THE GARDENERS' MONTHLY 



[August, 



There still exists a plan of the garden of the 

 monastery of St. Gall, in which the parterres are 

 marked, and the flowers to be cultivated desig- 

 nated in each. Long after the destruction of the 

 sacristy, the flower garden, adjoining the Lady 

 Chapel at Winchester, went by the name of Para- 

 dise ; and, in the will of Henry VI, particular 

 directions are left for the cultivation of " certaine 

 trees and flowers behovable and convenient for 

 the service of the church " of Eton College. 



Montalembert has drawn charming pictures of 

 the serene beauty and tranquility of these monkish 

 gardens, frequently set in the midst of untamed 

 woods and mountains, and commanding nearly 

 always the view of sparking waters in river 

 or lake. The Benedictines and Cistercians were 

 pre-eminently the gardeners of the middle ages; 

 and to them are we indebted for the preservation 

 of many of the old-time floral favorites— anemones 

 and flowering almonds, marigold and wall flower, 

 and many others equally dear, brought, long ago, 

 by pilgrim monks from distant Syria. Even if there 

 were no records of monkish gardens, the saintly 

 names given to herbs and flowers would be all- 

 sufficient proof of monkish gardens. The angelica 

 — in old German called root of the Holy Ghost — 

 Grimm tells us was revealed in a dream. Du 

 Bartas calls it the "happy counterbane, sent down 

 from Heaven by some celestial scout." The Lap- 

 landers crowned their poets with it, believing it en- 

 dowed them with a divine afflatus. The Lamium 

 album, from its heavenly virtues, was, Parkinson 

 tells us, called archangel ; the Geum urbarium, 

 herb benedict, because the Devil could not endure 

 its presence ; and, from the legend that it stanched 

 the blood of the Saviour in His last agony, the 

 Verbena officinalis was called herb of the cross. 

 The Scabiosa succisa received the popular name 

 of Devil's bit, because when deprived by the 

 Vir^n Mary of his power to use the root for evil, 

 in spite he bit off the end, and it has never grown 

 again. — In Independent. 



THE \A/ORD, SHAMROCK. 

 BY W. R. GERARD. 



In answer to a query as to the meaning of the 

 work "Shamrock" (page 22 r, Gardeners' Month- 

 ly), I would say that it is from the Irish, seamrog 

 (Gaelic, seamrag), a diminutive of seam, "mild," 

 "gentle," and might be translated "little gentle 

 one." 



In Ireland, Trifolium repcns and Oxalis aceto- 

 sella are often confounded under the same name. 



but seamar bhan, "the fair gentle one," is invaria- 

 ble for the Trifolium. 



[In the editorial note (page 221), it reads, "It 

 was not long after the event is believed to have 

 occurred that it was made public and celebrated." 

 The word " not, ' was an unintentional slip; as it 

 was long after that the event became celebrated. 



From our correspondent's note it would seem 

 that the Trifolium, white clover, is most likely to be 

 the true shamrock of the Irish people. The only 

 error will be in assuming that St. Patrick con- 

 verted the pagan with the shamrock or clover. 

 If with anything it must have been with the Oxalis, 

 which is probably not the original shamrock. 



Another interesting deduction is, that if the 

 white clover be the shamrock, the universal use of 

 the plant in connection with the legend of St. 

 Patrick would seem to show, that the celebration 

 of the event in this way, must have begun long 

 after the Saint had converted the chief; and not 

 until the introduction of the white clover to Ireland. 

 —Ed. G. M.] 



FLORAL NOTES FROM WASHINGTON. 



BY M. H. LESTER. 



I expect you will be surprised to hear from me 

 under the above heading ; but I have not felt so 

 well for some time past, and thought I would try 

 some place where the thermometer does not aver- 

 age so high as at New Orleans, and the mosquitoes 

 are not so large and numerous. 



I consider this a very beautiful city to live in. 

 I had almost said to die in — but I trust I shall not 

 put it to any such test yet awhile. 



The plants in the Capitol grounds have almost 

 grown out of my memory in three years. A very 

 interesting day could be spent there by anyone 

 loving arboriculture, particularly for ornamental 

 purposes. 



I have never seen the grounds around the Agri- 

 cultural Department look so well. Several im- 

 provements have been perfected since I was here 

 last, and others are under way. 



Congratulations are pouring in from all quarters 

 on the worthy Superintendent of the Botanic Gar- 

 dens, W. R. Smith, on his convalescence from his 

 recent severe illness — which, of course, all his 

 friends will be delighted to hear. 



1 notice in the Orchid house some pretty things 

 in bloom. Cypripedium Laurencianum, C. ciliare, 

 C. superbiens and others ; Oncidium sarcodes, 

 and O. hastata ; Dendrobium tortile roseum, D. 

 moschatum, Caitleya Gaskelliana, Maxillaria gra- 



