Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1902-02-08


Ups" "Come-euddle-me" 'None-so-pret-
~, such names show the popularity of
the little flower. Few of our splendid flow-
ers from Japan which have come to us in
the nineteenth century have assumed folk
names; but when they have it proves that
they have been adopted warmly. The For
sythla has been called Sunshine-bush, a
timely descriptive name; and the Dialytra
mas been named bleeding heart.
Poets Loved Them.
And there Is another thought of the old
fashioned flowers. They were the flowers
known and loved of Shakespeare, and
Bacon, and Spencer and Herrick, of those
three 'Herb-Johns'' of English botany, the
three lovers and chroniclers of the flowers
ana trees known to Englishmen-John Eve
lyn, John Gerarde, John Parkisol. 1.-The
same dear things showed forth the same
GEAR races to Wordsworth, and Keats and
shelley. 1t is hard to enhalo a wegela or
a kerria corchorus, though they are very
beautiful flowers.
An excellent trait of the old fashioned
mowers was that many of them were so
hardy The rhododendron has in modern
sardens ana strawberries taken largely the
pace that used to be held by the peony,
but the peony is to me a far dearer flower.
us natural shape was finer, its colCrs were
petter, 1t had no blights, was not winter
kined. thlnk a planting of peonies along
sue garden path is infinitely prefera BILE
to any azalea or rhododendron grouping.
oucn plants as peonies and yuccas, in
way, TOOK the place of shrubbery in the old
a lasiiioiied garden, for there were few
SHRUBS then grown; thus the garden was
spared what today ruins so many gardens
SHRUBS OF variegated or spotted and colored
tollase. The only striped leaf in the old
garden was the charming striped grass
known as gardeners carriers, and rarely
Variegated box, which was and is a pretty
thing, and should not be classed with the
spotty things of today. which grow high
on SHRUBS and low on ribbon beds. An Eng
Hsn writer speaks of the scarlet geranium
OF bedding OUT with leaf edges buttered
all around with yellow"-a very good be-
cause degrading descriptive term-and many
VI our SHRUBS are thus "buttered.'
The Prairie Queen.
do not find it necessary to drop any old
faVorltes because there is a new darling
A crimson rambler rose has within a few
years Won its way deservedly into our
gardens and our hearts, but may we not
still love and cherish our older Baltimore
Belie, or the Queen of the Prairie? The
glorious 1rises Of Japan should not crowd
out the sturdy old-fa shioned cousins the
ROVER de Luces of our grandmothers
me English florists have special lists of
seeaS ana bulbs of oldfashioned flowers
winch they sell for the planting of old
1asn1oned gardens. But a happier way of
stocking such a garden is to do it on the
old-tlme plan. Gather some seeds here, get
sup there' beg bulb or a root, exchange
with the owners of old front yards, and
farm gardens, and kitchen borders Be on
the constant watch as you drive through
village streets and country roads for the
flowers you wish at every country doorside;
ask about those you do not know admire
the hne blooms, query for advice in the
rearing; stock your old-fashioned garden in
such ways and every plant will mean
something. 1t will not be to you simply an
order for so many dollars worth of seeds:
TEEN
with little pleasantnesses, as well as flow
ers.