only a few inches high. These have grown from seeds dropped last autumn
by the older plants.

You very likely wonder how the Wallflower or any other plant can grow
upon the wall, for there is no earth to be seen--nothing but stones and
crumbling mortar. But if we pull up one of the smaller plants we shall
find earth clinging to its roots. Dry dusty earth has been blown upon
the wall by wind, and has lodged in chinks and holes. Dust and soil,
too, were mixed with the mortar when the wall was built; and dead leaves
falling on it and decaying have produced a little more--for decayed
leaves make earth or "soil." Wallflowers and other plants which grow on
walls and rocks find very little soil sufficient for their needs.

Most of the blossoms of the wallflowers upon this wall are of a golden
yellow colour and are very sweet. Some of the blossoms are, however, a
darker yellow than others, and here and there are petals which are quite
brown.

If we look at the garden behind us we shall see that Mrs. Hammond has
several beds of Wallflower this year; it is a flower of which she is
very fond. There are wallflowers of two different colours in her beds.
One kind has bright golden blossoms, rather deeper in colour than any of
those upon the wall; the other has flowers that are a rich dark brown.

[Illustration: WALLFLOWER.]

These plants are sturdier and more bushy than those upon the wall, and
there are more flowers on each plant. The flowers are finer, too, and
have a stronger scent. If Mrs. Hammond had wished she could have sown
seed to produce many different shades of brown and yellow Wallflowers.