The Washington times., 1901-12-22
Our craudmotbcrs' Gurdeps.

Whatever she Is called on TO dlSCbsS. Inc
subject of old time flowers and gardens is
one replete with suggestion and parmeat-
ed with deliciousness of all kinds, ard the
book is in many ways the most fascirAt-
ing that the author has yet written. 1t is
illustrated by photographs Of famous old
gardens and of old-fashioned flowers. but
the pictures arc, in comparison with the
text. a trine disappointing.
One may open the book at random and
light upon pleasant things. and. in fact, to
read it is very much like wandering
through one of the pleasant places de-
scribed. Anybody who has ever walked in
enc OF these old gardens knows the charm
ingly irresponsible way wlich stray plants
have of coming 10 light wh,re least cX-
pected. and the endless variety and com
plieation OF the arrangement of the inhab-
itants. For such a place is littlT world
in itself, aud the flowers are Certainly
people--clfin folk, to be sure. AMI dumb
except fer their fragrance, which has
language OF its own. but emphatically not
inanimatc.
They must certainly have had comfort,
ing things to say 10 the housewives who
planted them two hundred years and more
ago. This is what Mrs. Earle says OF ii;
81 like to think that sweet fern, the
characteristic wild perfume Of New Eng
land, was waited out to greet them.
And by every humble dwelling
the homesick good wife or dame. trying TO
create semblance of her fair English
home so far away, planted in her garden
plot seeds and roots OF homely English
I'D he huf uH41r
blossomed and smiled ON bleak New Eng
lands rocky shores as sturdiiy and hap
pity as they must have hloomed in the old
gardens and by the ancient door sides IN
England. What good cheer they must
have brought, How they must have been
beloved, For these old English garden
flowers are such gracious things: mar
wells OF scent, lavish OF bloom, bearing
such genial faces. growing so readily ana
hardly. spreading so quickly. responding
SO gratefully to sucl little care; what
pure rofreshnent they brought in their
blossoms what comfort IN their seeds;
they must have Eeemed an emblem of
hope, 4 promise OF Ecw and happ.
home. rejoice over every one that
know was in those little colonial gardens, /
for each one added Just so nuTh measure I
Of sclaee to what seems to nc. as think I
upon it, one OF the loneliest and most /
fearsome things that IscntleGomen ever I
had TO do: ali the harder because neither I
by poverty nor by unavoidable STRESS were
they forced 10 X; tiicg came acrosS-seas. +
Willingly. for conscience sake These Z
women wee not accustomed to the .
thought of emigration. as are European !
folk today; they had no friends 10 greet /
them in the new land. they were TO en- 1
counter Wild animals and Wild men, sea /
ard country were unknown-they could I
scarce expect ever TO return; they left 4
everything and took nothing Of comfort /
but their Bibles and their flower seeds. |
so when l see one OF those old English /
flowers, grown OF tto-c days, blooming |
row in my garden from the unbEoken
chain OF blossom to seed OF nearly three
centuries. / thanh the iower for all that
its forbears did ta ea-afoTt my forhr..rs
ard i cherish IL with added tenderness.
One Of the most charming chapters is
that on sun dials. feature OF colonial
gardeus rarely repeated in those OF today
Some Of the Inscriptions quoted are ex-
ceedingly quaint and pretty. but none is
more beautiful Than that engraved on
modern dial. the property OF Nrs. Katrina
Trask~ The verses were written by Dr.
HenryssEan Dyke, whose prose is all Of
poetry but the metre. ard whose rare
verses are exquisite. Mrs. Earle says:
These dial notices are perfect exam
ples OF that genius which with a few
Engliah tongue. At the edge Of the dial
face is this motto:
Hour fy,
Flowers die.
New days.
New ways,
Pas BIZ:
Love stays
At the base OF the gnomon is The second
motto:
Time is
Too slow ior tliose who wat.
Too swift foT uiosE wlio fear,
Too long fof those who grieve.
Too short for those who rejoice;
But for those who love
Time s. ,
Eternity.
81 have for years been a stusen: Of sun
dial lore, a collector OF sun-dial notices
and inscriptions. OF which / have many
hundreds. ] know nowhere. either in Eng
lish. on English and Scotch sun-dials, or
in the Continental tongues. any such ex-
quisite dial legends as these two-so ,
slight CT form so simple in wording.
80 pure in diction. yet Of sentiment, Of ,
thought, how fun how impressive! They ,
stamp themselves forever On the memory I
as beautiful examples Of what James !
Russell Lowell called verbal magic that !
quality which comes neither {
from chosen words nor from their careful !
into sentences, but from
something which is as inexpiicable in its J
nature as IN its charm +
And this is only one OF the many fas ,
mating bits of flower lore and garden
ak in this unique book. (New York: The =
Macmillan Company '
u-r.a Gura nf children.