Historic Gardens of Virginia 



Aixl as we 'proached fair Poplar Hall, 



Beneath a poplar tree, 

 They were sitting all beneath its shade 



And chatting merrilie. 



Now welcomings on ev'ry side 



Right cordially did greet. 

 And full glad in truth were we 



Our fair young friends to meet. 



We ate and drank and play'd and sung, 



And walk'd about the grove, 

 Chatting of this thing then of that, 



But wot not aught of love. 



The morning come — and breakfast o'er. 



And having bid good-bye. 

 They went with heavy hearts, I ween, 



And many a heavy sigh. 



Long live the girls of Cum'land Street, 



And Hoggard, long live he, 

 And when he next invites them out 



May I o' the party be. 



The large garden, which was used both for flowers and vege- 

 tables, still has the original square central beds bound by long, nar- 

 row borders on each side. Its dominant feature is a very beautiful 

 and unusual Persian lilac, which stands ten feet high and throws out 

 its graceful branches with a span of twelve feet from the ground 

 upward. 



And there are many roses of the old varieties at Poplar Hall. 

 But in the culture of roses, this garden has kept pace with the 

 times. Nearly all of the old-fashioned flowers bloom here at their 

 various seasons, but the lily of the valley, which has naturalized, 

 has spread about the garden in almost tropical luxuriance and is 

 easily the one flower thought of in connection with Poplar Hall. 



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