WILD AND CULTIVATED FLOWERS 119 
In full bloom, and said it appeared as If the moun- 
tain sides were on fire. “You and I cannot go to 
the south to get It,^’ Mr. Percy continued; “its 
haunt is too far away; but I have often wondered 
that American nurserymen did not know more 
about this native beauty.” 
Joseph listened to Mr. Percy as if he wore tell- 
ing a fairy story. He later asked him many ques- 
tions about the botanist Bartram. He said he knew 
that many great men had set out to find new 
land or the north pole, but that he had never heard 
before of their making explorations after rare 
flowers. 
“Then, when we have time,” Mr. Percy replied, 
“I shall have to tell you about a number that have 
done that very thing, even to risking their lives.” 
I was pleased for a double reason to think that 
some day we should have rhododendrons and 
laurels at the Six Spruces. I love their flowers and 
their glossy, evergreen leaves. As winter ap- 
proaches, Joseph and I shall not leave Nestly, as 
do most of our neighbours. The Six Spruces is 
our home for all the year. Therefore, I tell him, 
we must pay attention to the plants that do not 
shed their leaves in the winter. Happily, the 
spruce trees are alv/ays green. If we could keep 
glossy, green leaves about us in the winter it would 
not seem so dreary. I do not mean that the coun- 
try is dreary when there is snow on the ground, and 
glistening icicles hang from the boughs of trees. 
