Zinnias when well grown are charming plants for the flower garden, in groups by themselves or massed with other plants. They like a rich loamy soil and sunny situation. Being mostly annuals they must be raised from seeds every year.
The text is from A Practical Guide to Garden Plants, by John Weathers (1901). Click here to browse the book or download it free from the Internet Archive.
artwork by Joanne Stanbridge 2012
Yarrow is a common weed, whose gray-white flower heads are utterly unattractive even to those who profess to be fond of flowers. But, before passing the weed in disdain, it will be worth our while to pick up a small piece and place it under the glass for closer inspection. Ah! What a change!–the uninteresting weed at once assumes an attractive look.
The text is from Familiar Flowers of Field and Garden, by F. Schuyler Mathews (1896). Click here to browse the book or download it free from the Internet Archive.
artwork by Joanne Stanbridge 2012
Water-lilies are essentially flowers for the man or woman who revels in magnificent colours, for the hues are not equalled in variety or brilliancy by the flowers of any other plants.
The text is from Water-Lilies and How to Grow Them, by Henry S. Conrad and Henri Hus (1907). Click here to browse the book or download it free from the Internet Archive.
artwork by Joanne Stanbridge 2012
Look how the blue eyed violets glance love to one another!
The text is by T.B. Read, quoted in Deep-blue Violets, by Katherine L. Connor (1896). Click here to browse the book or download it free from the Internet Archive.
artwork by Joanne Stanbridge 2012
The flowers, gathered when full grown, and dried in the shade, will presesrve their beauty for years, particularly if they are not exposed to the sun. A friend of the writer’s possesses some Amaranths, both purple and yellow, which he has had by him for several years, enclosed with some locks of hair in a little marble urn. They look as vivid as if they were put in yesterday.
The text is from Flora Domstica or The Portable Flower Garden, with Directions for the Treatment of Plants in Pots (1825). Click here to browse the book or download it free from the Internet Archive.
artwork by Joanne Stanbridge 2012
After the vine gets older, it will make strong wood to the full height of the tallest trellis, in one season, provided it be well fed with proper fertilizers. We think this system of training for city trellises, will be much admired when once it has been tried.
The text is from Bright’s Single Stem, Dwarf and Renewal System of Grape Culture, by William Bright (1860). Click here to read the book online, or to download it free from the Internet Archive.
artwork by Joanne Stanbridge 2012
Those who have seen snapdragons growing and flowering gaily on the top of old walls and in other out of the way places know how accommodating they are . . . They want the sunlight and they want their ‘feet’ dry after they are established.
The text is from a book called Sweet Peas and Abntirrhinums (Snapdragons), by William Cuthbertson, published in 1915. Click here to read the book online or to download it for free from the Internet Archive.
artwork by Joanne Stanbridge 2012
[The potatoes are] left untouched till planting-out time; they are not even watered, because the less water given to them, the hardier and more wiry they become, sending out an immense number of roots to collect food; in fact, when taken up in the middle or end of February, they have produced a complete mass of strong, fine roots.
The text is from a book called The Kitchen Garden, or, The Culture in the Open Ground of Roots, Vegetables, Herbs and Fruits, by Edmund Saul Dixon, 1855. Click here to browse the book online or download it free from the Internet Archive.
artwork by Joanne Stanbridge 2012
Standing in my unmowed orchard surrounded by Queen Anne’s Lace and other assorted wildflowers, waist high and higher, I play my song on my Sigma. Life doesn’t get any better than that.
The text is by Larry Heyl, 2007. To watch a short video of Larry playing his song Queen Anne’s Lace, with gorgeous bird-song accompaniment, click here and enjoy.
artwork by Joanne Stanbridge 2012
Perhaps the amateur who only knows the Pansy as a garden flower is a little startled when he first sees a stand of prize flowers at a show. . .though much larger, rounder, thicker and more beautifully coloured than any Pansies that he has ever seen before, they will have the same bright, winning, affectionate faces.
The text is from Popular Garden Flowers, by Walter Page Wright (1911). Click here to read the book online, or to download it free from the Internet Archive.
artwork by Joanne Stanbridge 2012
Alphadello 