William Curtis

“ The greenhouse, to which it properly belongs, can scarcely boast a more shewy plant; its blossoms, when expanded by the heat of the sun, and it is only when the sun shines on them that they are fully expanded, exhibit an unrivalled brilliancy of appearance.
It flowers in June, but rarely brings its seeds to perfection in this country, which is of the less consequence, as the plant is readily enough increased by cuttings. ”

“ We are more and more convinced, that in our eagerness, for novelties, we daily lose plants by far more ornamental than the new ones we introduce; the present, a most charming spring plant, with which the Gardens abounded in the time of Parkinson, is now a great rarity; its blossoms, which are uncommonly brilliant, come forth in April, and, like those of many other plants, appear to advantage only when the sun shines.
It may be propagated either by seeds, or by parting its roots in Autumn, in the former way we may obtain many beautiful varieties. ”

“ Aiton in his Hortus Kewensis; for to the delicate, pleasing, glaucous hue of its foliage, it owes its beauty, as much as to the lively colours of its blossoms.
It is a hardy annual, coming up spontaneously in the open border where it has once flowered and seeded, and sometimes reaching the height of two feet. ”

“ Douglass thus describes them, each flower when in its prime looks like a fine gold tissue wrought on a rose-coloured ground, but when it begins to fade and decay, it looks more like a silver tissue, or what they call a pink colour: when we look upon the flower in full sun-shine, each leaf appears to be studded with thousands of little diamonds, sparkling and glittering with a most surprising and agreeable lustre ”

“ In a former number of this work, we gave a figure of the Scarlet Ipomœa, which every one possessing a garden, at least in the more southern parts of this kingdom, might gratify themselves with a sight of, it being hardy enough to flower and ripen its seeds in the open border; but the present species, an annual also, and equally beautiful, with greater singularity of foliage, can be brought to perfection only in the stove of hot-house. ”

“ To the Cape of Good Hope, that never-failing source of rare and beautiful plants, we are indebted for most of our Ixias, and among others for the present species, which though not of that value, nor possessing the delicacy or fragrance of the blossoms of some others, is a very desirable plant, not only as an object of curiosity, from the transparency of the base of the corolla, but as it adds much to the brilliancy of a collection, is easily obtained, and as easily propagated. ”

“ We are induced to consider the rose here represented, as one of the most desirable plants in point of ornament ever introduced to this country; its flowers, large in proportion to the plant, are semi-double, and with great richness of colour unite a most delightful fragrance; they blossom during the whole of the year, more sparingly indeed in the winter months; the shrub itself is more hardy than most greenhouse plants, and will grow in so small a compass of earth, that it may be reared almost in a coffee cup ”

“ Every person who can boast a hot-house will be anxious to possess the Fuchsia, as it is not only a plant of peculiar beauty, but produces its rich pendant blossoms through most of the summer; the petals in the centre of the flower are particularly deserving of notice ”

“ The Passion-Flower first introduced into this country was the incarnata of Linnæus, a native of Virginia, and figured by Parkinson in his Paradisus Terrestris, who there styles it the surpassing delight of all flowers: the present species, which, from its great beauty and superior hardiness, is now by far the most common, is of more modern introduction; and, though a native of the Brazils, seldom suffers from the severity of our climate ”

“ Flowers which are cultivated from age to age are continually producing new varieties, hence there is no standard as to name, beauty, or perfection, amongst them, but what is perpetually fluctuating; thus the red Hulo, the blue Hulo, the greatest Granado, with several others celebrated in the time of Parkinson, have long since been consigned to oblivion; and it is probable, that the variety now exhibited, may, in a few years, share a similar fate; for it would be vanity in us to suppose, that the Carnation, by assiduous culture, may not, in the eye of the Florist, be yet considerably improved. ”

“ Though the Sanguinaria cannot be considered as a handsome shewy plant, yet we scarcely know its equal in point of delicacy and singularity; there is something in it to admire, from the time that its leaves emerge from the ground, and embosom the infant blossom, to their full expansion, and the ripening of its seed vessels.
The woods of Canada, as well as of other parts of North-America, produce this plant in abundance with us it flowers in the beginning of April: its blossoms are fugacious, and fully expand only in fine warm weather. ”

“ If room were allowed us, it would be superfluous to describe minutely a plant now so very common; suffice it to say, that from a strong perennial root, rise a number of half-shrubby, irregular, somewhat spongy stalks, strongly spotted when young with purple, from one to three feet high, terminated by large bunches of flowers, at first green, then rose-coloured, and finally green a second time; these are the most common changes to which they are liable: but it will sometimes happen that a plant which has produced red flowers one year, shall produce blue another, though growing in the same pot ”

“ Few shrubs are better known in this country than the Lilac few more universally cultivated; there is scarcely a cottage it does not enliven, or a shrubbery it does not beautify.
It has long had a place in our gardens; both Gerard and Parkinson describe two sorts, the blue and the white; to these another sort is added by more modern writers, superior in beauty to the original, as producing larger bunches of flowers, of a brighter hue, having more of the purple tint and hence called by some the purple Lilac, Miller considers the three as different species. ”

“ According to Linnæus, this species is a native of China.
It has long been inured to our climate, and few plants thrive better in any soil or situation, but a moist soil suits it best; its leaves on their first emerging from the ground, and for a considerable time afterwards, are of the most delicate green imaginable; the appearance which the plant assumes at this period of its growth is, indeed, so pleasing, that it may be said to constitute one half of its beauty ”

“ Thunberg, in his Flora Japonica, describes it as growing every where in the groves and gardens of Japan, where it becomes a prodigiously large and tall tree, highly esteemed by the natives for the elegance of its large and very variable blossoms, and its evergreen leaves ”

“ Being an annual it requires to be raised yearly from seed; when once introduced on a warm dry border it will continue to sow itself, and grow very luxuriantly, flowering from June to the commencement of winter; but as it is desirable to have it as early as possible in the spring, the best way is either to sow the seed in pots in autumn, securing them through the winter in frames, or in a greenhouse, or to raise the seeds early on a gentle hot bed, thinning the plants if they require it, so as to have only two or three in a pot. ”

“ We have observed in some gardens, a Columbine of more humble growth than the one here figured, called by the name of canadensis, and which most probably is a variety of our plant, its blossoms spread wider, are of a pale red colour without any orange, and hence being less beautiful, is, of course, less worthy of culture. ”

“ If there be any one genus of plants more universally admired than the others, it is that of the Rose—where is the Poet that has not celebrated it? where the Painter that has not made it an object of his imitative art? ”