Evening capital. (Annapolis, Md.) 1884-1910, 1901-08-28
MD. WEDNESDAY. AUGUST %. 1901
AUGUST WILD FLOWERS.
LATE BLOOMERS OF THE FIELD
AND FOREST.

The Beauties Of The Flowers Of August
Compared With Those of Other Sum
mer Months Why John Burroughs
Could Find Nothing Good To Say o.
"Live-Forever."
August flowers have a distinct charac.
ter, wholly different from the shy ''fiow.
eTs that bloom in the spring" that seem
half afraid TO venture into sight, and
from the June and July blossoms that
are essentially young and appealing
TO their beauty.
The flowers Of August are confident.
mature and somewhat arrogant in de
meanor. They have passed the bashful
stage and stand fearlessly to meet the
curious or friendly gaze. stately ofgrowth.
glowing OF color. pungently fragrant with
woody odoTs. The purple gerardIa, with
its pInk-tinted lavender blossoms, sup
plies lavish adornment for the fields in
August and partly through September.
The plant itself lacks tie dignity OF
the rose mallow, says the New York
ItI6HHe. but the flowers have a saucy.
dancing grace that gives them a peculiar
charm. The moth mullen is another
luxunant bloomeT. and the flower is
sometimes yellow, sometimes pink,
but more frequently is white. The
milkweed is one OF the most widely
known and certainly one OF the prettiest
OF August blooms. Ii has number OF
representatives in the family. of which
the windroot, or butterfly weed. as 1t is
called in some districts, is the Preitest.
The color is fame orange, and the
little blossoms are massed together in
gorgeous clusters that nod high above
ali surrounding vegetable growths with a
rollicking gaIety of aspect that often
evokes a sy sympathetic smile. The "live-
forever" is an August bloomer that has a
pretty purple flower, but may claim the
unenviable distinction OF being one OF
the few flowers of which John Burroughs
could find nothing good to say. What
he does write OF IT is in this vein 1--WE
have no native plant so nearly indie
struciible as garden orpine or llve-foT-
ever, which our gIandmotheTs nursed
and Tor which they are cursed by many
a farmer. have seen acres OF meadow
land destroyed by it. The way to drown
an amphibious animal is never to allow
it to come TO the surface to breathe, and
this is the way to kill live. forever. 1t
lives by its stalk and leaf more than by
ITS root, and il cropped as soon as it
comes to the surface will in time perish.
1t laughs the plow. the hoe and the culti-
vator to scoIn, but grazing herds will
eventually scotch 1t.
The purple aster meets no such enmity.
Il sways cheeriully 10 the faintest bree ze,
and, true to its family tradition-for il is
-ot the sunflower Tace-iurns its delicate
blue blossom to the sun through August
and September. 1t has special tender
less for golden rod. apparently, as it
almost always appears close beside II.
The rattlesnake root is another member
of the sunfiower family, and derives its
popular name from a belief that its root
made into tea will cure snake bites. Ii
has tall stem, somewhat redish in color,
and bell-shaped blue flowers that grow
ia clusters. Dear to poet and artist is
the fringed gentian, one OF the August S
sweetest flowers. Its blue flower is tiny
trumpet in shape and iringed at the edges
by fairy scissors. Ii grows freely in most
OF the Northern States, and even as far
South as Georgia, while westward it
reaches almost to the Rocky Mountains.
The meadow beauty virginlca is
an August Towering plant, with large
pink or lavender blossoms. Ihoreau
says OF it: "rhe scarlet leaves and
stems of the rhexia, now out of flower,
make almost as bright patch in the
meadows as the flowers did. Its seed
vessels are perfect little cream pitchers
Of graceful FORM.