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From Arthur's
Home Magazine, 1870
The most indifferent admirer of nature cannot but feel a thrill of
pleasure at sight of the first flowers of spring. The trailing
arbutus, the anemone, the violet, are all favorites; and many look
forward to their appearance in early spring with an ardent longing
which can only be satisfied by a sight of their fragile, pale,
delicate-tinted blossoms.
As soon as spring is here, we find them in the woods and glens, on
hillsides and by roadsides, a lavish array of loveliness; while
yet our gardens show only hyacinths, snowdrops, narcissus, and
other spring-blooming plants, in a waste of yet untenanted
flower-beds.
But why should not our wild-flowers be domesticated? Some few of
these have been, we know; but there are many more equally
deserving. They blossom so early that if transplanted into our
beds and borders, we might, from the earliest spring, rejoice in a
profusion of bloom, which would continue until the garden flowers
were ready to take their places.
It is unnecessary to specify wild-flowers by name. Our desire is
simply to prompt our readers to adopt these little children of the
woods and fields, and see if they will not repay the love and care
bestowed upon them, by even more beautiful and generous bloom than
in their wild state. The important thing is to observe the
conditions of the plant in its native home - the degree of shade
and moisture its nature requires - and supply them as far as
possible.
From The
Register of Rural Affairs, 1858
Those who wish to introduce the early flowering wild plants into
their grounds, should look out for seeds as soon as they ripen,
and if it is desirable to remove the roots, put a mark of some
kind near the plant, so that it will be seen when the foliage is
dead.
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