CHAPTER XVI 



AN IRIS GARDEN 



INTO almost every garden, and especially those 

 near the sea, the flower-de-luce has entered, mak- 

 ing, to some minds, the rounded symmetry of the 

 rose appear unoriginal and the purity of the lily without 

 radiance. For in a way the rainbow flower is as much 

 a queen as the rose and infinitely more complicated 

 than the lily. It is a fantastic flower of much intricacy, 

 holding many surprises. Its colors, moreover, are of 

 pure and brilliant pigments that do not mar the trans- 

 lucence of its texture. 



Ruskin calls it the flower of chivalry, "with a 

 sword for its leaf and a lily for its heart." In the 

 early gardens of America, its place was acknowledged. 

 From year to year it lived, repeating its story to 

 succeeding generations. 



To-day the old flower-de-luce has been reenforced 

 by relatives from distant parts of the earth, and is 

 seen in so many forms of various characteristics that 

 it is possible to have a garden entirely of irises and 

 yet to feel no sense of tameness. 



Such a garden is the one at East Hampton, Long 

 Island, of which a few illustrations are herein repro- 

 duced. The photographs show admirably the lay of 

 the land of this garden, making clear also its relation 



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