THE CAMPANULA. A FEW short years ago we spoke of the Hollyhock and the general neglect of its beauties, and we ventured to express our hope and belief that it would soon be restored to that position amongst florists' flowers of which it is so eminently deserving. Our hope has been gratified, and it has since then received, and is now receiving, great attention from those who are well able to improve its character and multiply its varieties. The Campanula is another instance of the caprice of fashion even in the things of nature; it was many years ago a fashionable plant, but it gradually gave way before the Lobelia splendens and fulgens, when they appeared above the horizon of the floral world. True, the Campanula might here and there be met with, and in Holland particularly its cultivation was continued because it was a plant which, from the rigid persistence and duration of its flowers, was admirably adapted to adorn large halls and staircases, and to set before an empty fireplace in summer; but yet it was only noticed as one of the countless and vulgar throng of exotics which were kept in cultivation on account of their utility for specific purposes. Independent of the influence of fashion, there are other reasons why the Campanula might cease to be a florist's flower. To procure an ordinary fine plant it required no very high floricultural skill, and consequently the amateur might be successful in its cultivation, when the more skilful professional florist would naturally devote his time and attention to the rearing of more tender exotics, which would give a wider scope for the display of his peculiar talent, and yield him a higher amount of remuneration, by reason of the greater demand for those flowers which, though much admired by amateurs, could not be cultivated by them so as to attain such perfection. These the amateur would therefore purchase largely, in order to admire and enjoy that beauty which they themselves were unable to secure without the application of professional skill. We trust, however, that this species will receive more attention. The whole genus is very showy; some of the species are extremely beautiful, and what is of great importance to the amateur, they may be easily cultivated in the borders of the flower-garden and the shrubbery. The Campanula pyramidalis demands our particular notice, as also a comparatively recently-introduced species, C. grandis. The former, when treated as it ought to be, will produce a flowerstem from eight to sixteen feet high, regularly branching from the bottom upwards, and thus forming a grand pyramid, which, when the flowers are fully expanded, presents a mass of floral richness almost unequalled, and when in this state it is placed in an entrance hall or the broad landing of a noble staircase, it will continue to display its beauty for a very long period. We cannot speak of these exotic species of the Campanula without reminding our readers that we possess several indigenous species of singular beauty, growing wild in various parts of our island. Some of them are rare, others are more common in hilly and sandy localities, and perhaps that which is most widely scattered is the Round-leaved Bellflower (C. rotundifolia), which is common nearly everywhere. Hear how a merry light-hearted maiden was affected by this pretty Blue-bell; they seem to reflect her own gay and cheerful spirit : "Over the moorland, over the lea, Tired of dancing, tired of peeping, Nodding about and dreaming too; As the melodies that flow In tiniest ripples along the pool, When the night-wind's breath is cool, And downy owlets skim Lightly along from shore to shore, Flitting about as if they bore Upon their trembling wings (That ne'er are seen by day) Of forms that Flowers own and see On the heathery lea. Maiden, do not you Often wish you were a Flower, |