The Montgomery advertiser., 1907-02-24


 member of the Montgomery Flower Growers Association, is the second of a series of articles on the ante- bellum gardens of Montgomery:
 An Ante- Bellum Garden.
 An article printed in the Flower Growers's columns of February 3, en- deavored to tell of old Washington Street now called Lee Street. A de- scription of it was given, with it's beau tiful front yards. as preface to the ante bellum garden of which I shall soon write. I said the garden be- longed to pr. and Mrs. Samuel Holt. I should have said Mrs. Holt, for the doctors time was wholly absorbed by a large number of devoted patrons .Dr. Holt was one of eight brothers six of whom lived to a ripe age and blessed the world. One of them, Judge Holt, ranked among Georgia's most distinguished jurists. Then there was Dr. Holt of New Orleans, the we'll known yellow fever expert: then, as for Dr. Samuel Holt, his skill was note worthy, and if there is tradition in Montgomery that has been handed down from sire to son, from mother to | daughter, 1t is that of Dr. Holt's won derful intuition, and his magic pre- scriptions.
 Most fortunate was the garden in its possessor, She was a woman with a C, an inborn love of the beautiful The very location of her residence, not in l the centre of the grounds, but close to Tallapoosa Street, showed she had ! learned early that flowers love to be kissed by the morning sun, and famed by the soft southern breezes The en- tire grounds on the front and western side were enclosed by white palings, the only fence known to the new town Inside these pailings. hedge of agrip- pima hose-ft was then an old rose 1t inspired Burns's beautiful song, My Love is Like the Red, Red, Rose" The house had two entrances, and around the porch. on Tallapoosa Street grew some large and rare shrubs. These were the English Laurestiwa, the grand Pettesforum, and conspicu- ous among them was myrtle orange tree, which grew and perfected it's golden fruit year after year. Pray tell me, weatherwise bureau why old Boreas did not come clustering down from the Northwest then as he does now; no flower grower now would dare leave his orange tree un- protected.
 There was also the towering Japan quince and plum. I have often won- dered how those shrubs came into our garden. They bloomed profusely in Montgomery early in the sos, and yet
 
 nous expedition to those far-off isles until 1852. Then our grandmothers had the Oriental Mimosa and the Acacia tree. Could a sea gull have brought the tiny seed across the blue Pacific?
 The garden proper was situated on the south and eastern side of the resi- dence. In the centre of these grounds was unique summer house, but. like Solomon's Temple of old, no sound of hammer and nail had been heard there In. Four cedars had been planted on square and as they grew an artistic eye, and an energetic hand had so trained the branches that there was a green canopy above. So dense was the shade that it was a shelter from the summer sun, and, I might add, from winters pelting rain.
 From that summer house as a centre. radiated the walks, so interminable and winding that they seemed, to my childish eyes. like labyrinth. The walks were all edged with brick, and next to the brick grew the border box and then on the beds thus enclosed. grew and bloomed the winter bulbs and the summer annuals and verbenas, the wall-hower, the dove-pinks. the Sweet William and the old Johnny Jumpups." What would our grand mothers have said of our Pansy? Their magnificent blossoms would have been a revelation.
 It would take too much time to men, ton the many flowers, but I must tell of the grand old Cape Jessamine bushes Think of it. ye modern flower growers who have tried so hard to grow a sin gle bush, that in the garden grew and bloomed so profusedly that Dr. Holt contracted with his children to gather the priceless blooms and throw them away, but the blossoms must number one hundred before paid for! O im- perial flower of the past your over towering fragrance was your death knellI
 l canot close this article without telling how we built a throne under the cedar summer house and crowned there the May Queen. Our teacher was cultivated Southern woman, and she wished her school to keep the first of May, as they did In old England. The nrst thing was to choose a queen. Among our number was a beautiful girl with dark curls to her waist. and with soft, dreamy eyes, but our queen must not only be lovely. but she must be loved. And so she was. divine spirit seemed already to have possess ed her. The vote was unanimous: nc minority report.
 Then came our parts Each girl must represent a flower and learn a verse of poetry appropriate Girls brains were not perplexed in those days by higher mathematics, but we all Knew Tom Moore and Mrs. Hemans,