us ? They arc the children of the sun. They are the stars of the earth. They are 
redolent of beauty. Whence come they? Ask whence comes the light of heaven, which sends forth the 
" rainbow issiung from its cloudy shi'mc," to stretch its ii'is over vale and mountaui, lake and stream, 
illuminating, with its azure hues, all objects 'neath its bold triumphal arch ! Ask, whence comes the 
majesty of the dim umbrageous forests, never yet explored by foot of man! or, whence the charm of 
those " dim secluded vales," in which the forlorn nightingale pom's forth her solitary, self-taught 
song — 
" Singing love to her lone mate. 
In the ivy bower disconsolate !" 
Ask, whence come Wild-flowers! It was not decreed that man should "Uve, and move, and have 
his being" upon a bare, a barren, and impenetrable rocky sm-face. A higher destiny awaited him. 
The earth was appointed as a temple for the adoration of the Supreme Being ; the au- became soft, and 
hahny, and translucent ; the firmament above revealed the clusterhig glory of an mfinitudc of stars — 
worlds mikuown, progressing through infinite space — which he gazed upon with eyes " made up of 
wonder and of love ;" while beneath his footsteps a fragrant verdui-e of extended wild-flowers sprung 
into existence. Stars above ! WUd-flowers beneath ! But what are they ? They are the most dehcate 
links in the chain of causation — connecting media of sympathy. True it is that a prematm-e frost, a 
cold and icy mountain-blast, may wither a faiiy group of them ; but still they ai'e sustained — still live 
to reappear and bless our wondering sight. 
The blossoms of our much-loved Wild-flowers, it is true, are oftentimes so delicate, so small, as to 
escape om- ken. But are they less beautiful than those of larger growth ? Far from it ! But what is a 
Wild-flower ? It is that simple and unheeded little plant which grows indigenous in its native soil. 
The wind planteth its seed where it Ksteth ; and there, unseen by any human eye, it springs into 
ephemeral existence, and fades too soon in the shadow of its own loveliness. Compare the wild with 
the exotic flower : — the one 
" In shoals and bands, a momce tram, 
"Will meet the traveller in the lane ;" 
but for the other — the exotic flower, we must enter the green-house, or the highly cultivated garden. 
The specimens we there find may be cxqiusite, and fully do we admire them, and appreciate their 
lovelmcss ; and much regard have we for the careful hand that trained them. But they do not 
carry any impression home to the heart like the simple Wdd-flower that springs directly from the 
