On this May morning we not only see, but also smell, one of the flowers
which grow upon the wall--it is the beautiful sweet-scented Wallflower.
It grows here and there along the top of the wall, and a few plants of
it are even springing from the sides. Some of the plants are quite large
and their stems are tough. These have grown here for a long time. The
Wallflower is a perennial plant; unless it is killed or torn up by the
roots it will live and grow for many years. Others are quite young and
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.
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