OUR GRANDMOTHER'S GARDENS 



ters, and this individuality showed itself in their gar- 

 dens. For of these, though they were fashioned of 

 precisely the same materials and given approximately 

 the same space, no two were alike. Their apparent 

 formlessness was not lack of expression ; on the con- 

 trary, it was the subtle expression of a living face rather 

 than the steadfast stare of a statue. Like the houses 

 and the furniture of the period, the gardens reveal taste. 

 They were never pretentious. They were comfortable, 

 livable. The arbors, covered with grape-vines, were 

 close to the back door, easy of access, places where the 

 mother might sit quietly over much of her work. The 

 flowers were to be picked, some to fill the pewter bowls, 

 others for making essences and waters, or to be carried 

 to a sick friend. 



Flowers first tended to become a major part of gar- 

 dening in England during the seventeenth century, and 

 it is to this we owe the fact that the notable flowers and 

 shrubs of England struck root here so early. Neither 

 Puritan nor Cavalier would leave the new glory behind, 

 so that both the grim New England land and the more 

 ardent plantations of the South were enriched with the 

 flowers of the mother country, as well as with her corn 

 and cattle. 



Narrow and hard the Pilgrim fathers may have been ; 

 but at least in their wives' or daughters' hearts the love 

 of beauty lingered, and found an outlet in the garden ; 

 rose, larkspur, and stock feeding the secret springs of 



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