330 Old Time Gardens 



recalled that the child had eaten them on the day of 

 her death. 



Oleander blossoms were lovely in shape and color. 

 Edward Fitzgerald writes to Fanny Kemble : 

 " Don't you love the Oleander ? So clean in its 

 Leaves and Stem, as so beautiful in its Flower ; lov- 

 ing to stand in water which it drinks up fast. I 

 have written all my best Mss. with a Pen that has 

 been held with its nib in water for more than a fort- 

 night — Charles Keene's recipe for keeping Pens in 

 condition — Oleander-like." This, written in 1882, 

 must, even at that recent date, refer to quill pens. 



The lines of Mary Howitt's, quoted at the begin- 

 ning of this chapter, ring to me so true ; there is 

 in them no mock sentiment, it is the real thing, — 

 "the garden thicket's shade," little "cubby houses' 1 

 under the close-growing stems of Lilac and Syringa, 

 with an old thick shawl outspread on the damp 

 earth for a carpet. Oh, how hot and scant the air 

 was in the green light of those close " garden- 

 thickets," those " Lilac ambushes," which were really 

 not half so pleasant as the cooler seats on the grass 

 under the trees, but which we clung to with a 

 warmth equal to their temperature. 



Let us peer into these garden thickets at these 

 happy little girls, fantastic in their garden dress. 

 Their hair is hung thick with Dandelion curls, made 

 from pale green opal-tinted stems that have 

 grown long under the shrubbery and Box borders. 

 Around their necks are childish wampum, strings of 

 Dandelion beads or Daisy chains. More delicate 

 wreaths for the neck or hair were made from the 



