438 Old Time Gardens 



and that one of her blue eyes became red from exces- 

 sive weeping. It was held to be unlucky even to 

 destroy the plant. Soldier-and-his-wife also had 

 reference to the red and blue tints of the flower. 



A cousin of the Lungwort, our native Mertensia 

 virginica, has in the young plant an equally singular 

 leafage ; every ordinary process of leaf progress is 

 reversed : the young shoots are not a tender green, 

 but are almost black, and change gradually in leaf, 

 stem, and flower calyx to an odd light gfeen in 

 which the dark color lingers in veins and spots until 

 the plant is in its full flower of tender blue, lilac, 

 and pink. " Blue and pink ladies " we used to call 

 the blossoms when we hung them on pins for a 

 fairy dance. 



The Alstrcemeria is another spotted flower of the 

 old borders, curious in its funnel-shaped blooms, 

 edged and lined with tiny brown and green spots. 

 It is more grotesque than beautiful, but was beloved 

 in a day that deemed the Tiger Lily the most beauti- 

 ful of all lilies. 



The aversion I feel for spotted leaves does not 

 extend to striped ones, though I care little for varie- 

 gated or striped foliage in a garden. I like the 

 striped white and green leaves of one variety of our 

 garden Iris, and of our common Sweet Flag (Cala- 

 mus), which are decorative to a most satisfactory 

 degree. The firm ribbon leaves of the striped 

 Sweet Flag never turn brown in the driest summer, 

 and grow very tall ; a tub of it kept well watered is 

 a thing of surprising beauty, and the plants are very 

 handsome in the rock garden. I wonder what the 



