and when there are two varieties of it, the towering alternate spikes of white and purple form a pretty contrast with the deep yellow of the lofty great flowering Solidago, or golden rod; both plants being highly ornamental to garden borders. Towards the middle of the month, the spiked willow, hyssop, and the bell-flower (Campanula), have their flowers full blown. The virginian sumach now exhibits its scarlet tufts of flowers upon its bright green circles of leaves. The berries of the mountain ash turn red. Lavender and jessamine are now in blossom. The scarlet lychnis is in bloom, and, with its rich coronets of flowers growing on a tall slender stem, adds greatly to the beauty of the garden. Among the flowers of summer, we must not forget to mention the evening primrose (Ænothera biennis). This plant bears its primrose-coloured flowers on branches of three or four feet in height, and hence it is called the tree-primrose, or evening star, because the flowers regularly burst open and expand in the evening, between six and seven o'clock. To the EVENING PRIMRose. Fair flow'r, that shunn'st the glare of day, To evening's hues of sober grey Be thine the offering, owing long Though transient as thy flower. I love to watch at silent eve Thy scattered blossoms' lonely light, I love at such an hour to mark Their beauty greet the night-breeze chill, For such 'tis sweet to think the while, When cares and griefs the breast invade, In friendship's animating smile In sorrow's dark'ning shade. Thus it bursts forth, like thy pale cup But still more animating far, If meek Religion's eye may trace, The hope—that as thy beauteous bloom BARTON'S Poetic Vigils. As summer advances, the vocal music of the groves is lessened, and in this month may be said to cease altogether-if we except the chirping of the wren and two or three small birds. The yellow hammer (Emberiza citrinella) forms its nest and lays its eggs very late in the year, it being quite the end of June, or the beginning of July, before any number of them are found: the eggs are to be distinguished from those of every other bird by their being figured with irregular hair-like scratches, as if marked with a pen; so much so, that, in the midland counties, this bird is called the 'scribbling or writing lark.' I have seen this bird (says our Huntingdonshire correspondent) on the grass-plot in my garden in a hard frost, in winter. Some curious particulars of the yellow hammer may be seen in our last volume, p. 196. The beautiful but evanescent flowers of the convolvulus are now open; they live but for a day, opening their cups in the morning, and at sunset closing them for ever. This, on account of the profusion of buds, is not generally noticed, and numberless successors take off our attention from the flower which 'has lived its little day,' and is now no more. How beautiful and affecting an emblem of human life does this simple convolvulus present to us!-The gay, the young, whose existence has seemed but a day, are cut off, and others, equally gay and equally mortal, occupy their places; and the remembrance of them is quickly dissipated by the attractions of their successors, who, perhaps, like them, are doomed early to submit to the common lot of humanity: Days on years thus burry by, And of the varying present mar or make. Suns rise ascend-set-darken-and we die, Towards the close of the month, the splendid fringed water-lily (Menyanthes Nymphoides) is seen on the slow-flowing rivers and on ponds. When the fructification of this wonderful plant is completed, the stem, which rose many feet in order to support the flower above the surface of the water, sinks considerably beneath it, and there remains till the next season of flowering, when it again resumes its annual task. Roses now lose their beauty, and it is with regret we see their fragrant petals scattered beneath our feet. The ROSE. Alas! if the brightest of eye And the warmest of hearts are to die; Whom in absence we cherish, Shall their virtue direct us to live, For they know neither sorrow nor pain New Monthly Magazine. The enchanter's nightshade; the Yorkshire sanicle; the water horehound or gypsy wort; the great cat's tail, or reed mace; the common nettle; goose grass; solanum (dulcamara and nigrum); the belladonna; asparagus and some species of rumex; with buck-wheat, and a variety of other plants, may be almost said to bloom, fade, and die, within the present month. The fields now glow with every hue and shade of colorific radiance, the several species of Lychnis, Cerastium, and Spergula, contributing their share of beauty to animate this delightful scene.- Insects now take the place of the feathered tribe, and, being for the most part hatched in the spring, they are now in full vigour. The bee, the universal theme of admiration for its ceaseless industry, volant de fleur en fleur, in search of its nectared sweets, is an object of peculiar interest, and reads a useful lesson to the idler, and the lover of the precieux far niente-a 'besetting sin' not easily to be shaken off by those who are not compelled to gain their living by that greatest of all boons ever granted to man-daily toil and occupation. The roamings of the admirable bee' are thus beautifully described in PENNIE'S Royal Minstrel : R When prolific smiles the summer sun Casts on the teeming earth, th' aculeate bees The lawns, and groves, that all their blooming pomp Th' enamelled field, heath, moor, and mountain wild, By th' industrious horde, who to their waxen cells The larvæ of that large fine and rare species, the Sphinx atropos, or death's-head hawk-moth, should be sought for in the evenings of this month. They always feed upon potatoes, artfully concealing themselves in the daytime on those parts of the stems of the plants which are best covered with over-shadowing leaves. These larvæ are very scarce in some years; they were, however, plentiful in 1808, 1809, and 1825. The following is the method recommended by Mr.SAMOUELLE, of rearing the larvæ to their perfect state. As the larvæ appeared to be about to change to the pupa state, they were placed in common garden pots, filled with mould; they immediately began to burrow in the earth, and in about half an hour were completely hidden from view. Conceiving that the earth should be kept moist, the pot was placed in a pan of water, the same as used for plants, and replenished as often as required: water was also sparingly sprinkled on the surface, when it was completely dried. To prevent the escape of the insects, when in the perfect state, two pieces of cane were procured, tied in the centre in the form of a cross, and then bent to an arch; the ends of the cane were placed within the pot, and formed a frame, which was covered with gauze, that gave ample room for the wings of |