CHOICE OF FLOWERS 



against the petunia, because of Its color, is stirred 

 against the poppy, for the same, and better rea- 

 son, for the poppy, albeit a magnificent work of 

 nature, splendid as the light that falls through 

 cathedral windows, perpetrates an unattractive 

 and opiate smell, likewise a gross inharmony, as 

 you are likely to find if you raise it from mixed 

 seed, for you will discover meek lavenders, sad 

 purples and grave maroons side by side with 

 roistering scarlets and gory reds, as if monks and 

 bacchantes had been thrown into an enforced 

 society. The poppy is tender and does not bear 

 transplanting, therefore, if these chromatic riots 

 annoy you, there Is nothing for it but to look the 

 other way, or else to boldly behead the offender 

 — a thing you hate to do, for their sin is in their 

 society, and not in themselves. Happily, in the 

 case of discords, unhappily at other times, the 

 poppy lasts but a little. Often it shakes Its petals 

 down In twenty- four hours after they have 

 opened, leaving the seed-knob with its lethal con- 

 tent — Its opium — swaying on a long, spent stem. 

 The fleeting character of the poppy endears it to 

 us the more, for we can not see the rain of Its 

 silken petals without a pang, and it is not color 

 187 



