THE EVENING PRIMROSE 
103.. 
which that lady’s stanzas seem but a fuller illustration r: 
How well the skilful gardener drew^ 
Of flowers and herbs this dial new ! 
Where^ from above, the milder sun, 
Does through a fragrant Zodiac run, 
And, as it works, the industrious bee 
Computes its time as well as we. 
How could such sweet and wholesome hours 
Be reckoned but with herbs and flowers?” 
In the Encyclopaedia of Gardening,” Mr. Loudon has. 
given a list of well-known flowers, with their respective 
periods of unfolding and folding in this climate, for the 
purpose of assisting those to the selection of suitable 
materials who may wish to form a floral dial. 
The list is subjoined, as taken from that work, and. 
the English names of the flowers are added. 
Baron Humboldt has remarked, that in Tropical coun- 
tries various objects of nature announce the hour of the 
day far more plainly than they do in our climates. Not 
merely do leaves and flowers expand at more regular 
times, but the insect world presents to the observer a 
means of telling the hour both of day and night. Trains, 
of those insects, which by their sting destroy the com- 
forts of a residence in hot climates, have their regular 
periods of appearance and retirement, and are succeeded 
alternately by other trains, which are, by the American. 
Indians, called respectively sunrise, twilight, and noc- 
turnal insects. 
