IX 

 MIDSUMMER 



It is interesting to observe the manner in which 

 the flowers express the dominant mood of the 

 season. The early ones, as has been noticed al- Mood of 

 ready, are chilly-looking, shy, tentative; charm- t:cseas0i 

 ing with the shrinking, uncertain charm of an 

 American spring. Those of the later year are 

 distinctly hardy, braced to meet cold winds and 

 nipping nights; while those of midsummer — 

 those which are abroad now — have caught the 

 hot look of flame, or of the sun itself, or — at 

 times — the deep blue of the sky. 



Of course there are exceptions to this rule, as 

 we shall note later ; but the least observing must intensity 

 admit the intensity of the colors which now pre- °* ° 

 vail, colors which are not, perhaps, more brilliant 

 than the later ones, but which, it seems to me, are 

 far more suggestive of summer. It may be argued 

 that this is merely a matter of association : that if 

 the golden-rods and asters were in the habit of 

 flowering in July, and if the lilies and milk- 

 weeds ordinarily postponed their appearance till 



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