The Wreck of an Ancient Garden 



the heavy shade of the trees. But here 

 in the spring the ground is blue and fra- 

 grant with hardy English Violets, that fill 

 the air with perfume and blossom long 

 before even the native White Violet, which 

 leads the way among our New England 

 flowers ; and wherever you walk you come 

 upon a Tulip, or a Star of Bethlehem, or 

 a feeble Crocus choked by the strong 

 grasses, and cheery DafTys are wagging 

 their golden heads in sheltered spots, and 

 later there are to be seen groups of sculptu- 

 resque Narcissus shining whitely under the 

 shrubbery, ' like a good deed in a naughty 

 world." The Flowering Almond sends 

 up spikes of bloom ; the Periwinkle, white 

 and blue, hides among its shining leaves, 

 while the Moneywort has strayed away 

 from the garden and made of itself a nui- 

 sance in the orchard, where it threatens 

 to root out everything else. There also 

 are great clumps of the giant Solomon's 

 Seal in shady nooks, where they grow to 

 wondrous size. 



And the Flower o' the Quince is a rare 

 sight in the springtime, as its rosy flush * 

 mantles the scraggy old trees which are 

 69 



