Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-06-28
CHILDREN IN GARDENS
LITTLE PEOPLE FOND OF CLOVER
AND DANDELIoNs.
Games With Many Kind of Flowers
Honey, Sorrel, Catalpa II
Cigars.

From the indianapolis Journal
Nowadays any city yard In which clover
or dandelions deck the grass, or whcre
violets bloom. is beset by children, who ask
from the householder permission TO pluck
the enticing floral treasures however
humble. In other days every village house
had its own garden in the rear, and gay
flower beds, also. nourished In the front
yard The old-fashioned house often mad n
long arbor. 4 rose arbor, from the front
steps to the front gate, and on trellises and
lattices, everywhere, were climbing vines
and roses. In these old gardens the chill
dren reveled, and 1t would require a long
chapter to chronicle all the odd and pretty
games which the little ones played with
flowers.
The girls held dandelions under each
others chins to see IL the owner of tho
chin loved butter" and the boys caught
fierce humble bees In the red or yellow
hoHyhock cups and chased the girls with
the imprisoned buzzing terror. Bleeding
heart blossoms bent apart showed plainly a
man sitting in boat; Of dandelion stems,
held against the tongue, long curls could be
made, and the coral honeysuckle after its
sweet honey was sucked out by the ci:ld.
could be fashioned into pretty wreaths for
bright book-marks in blowsy schoolbooks.
Dandelion Trumpets.
Fairy music could be blown on dand,lIou
trumpets, too, by the expert child, and tho
horrid noises which boys could evoke from
broad blades Of grass held between the
thumbs are still an ear-piercing remnis-
cence. All seed pods which would pop
were beloved by the children. and the ball
loon vine, or 'love vine" whose seeds had
a tiny heart on their surfaces was a chief
favorite for its explosive qualities. Old
fashioned 'live-forever" whose oblong
leaves could be sucked on the tongue until
Cd IT, I..x a
popular 1t was achievement to make
one of these live-forever bags. Half an
hours rubbing of the chnd's tongue on the
leaf was none too long, and the victory
announced by showing the result
proudly held up on the little finger. sur
reptitiously in school.
Children are always hungry and all eat
able blossoms that grow in gardens were
known to all small boys and girls. Pepper
grass was good to eat and sorrel or
sour grass" Honey was eagerly slipped
by the girls in infinitesimally small doses
from the red clover blooms, while the boys
boastfully sneaked off to smoke catalpa
cigars. OdOrs and associations had their
charm even to such young flower lovers.
The bachelors button was regarded with
dislike as queer, unnatural symbol. but
the old, fragrant sweet shrub" squeezed
up tight in little hands. beguiled many a
tedious hour over schoolbooks.
Yellow Roses.
Many interesting things were done with
rose leaves and roses. Yellow roses were
rare, and the little girl who brought yell
low roses to the teacher" always wore a
proud air. Along the high garden fence. in
those days, were many fiat bottles, filled
with rose leaves. covered with rain water,
to be evolved into perfume by some mys-
FERROUS process which never succeeded.
Burr baskets were made in their season,
and burrs were stuck by the girls into each
others curly locks. With long grass which
had seeds on its end a trick was played
called making a basket" A guileless
child was asked to hold two strands OF
such grass between her lips while the art
full Child made a basket" If she COM
piled the artfuI child suddenly pulled on
the end of the grass, leaving the guileless
child's mouth full Of unpleasant seeds