Old-Fashioned Flowers 



SECOXD PAPER 



OF Lilies there are but two that I 

 remember as being grown to any 

 great extent in the old gardens 

 familiar to my childhood. One was the 

 Tiger Lily^ of tawny yellow, thickly spot- 

 ted with black. I remember how delighted 

 the children were if they could indnce 

 some tmsiispecting person to smell of the 

 flower. The pollen on its long pistils was 

 sure to adhere to the face with which it 

 came in contact^ and often the victim of 

 our mischief-loving propensities went 

 about for hours like an Indian in war- 

 paint before discovering the trick that 

 had been played. The other was known 

 as the "Candlestick Lily/"* from the re- 

 semblance of its branches to some of the 

 fixtures for holding candles in chttrches 

 and cathedrals. It had a flower of orange 

 yellow, produced in clusters. Its tall 

 tlower stalks grew up out of a mass of 

 Amaryllis-like foliage. It was a near 

 relative of the variety catalogued as Can- 

 delabrum by the modern florist. It was 

 a wonderfully hardy plant. Xo one ever 

 heard of its being winter-killed, and no 

 one ever thought of giving it any protec- 

 tion. Indeed, none of the old-fashioned 

 flowers seemed to require a winter cover- 

 ing. This Lily had such a reputation for 

 "'spreading"' that it was not in favor with 

 many. It was certainly of most aggressive 

 habit, and took possession of the border 

 withottt consulting the wishes of its less 

 ambitious neighbors. Often great clumps 

 were dug up and thrown into the roadside, 

 where they speedily established themsek"es, 

 and soon became formidaljle rivals of the 

 plants on the other side of the garden 

 fence. I have seen great masses of them 

 growing in the highway near the garden 

 from which they had been banished, and 

 •there was such a happy-go-lucky air about 

 them that they were more ^attractive to 

 me than those growing inside the garden 

 fence. They alwa^^s reminded me of chil- 

 dren let loose from school. If you can 



find any of them in your rambles about 

 the countrv. beg a root of them, and give 

 it a place in your border. Plant it among 

 the shrubbery, and let it take care of itself. 

 You will be delighted with it, after experi- 

 menting with Lilies that grew for a year 

 or two, and then were heard of no more. 



The old-time gardens always had beds 

 of Sweet Williams and Pinks, and Bounc- 

 ing Bets, and London Pride in them. The 

 Sweet Williams were wonderfully gro- 

 tesque in their coats of many colors. The 

 London Pride — which no one ever thought 

 of calling by its true name of Lvchnis. if 

 its real name was known, which is doubt- 

 ful — had a flower of intense scarlet that 

 brightened the corner in which it grew 

 like a bit of flame. The Bouncing Bets 

 were ragged flowers, always, btit they never 

 seemed conscious of their rags, and were 

 as cheerful and optimistic as a flower cotdd 

 Avell be. I used to deplore their lack of 

 neatness, btit I could never help liking 

 them, and if I come across any of them 

 nowadays I always feel like giving them a 

 friendly hand in greeting. Like the Can- 

 dlestick Lily, they were inclined to straggle 

 all over the garden, and on this account 

 were often turned into the roadside, but 

 this never seemed to make any difference 

 with them. They kept on growing — and 

 spreading — as if nothing had happened 

 to them, and v^re as much at home there 

 as anywhere. The Pinks of the old gar- 

 dens were commonly known as "Grass 

 Pinks,"' and were inferior in size to those 

 of today, bttt what they lacked in size 

 they made up for in sweetness. The Clove 

 Pink — a compact-growing variety that 

 formed a sort of cushion of gray-green 

 foliage above which its hundreds of flowers 

 oi a pearly flesh color marked with ma- 

 roon were produced in June and July — 

 was a general favorite, as it would be today 

 if more generallv grown. For edging long 

 beds I know of nothing better. Without 

 its flowers it is attractive because of the 

 peculiar color of its foliage, and the close 



