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. 



"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, c 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 



