50 BOOK OF OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



Pink (or Pentecost flower — for such is said to be the 

 source of its name) for its fragrance, the Spanish Iris 

 for the beauty of its flowers, and the Rose for its grace. 

 The Flower-de-luce, or Iris, is of nearly a hundred 

 species and of many hundred varieties, among which 

 are some of the most beautiful flowers which can be 

 grown in the open air of England. Many of the irises, 

 however, require the expenditure of much knowledge 

 and skill that they may prosper, but the so-called Spanish 

 Irises, which are among the most wonderfully formed 

 and coloured of all, may be grown by anyone who can 

 grow ordinary hardy plants. They rejoice in sun, 

 shelter and a light, well-drained soil. 



The Iris is well named, for nearly every shade given 

 by the rainbow is represented in one or other of its kinds, 

 though there is none of the gaudy glaringness, commonly 

 — though wrongly — attributed to that phenomenon. 

 Spenser appreciated the unique quality of the beauty 

 of the Iris, altough he had not met with many of the 

 splendid kinds which everyone may now grow. 



" Strow mee the grounde with Daffadown-Dillies, 

 And Cowslips, and Kingcups, and lov^d Liliies ; 



The Pretty Pawnee 



And the Chevisaunce 

 Shall match with the fayre Floure Delice." 



June is a great month for old-fashioned flowers — the 

 flowers of sentiment, as time and literature have made 

 them — "gold-dusted Snapdragon," "Sweet William 

 with his homely cottage smell," " Woodbine hanging 

 bonnilie," " Foxglove cluster dappled bells," Paeony, 

 Lilac, Laburnum and " fresh Hawthorne," each full 

 of tender associations, and each very beautiful in 

 itself. 



In June a spirit of indolence begins to come over the 

 gardener who grows his flowers in the open air. All 

 through the months of spring, the garden contains — 



