The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1903-09-20
in AUNT VlNA'S GARDEN
TALK WITH ONE OF THE NOTABLE
PERsoNAGEs or MARTINsvILLE.
The Original of Character I'm N
Louisville WRITERS Book Tells More
OF Her .sDenominatiOna1G Garden"

Miss Celestina r. Phelps. familiarity known
10 the townspeople as Miss Tina. Besides
being an interesting person herself. Miss
Phelps has had the rather unusual expert
ence OF posing for character in fiction
without knowing it. She is the original of
Miss VIVA in ''Lovey Mary by the author
of Mrs Wigs OF the Cabbage Patch"
Miss Phelps is an elderly woman of keen
intellect and a school teacher OF nearly for
~ years experience She has lived for
about fifty years in the cottage she now
occupies in Martinsville. It is a small one
story frame hotse, with little front porch
and a wilderness OF flowers in the front.
side and back yards. For many years she
has found great pleasure in cultivating old
fashioned garden flowers that do not re-
qulre much care. and, being of a phiOsoph-
zeal turn she gradually evolved a theory
that different flowers represented different
denominations or types of Christians. She
conceived the odd fancy ofsciassifying her
flowers according to their supposed re-
semblance to different religious sects, and
she elaborated the idea until the supposed
resemblance became quite real TO her ard
typical OF denominational traits. Some Cf
her flowers were Baptists, some PTesby-
terians some Methodists. some Episcopal
ians. and so on. Miss Phelps herself is of
Methodist extraction" though liberal in
her views. She found pleasure in her de-
nominstional garden theory. and it was
known 10 her neighbors long before il got
into print One day young man visiting
her was so struck with the originality of
her theory that he exclaimed: That's the
very thingl A lady friend OF mine is writ
ing story and she's svamped for some
thing new. I'm going TO tell her about your
denominational garden. He did, and that
is how Miss Alice Hogan, now Mrs. Gale
Young Rice, OF Louisville. author of "Lovey
Mary" came to visit Miss Tina. The latter
talked freely with her visitor without
knowing that she was an author. She took
her through the garden and told her all
about the different flowers and their traits.
Miss Hogan took notes and got all the
points OF the UNCONVENTIONAL garden theory
without letting Miss Tina know she was
writing a book. In ''Lovey Mary Miss
Tina figures as Miss Vina. One of the most
delightful chapters in the book is entitled
"A UNCONVENTIONAL Garden" 1t is not
much more than character sketch. and it
required some ingenuity on the part of the
author to make it fit into the rest of the
story. Mrs. Wigs sends Lovey Mary to
Miss Vina's TO get some ''yaIler root to
cure her nervousness. AS soon as Miss
Nina sees Lovey Mary's tongue she decides
she does not need yaller root any more
than bunblebee," and says she will give
her prescription. When she sees the girl
admiring the flowers she asks her if she
loves them. 81 guess / would If / had a
cnance." says Lovey Mary. 81 never saw
them growing out of doors like this. / al
ways had to look at 'em through the store
windows" "Oh, law, don't talk to me
about Gagged up flowers" says Miss vina
81 don't believe in shuttin' a flower up in a
greenhouse any more'n b'lieve in shuttin'
myself up in one church,
MISS VIVA DISCOURSES.
Then she goes on:
This here Is a denominationa garden.
and got every congregation I ever heard
j care fer EN- all Just alike. When you
come to think of II. the same rule holds
good In startin' a garden does in start
In church. You first got TO study what
sort o. soil you're goin' to work with. then
you have 10 sum up all the things you have
10 hight against. Next you choose what
That's a mighty important question i'm
church too. amt IT.? Then you go to plant
in. the thicker the better. fer in both you
that you must take good care o. what you
got. an be sure TO plant something new
each year: Once in while some of the
new upstairs and suckers has 20 be pulled
you round
They go out and Miss VIVA continues:
These here are the Baptists," waving
her hand toward bed of heiiotrope and
rags. They want lots of water: like TO
10 themselves like an tend TO their own
pusiress; don't care much about minglin'
with the other flowers. These geraniums
gre Methodist They fall from grace and
have to be revived; they like lots of en-
couragement In the way of sun an water
These phlox are Methodist too; no set color.
easy TO grow, hardy an vigorous. Pinch
in an cuttin' back the shoots makes it
flower all the better; needs new soil every
few years; now amt that Methodist down
.Lovey Mary asks IL there are any Pres
byterians.
Yes, indeed" says Miss vina. They're
good. old. reliable bed. Look at all these
roses an tiger-lilies an .dahlias: they all
knew what they was soin' to be before they
started TO grow. They was elected to it.
an they'll keep on bein' what they started
out to be clean TO the very end"
Coming 10 bed Of stately lilies and aza-
las Miss Vina says: There are 'Piscopals.
their bed was the only one in the garden.
Somebody said that lily didn't have no
wonder. They most die of dignity. They're
like the 'PiScopals in more ways m one.
both hates to be disturbed both likes some
shade an both are pretty pernckity. But
90 tell you the truth there amt nothin' can
touch EN- when IL comes to beauty
think all the other beds is proud of eu
n you'd come to look into il. An here are
the Unitsrians: You may be s'prised at
me for havtn' them in here long with the
orthodox churches: but IL the sun an the
rain don't make no distinction / don't see
what right I've got to put 'em on the other
side or the fence. These first is Sweet Will
liam, 80 rich In bloom the Unitarian Is i'm
good works. a sowin themselves constant
an every little plant a-puttin' out a flow
err" Asked IL there were any Catholics
Miss Vina says: Don't you see them hol-
fyhawks an snow balls an laylacs? All o.
them are Catholics, takin' up lots of room
an needin' the prunin' knife pretty often
but bringin' cheer and brightness to the
whole garden when il needs II most. Yes
! guess you'd have trouble thinkin' of anv
sect amt got planted. Them ferns over i'm
The corner Is Quakers. / amt never seen
no Quakers. but they tell me they don't be-
lieve in nowerin out; that they like cool
ness an shade an quiet and are jes the
same the year round"
Plucking sprig OF lemon-verbena she
says: This an the mint an the sage an
the lavender Is all true Christians: les by
bein touched they give out a influence that
makes the whole world sweeter place TO
i've IN But after all. they can't all be
alike There's all sorts o. Christians
Some stands fer sunshine, some fer shade.
some fer beauty. some fer use; some up
high. some down low. There's les one
thing all the flowers has TO unite in fightin'
against-thats the canker worm Hate ~
IL once gifts In a plant. no matter how good
an strong that plant may be- IL eats right