HYACINTH . The hyacinth is a sweet-smelling and popular garden flower. It grows from a bulb and blooms every spring with a cluster of bell-shaped flowers.

The plant has fragrant clusters of single- and double-flowered blossoms – white, pink, blue, purple, or yellow. Today the Netherlands ships millions of hyacinth bulbs each year to all parts of the world.

The plant grows well in gardens, hothouses, window boxes, and flowerpots. It can sometimes grown in bowls filled with pebbles and water. Bulbs planted during the autumn in rich, well drained soil will push up their leaves early in spring. In summer, when die blossoms are gone and the long slender leaves have turned yellow and withered, the bulbs may be dug up and stored in dry sand or straw for fall replanting.

The grape hyacinth, a relative at the ordinary type, is popular in the United States. Water hyacinth is a water plant different.

HYDRANGEA. The cup-shaped fruits which follow the hydrangea’s showy blossoms look like little water pails. For this reason the shrub was named from the Greek words, hydro, meaning water, and angeion, meaning vessel. The hydrangea belongs to the saxifrage family. Many of the more than 30 varieties grow in Asia, but several are native to the United States. The wild hydrangea of the southern Appalachians is perhaps less beautiful than the cultivated oriental varieties, but it has the same heavily-veined oval leaves and similar flowers. The showy white outer flowers are sterile and serve only to attract insects to the inconspicuous fertile inner flowers. In some of the cultivated varieties, differences in soil change the flowers from the usual pink to blue or white. A pink hydrangea can be made to bear azure-Uses of Flowers by burying a handful or two of rusty nails or other scraps of iron among its roots. When grown as an ornamental shrub, hydrangeas demand a rich soil and plenty of water. Some dwarf varieties, when grown in pots in greenhouses, bear large clusters of flowers in early spring. There are many varieties used as ornamentals. The larger shrubs, sometimes eight to ten feet high, bloom from late summer through early fall.

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QUEEN ANNE’S LACE. The tiny flowers of the wild carrot grow in umbellate (“little umbrellas”) to form a flat topped cluster that looks like lace. They give the weed its prettiest nickname—Queen Anne’s lace. The flowers usually are white, but they may be faint pink or pale greenish yellow. The central flower, when the blossoms of Queen Anne’s lace fall the ripening fruit forms a cuplike, bristly cluster. It gives the wild carrot two more nicknames-bird’s-nest and crow’s-nest, of each cluster is sometimes purplish. Queen Anne’s lace is hardy and spreads rapidly.

If given a chance it crowds useful grasses from fields and pastures. This trait has given it another nickname, “devil’s plague.” The best way to control the weed in farming areas is to plow under all fields where it has taken hold. This should be done just before the plants are ready to bloom.

The wild carrot, like the garden carrot, belongs to the parsley family (Umbelliferae). It is widespread in America and thrives especially in the northeastern United States. It also grows in the temperate regions of Europe and Asia. The plant grows from 1 to 3 feet tall. Flower clusters are usually 3 to 5 inches across. The leaves are small and cleft two or three times almost to the central rib. The outer divisions are sharply cut and pointed. The scientific name is Daucus carota.

RHODODENDRON. Throughout June and July the colorful flowers and shining foliage of the rhododendron beautify the mountain slopes of North America. The flowers are pink, rose, lilac, or purple. The species usually found in the East is the American, or great, rhododendron. The Carolina, or Catawba, rhododendron grows in the high Appalachians. A species called coast rhododendron is found on the Pacific coast (for picture in color, see Flowers, Wild Flowers). Other species flourish in Europe and Asia, especially in the Himalayas, Borneo, and Java. Some treelike species are 40 to 60 feet high. Shrub forms may reach a height of 20 feet. Most species of rhododendron are evergreen.

Rhododendrons are cultivated widely as garden shrubs. Many hybrid or grafted rhododendrons develop more beautiful flowers than do native species. The plants flourish in moist but well-drained peaty soil. Rhododendrons belong to the heath family and are related to the azaleas. Because they contain a retinoid called andromedotoxin they are poisonous.

The flowers of the great rhododendron, often called the rosebay rhododendron, grow in clusters from a cone like bud. They vary in color from rose-pink to white except at the throat, where they are greenish, spotted with yellow and orange. The dark-green leaves are lance-shaped and evergreen, drooping in winter. The scientific name of the great rhododendron is Rhododendron maximum; of the Catawba species, R. catawbiense; and of the coast rhododendron, R. macrophyllum.

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　　IRIS is a flowering plant that has been commonly confused with the lily. Some botanists think that the “lilies of the field” in the biblical lands were irises, and one of the names for the older garden irises means lily.

In Egypt the iris was regarded with reverence. It is named for the Greek goddess of the rainbow. The Moslems, invading Europe, took along plants of a white iris from Arabia to plant on the graves of their dead. It has grown wild ever since in the countries of their conquest long ago flower loving peoples carried other kinds of ones with them in their travels; so it is difficult to tell where in the Old World they grew originally.

Instead of being related to the lily, the iris is a member of a quite different family. Its family also includes the gladiolus, the crocus, and the freesia. The species and other “wild types” of his number more than 200, native to lands north of the Equator. In general, they have flat upright leaves, and flowers with three outer brightly colored sepals, which spread or droop, and three inner petals which in some forms stand upright The bulbous class is represented by the so-called Spanish, Dutch, and English irises. Their blooms are firm in texture, and are not too fragile to be handled in florists’ shops. They with creeping rootstocks are represented by the groups that are familiar in gardens. The bearded irises have hair like brushes, or beards, on their sepals. There are also beardless varieties. “German” irises, none of which came originally from Germany, are an example of the bearded group; and Siberian and Japanese irises, the beardless. Other groups are those of the “cushion” irises, native to the Near East and Egypt, and that of the crested irises, one of which is the famous roof iris of Japan, and another which is an American species. Nearly all American wild irises, such as the common blue flag of marshy places and the dainty California irises are beardless.

Although irises are so little grown for florists, a few have commercial value otherwise; Iris root consists of dried and ground rootstocks of the Florentine and two other European irises. It has long been used in medicine, and is still an ingredient of toilet preparations. The fragrant flowers of the pallid iris are grown in southern Europe as a field crop for the making of perfumery. In the main, however, cultivated irises are garden flowers, grown by amateurs.

The ordinary iris season lasts nearly three months. In the latitude of New York City it opens late in April, when the dwarf bearded irises begin blooming. These are jaunty little flowers, white, yellow, or violet, on stalks 3 to 12 inches tall. In May, as their bloom wanes, the intermediates begin. These also are bearded, and come in the same colors, but are considerably larger and taller. Some of them are hybrids between dwarf and tall varieties or species. Others are types of the iris botanically misnamed germanica. Late in May, when the great tall bearded section begins to bloom, the iris garden becomes a carnival of virtually all the colors that are known among flowers.

At the height of the blooming of the tall bearded varieties, the Siberian irises join in, and late in June, before the last of either have faded, the first Japanese irises open. These are majestic, with broad, soft flowers poised on slender stems. They were patiently developed by old Japan’s gardeners from one medium-sized Far Eastern species.

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GENTIAN is any of about 400 species of herbs that make up the genus Gentiana.

These plants are supposed to have been named after Gentius, long of ancient Illyria. When the king was ill the root of a yellow wild flower was brought to him. He drank the bitter juices of the root and was cured.

This yellow gentian (Gentiana lutea) grows on the slopes of the Alps, the Pyrenees, and the Apennine mountains in Europe. It reaches height of three to four feet. Its roots are still used in the manufacture of medicine. Many species of gentian are found all over the world except in Africa. The blue, or Alpine, gentian (C. acaulis) is a small plant found in great abundance on high mountain slopes of Europe. Their masses of blue blossoms form a beautiful sight in midsummer.

The bottle, or closed, gentian (G. andrewsii) and the fringed gentian (g. crinita) grow in moist spots in the United States. The latter is one of the most beautiful of all wild flowers, but because it has been picked too extensively, it is now quite rare.

In England and the United States, gentians are cultivated as garden flowers, but are often difficult to grow well. The various species bloom from midsummer to early autumn.

GARDENIA is a plant of the family Rubiaceae. The Cape jasmine, or florist’s gardenia, is raised in China for its fruit, which produces a yellow dye. In the East Indies, another species is valuable for a gum which exudes from its bark. In South Africa, two species are prized for their strong, hard wood. Although none of the many species of gardenia is native to the United States, the plant was named for an American naturalist, Alexander Garden. In the Americas and Europe, gardenias are grown for their beautiful waxy blossoms, which are very fragrant. The flowers somewhat resemble those of the camellia. They are dainty and may be double or single, ivory while or lemon yellow. They offer a striking contrast against the shiny evergreen foliage.

Since gardenias are natives of tropical countries, in cultivation they require plenty of heat and moisture, and are usually grown in green-houses. In greenhouses gardenias are usually grown from cuttings. A few varieties are raised outdoors in the southern United States.

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Easter lily is a flower’s that has become a sign of Easter. The Easter lily is a tall plant with long, pointed leaves. The large, fragrant trumpet-shaped flowers are a waxy white color.

Easter lilies grow throughout the world. American florists formerly grew the Madonna lily of southern Europe. Its periods of blooming, however, are not regular.

The Easter lily has long, pointed leaves and large, white blossoms. It is often used as a decoration at Easter.

New kinds of Easter lilies have been brought to America from China, Japan, and Bermuda. The Bermuda Easter lily blooms early. The Chinese and Japanese lilies are the hardiest flowers. These lilies bloom outdoors in June or July. Florists can force Chinese and Japanese lilies to bloom just before Easter by growing them in greenhouses.

EVERLASTING is any one of a number of plants whose flowers keep both their color and shape long after they have been picked and dried. Most of them belong to the composite family. Some of them, such as the globe amaranth, belong to the amaranth family. The wild pearly everlasting grows in North America. It is a small plant found on sunny, dry hillsides and in open woods. Its straight, leafy stems are covered with soft wool. Its flowers grow in many branched clusters. In southern France great quantities of immortelles, another type of everlasting, are grown. These are woven into wreaths for decorations or winter ornaments. Immortelle flowers are deep yellow, but they can be bleached white or dyed in different colors.

Other kinds of everlastings are found under the name of strawflower. This name is given because of the straw like blossoms. They are often an inch or more across. If picked before fully mature and dried, they may appear fresh for a year or more. There is an Australian everlasting which bears both single and double flowers that vary in color. The everlasting of the Cape of Good Hope, South Africa, has silky white flowers.

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