58 THE ASSOCIATIONS OF FLOWERS 
gathering when the corn-marigold flowered, we are pretty 
sure that each succeeding year the same uniformity will 
prevail/’ It is well known that our ancestors named 
some months according to their natural appearances ; 
thus February was termed Sprout-kale, and March, 
Stormy- month ; and Mr. Loudon tells us that the In- 
dians of America plant their corn when the wild-plum 
blooms, or when the leaves of the oak are about the 
size of a squirrel’s ears. The names of some of their 
months are also given according to their observations 
of vegetable changes. Thus, one is called by the poeti- 
cal name of the budding-month, and one rather later 
is termed the flowering month ; while the autumn is mourn- 
fully characterised by a word which signifies the fall of 
the leaf. 
“ As the spring among the seasons, are the young 
among the people,” was the remark of a writer of an- 
tiquity ; and its truth has been recognised in all succeed- 
ing ages. It has been well said, that the loveliest of 
earth’s many contrasts is that of green and white; and 
so fresh and tender is the green which the leaves on the 
spray and the young grass present to us at this season, 
and so clear and frequent is the white tint of early flowers, 
that this contrast may be seen in every spring walk. In 
a few months later, both the foliage and the grass have 
a far deeper and fuller hue, but now they give to earth 
a character of freshness, and seem to remind us of what 
the world must have been when first created. 
The flowers of summer, like those of sunny climates, 
are mostly remarkable for their bright colours and a 
great degree of fragrance. This odour is emitted by 
means of the sun’s influence, and most flowers are either 
scentless, or yield diminished perfumes during darkness. 
The night-scented flowers are exceptions to this rule, 
but they are few in this country, and rare in any, ex- 
cept in those lands which are situated in the hottest re- 
gions of the globe. Light is of great importance to 
plants, enabling them to derive nutriment from the matter 
which they extract from the soil. Plants exposed to a 
great degree of solar influence are not only harder and 
more vigorous, but also fuller of colour, than those of 
shady places ; and odoriferous flowers are found in most 
