204 POPULAR GARDEN FLOWERS 



it. It may be noted that the perfume is strongest after 

 sunset, and the flower is fertilised by night moths. Its 

 sweetness was known to Mistress Quickly, who, in " King 

 Henry IV.," Part 2, Act ii. scene i, thus apostrophises 

 Sir John Falstaff : " Ah, thou honeysuckle villain ! Wilt 

 thou kill God's officers and the king's ? Ah ! thou 

 honeyseed rogue ! Thou art a honeyseed, a man- 

 queller, and a woman-queller." 



In applying the adjective " honeysuckle " to the fat 

 knight Mistress Quickly had in mind, perhaps, the 

 persuasiveness of his tongue when he was in a mood 

 to cozen her. 



Milton had apparently distinct plants in view when 

 he referred to Honeysuckle and Woodbine, whatever 

 may have been the case with Shakespeare, because he 

 spoke of the " Flaunting Honeysuckle " and the " well- 

 attired Woodbine," thus using two adjectives of quite 

 different meaning. Bullein, in "The Book of Simples," 

 speaks of the " swete and pleasant Woodbine," and of 

 its friendly embrace of " the bodies, armes, and branches 

 of trees with his long winding stalkes and tender leaves, 

 openyng or spreading forthe his swete Lillis." 



The embrace of the Woodbine may be " friendly " ; 

 it is certainly very close. When the Honeysuckle gets 

 hold it clings tightly, and growers have observed an 

 association so intimate as to leave its mark on the stem 

 of the supporting plant. Gardeners will not give it 

 another plant to cling to, but will plant it to cover rustic 

 fences, pergolas, arbours, and other erections. It is well 

 worth planting in gardens, as the flowers are pretty as 

 well as sweet, and they are followed by red fruit, which 

 gives it attractiveness in autumn. Often, however, the 

 winter quarter is near at hand before the plant ceases 

 blooming. Nominally a summer bloomer, it may flower 



