264 



Old Time Gardens 



as purple, but as brightly blue as Scilla. The 

 dwarf Ageratum is also a long-blossoming soft-tinted 

 blue flower ; it made a charming edging in my 



sister's garden last sum- 

 mer; but I should 

 never put either of 

 them on the edge of 

 the blue border. 



The dull blue, 

 sparsely set flowers of 

 the various members of 

 the Mint family have 

 no beauty in color, nor 

 any noticeable elegance; 

 the Blue Sage is the 

 only vivid-hued one, 

 and it is a true orna- 

 ment to the border. 

 Prunella was ever found 

 in old gardens, now it 

 is a wayside weed. 

 Thoreau loved the 

 Prunella for its blue- 

 ness, its various lights, 

 and noted that its color 

 deepened toward night. 

 This flower, regarded 

 with indifference by 

 nearly every one, and 

 distaste by many, always 

 to him suggested coolness and freshness by its 

 presence. The Prunella was beloved also by 



Chinese Bell-flower. 



