WHERE THE FLOWERS GROW.
Is there a 'girl or boy who does not know where to look for the wild flowers? Children have bright eyes. They did not learn from books, but Nature taught them. She showed them where to look in the meadow, and by the brook.
They have found that each flower has its own home and its own time for blossoming. Some plants love the bright sun.
Others hide away where there is always shade. Some love the dry hillsides. Some can live only where their roots reach the water of the pond or brook.
Day after day there are beautiful flowers upon the teach er's desk. The children will tell you where each kind came from.
The buttercup, the orange poppy, and the yellow violet came from the meadow. The prettiest flower of them all is the butterfly lily. It came from a dry hillside where you would hardly think anything could grow.
The purple trillium grew in the shady woods. It is one of the earliest of the spring flowers. The marsh marigold and Jack-in-the-pulpit are dwellers in wet places. The grasses and cat-tails came from the quiet pond.
The pond lily loves the still water of the pond or river. Its great leaves and beautiful flowers cover the water. Pond lilies are hard to get with out a raft or boat, but we prize them the more for this.
Study some of the little flower buds and you will see how delicately the petals are wrapped. Some flowers unfold with the morning sun, others wait until evening.
The plant loves its home just as you do yours. Away from its home the plant does not grow well. It is not happy.
How do you suppose there came to be so many different plants, each kind having a place of its own in which it loves to grow? I will tell you the reason. I am sure you can
understand it. We have already found that plants want good soil, water, and light. Wherever it rains we find the ground covered with little plants. Each is struggling to get sunshine and food. There is not room enough for all of them in the best places. Many are crowded out and have to live where the ground is dry and barren. Some, like the pond lily, are crowded into the water.
At first this was pretty hard for them and ever so many died. After a long time, however, the plants became used to their different homes. They became so contented that they wanted to stay where they were. They would not be happy if they had to go back to their old homes.
Out on the meadow you can see how the plants are still crowding each other. Each plant is striving to get all the sunshine, and plenty of room for its tiny roots. The plants next to it are doing the same thing. The strongest succeed, but the weak ones finally droop and die. Some time you will want to know more about how plants as well as animals are struggling. It is a strange story.
The flowers in our gardens once grew wild. Our grandfathers dug them up and set them in gardens. They tended these plants very carefully for years, giving them plenty of water and soft rich earth for their roots. This made the flowers larger and more beautiful. The many kinds of roses have grown from the wild rose of the woods.