. The Gardener's monthly and horticulturist. was the son of a Spartanking and the favorite of Apollo. Zephyrus, be-ing envious of the attachment of Apollo and Hya-cinthus, so turned the direction of a quoit whichApollo had pitched while at play that it struck thehead of Hyacinflius and slew him. The fableconcludes by making Apollo transform the bodyof his favorite into a flower that bears his name. The Hyacinth is a native of the Levant, and wasfirst introduced into England in the year 1596;but it was known to Dioscorides, who wrote aboutthe time of Vespasian. Gerard, in his Herbalpubhshed at
. The Gardener's monthly and horticulturist. was the son of a Spartanking and the favorite of Apollo. Zephyrus, be-ing envious of the attachment of Apollo and Hya-cinthus, so turned the direction of a quoit whichApollo had pitched while at play that it struck thehead of Hyacinflius and slew him. The fableconcludes by making Apollo transform the bodyof his favorite into a flower that bears his name. The Hyacinth is a native of the Levant, and wasfirst introduced into England in the year 1596;but it was known to Dioscorides, who wrote aboutthe time of Vespasian. Gerard, in his Herbalpubhshed at the close of the sixteenth century,enumerates four varieties—the single and doubleblue, the purple and the violet. In that valuablebook on gardening, Paradisus in SoleParadisus Terrestris, published by JohnParkinson in 1629, eight different varie-ties are mentioned and tells us, Some are pure white,another is nearly white witha bluish shade, especially atthe brims and bottoms of theflowers. Others, agr in,are of a very faint. Distant view from Pinkstone. 292 THE GARDENERS MONTHLY [October, blush ; some are of a deep purple near violet, othersof a purple tending to redness, and some of a palerpurple. Some, again, are of a fair blue, othersmore watchet, and some of a very pale blue. Afterthe flowers are past the stem bears a round black iseed, great and shining, from which, after sowing iand protecting, the new varieties can be obtained. jDuring the 250 years that have passed since the ,above was published, there has been a steady im- jprovement in the size, form and color of the jflowers of this plant. From the eight varieties of 1629 more than4000 varieties have been produced, of which, how-ever, the greatest number have become extinct orout of cultivation. Many have been thrown outto make room for the latest improved sorts, ofwhich about 200 only are at present subject toextensive The Hyacinth is a general favorite in the most,extensive application of
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Keywords: ., bookcentury18, bookdecade1870, booksubjectgardening, bookyear1876
