156 Old Time Gardens 



The Magnolia has been planted in northern 

 gardens for over a century. Gardens on Long 

 Island have many beautiful old specimens, doubt- 

 less furnished by the Prince Nurseries. These 

 seem thoroughly at home ; just as does the Locust 

 brought from Virginia, a century ago, by one Cap- 

 tain Sands of Sands Point, to please his Virginia 

 bride with the presence of the trees of her girlhood's 

 home. These Locusts have spread over every rood 

 of Long Island earth, and seem as much at home as 

 Birch or Willow. The three Magnolia trees on 

 Mr. Brown's lawn in Flatbush are as large as any I 

 know in the North, and were exceptionally full 

 of bloom this year, this photograph (shown facing 

 page 148) being taken when they were past their 

 prime. I saw children eagerly gathering the waxy 

 petals which had fallen, and which show so plainly 

 in the picture. But the flower is not common 

 enough here for northern children to learn the varied 

 attractions of the Magnolia. 



The flower lore of American children is nearly 

 all of English derivation ; but children invent as 

 well as copy. In the South the lavish growth of 

 the Magnolia affords multiform playthings. The 

 beautiful broad white petals give a snowy surfice 

 for the inditing of messages or valentines, which 

 are written with a pin, when the letters turn dark 

 brown. The stamens of the flower — waxlike with 

 red tips — make mock illuminating matches. The 

 leaves shape into wonderful drinking cups, and the 

 scarlet seeds give a glowing necklace. 



The glories of a spring garden are not in the 



