CHOICE OF FLOWERS 



there? — we have matter for deeper study than 

 other garden problems offer. 



So surely as our garden has roses it should 

 have lilies. With roses, lilies and vines it is a 

 garden in sooth. These flowers are apart from 

 most others in form and mode of growth, and 

 they are of surpassing loveliness. In their ex- 

 quisite purity, their white humility, their exceed- 

 ing fragrance, which one breathes with a sort of 

 rapture, they stir, not merely admiration but 

 emotions akin to those we feel in contemplating 

 the qualities of the lily in a member of the human 

 family: emotions of affection, touched with rev- 

 erence. These are flowers that saints have borne 

 about the earth, and are thought to bloom in 

 heaven. The old masters show the angels 

 WTeathed with lilies. And they consort charm- 

 ingly with the rose; that is, their simplicity and 

 silver whiteness make them a foil to the other 

 flower, passionate, rich colored, and its slender 

 leaves are a contrast to the luxuriant bush. 

 When we have planted a rose, a substantial, free- 

 blooming damask, or a hearty old cabbage-rose, 

 at the back of a bed, it can have no better com- 

 pany than a lily. Remember : we can use white 



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