A Moonlight Garden 425 



white Columbines picture far better the derivation 

 of their name; they are like white doves, they seem 

 almost an emblematic flower. William Morris 

 says : — 



" Be very shy of double flowers ; choose the old Colum- 

 bine where the clustering doves are unmistakable and dis- 

 tinct, not the double one, where they run into mere tatters. 

 Don't be swindled out of that wonder of beauty, a single 

 Snowdrop ; there is no gain and plenty of loss in the 

 double one." 



There are some extremists, such as Dr. Forbes 

 Watson, who condemn all double flowers. One 

 thing in the favor of double blooms is that their 

 perfume is increased with their petals. Double Vio- 

 lets, Roses, and Pinks seem as natural now as single 

 flowers of their kinds. I confess a distinct aversion 

 to the thought of a double Lilac. I have never seen 

 one, though the Ranoncule, said to be very fine, costs 

 but forty cents a plant, and hence must be much 

 grown. 



There is a curious influence of flower-color which 

 I can only explain by giving an example. We think 

 of Iris, Gladiolus, Lupine, and even Foxglove and 

 Poppy as flowers of a warm and vivid color ; so where 

 we see them a pure white, they have a distinct and 

 compelling effect on us, pleasing, but a little eerie ; 

 not a surprise, for we have always known the white 

 varieties, yet not exactly what we are wonted to. 

 This has nothing of the grotesque, as is produced 

 by the albino element in the animal world ; it is 

 simply a trifle mysterious. White Pansies and 



