Читать книгу How to Amuse Yourself and Others: The American Girl's Handy Book - Adelia B. Beard - Страница 8

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LONG before the first green leaves make their appearance, while the snows of winter still linger in the shaded nooks, and the branches are still bare, though blushing with the full, flowing sap that tinges their tips pink, yellow, and red—when the air is filled with a sweet freshness and delicate fragrance—it is charming in our rambles to find scattered here and there upon the hill-side, down among the roots of the great trees, or under the hedges delicate little wild flowers waving on their fragile stalks with the faintest passing breeze. They are so exquisitely beautiful with their tender hues and graceful shapes, that a longing comes to possess them.

And why not keep them fresh at home? Plants live in the earth and require light, air, and moisture. All of these requirements can be and are fulfilled in thousands of homes where plants are kept, all over the world. But these are wild flowers. True, and they may need something to be found only in the wild woods. What, then, is it? Let us see. Earth, light, and air abound everywhere. Still, upon inspection we discover that the soil around our timid wild flowers is somewhat different from that to be found in our door-yards. But what is simpler than to take the earth up with the plant?

Be careful in