140 Old Time Gardens 



The cone -beaked hyacinth returns 

 To light her blue-flamed chandelier. 



" The willow's whistling lashes, wrung 

 By the wild winds of gusty March, 

 With sallow leaflets lightly strung, 

 Are swaying by the tufted larch. 



^ 5 See the proud tulip's flaunting cup, 



That flames in glory for an hour, — 

 Behold it withering, then look up — 

 How meek the forest-monarchs flower ! 



" When wake the violets, Winter dies ; 



When sprout the elm buds, Spring is near ; 

 When lilacs blossom, Summer cries, 

 « Bud, little roses, Spring is here.' " 



The universal flower in the old-time garden was 

 the Lilac; it was the most beloved bloom of spring, 

 and gave a name to Spring — Lilac tide. The Lilac 

 does not promise "spring is coming"; it is the 

 emblem of the presence of spring. Dr. Holmes 

 says, " When Lilacs blossom, Summer cries, ' Spring 

 is here' ' in every cheerful and lavish bloom. Lilacs 

 shade the front yard ; Lilacs grow by the kitchen 

 doorstep; Lilacs spring up beside the barn; Lilacs 

 shade the well ; Lilacs hang over the spring house ; 

 Lilacs crowd by the fence side and down the country 

 road. In many colonial dooryards it was the only 

 shrub — known both to lettered and unlettered folk 

 as Laylock, and spelt Laylock too. Walter Savage 

 Landor, when Laylock had become antiquated, still 

 clung to the word, and used it with a stubborn 

 persistence such as he alone could compass, and 



