OLD-FASHIONED FLOWERS 



17 



voiild only give them a place in our 

 gardens. 



I can remember back to the time when 

 the Aster was a new flower. "Chiny 

 Oyster^^ it was called, nine times ont of 

 ten. It was a flower large as to disc and 

 scanty as to petal, with a very narrow 

 range of colors, but from it the florists 

 have evolved the magnificent Aster of 

 the, present, which is, to the outdoor gar- 

 den, what the Chrysanthemum is to the 

 greenhouse or window garden. It is the 

 best late blooming annual we have, with- 

 out exception. 



They grew Morning-glories in those 

 days, and made screens of them for win- 

 dows and doorways, and trained them 

 over the rude fences that enclosed the 

 garden plat, and for hours, every forenoon, 

 the vines were gay with the fragile flowers 

 of blue and pink and red and white and 

 violet. I used to make myself believe, 

 after reading fairy-books, that the fairies 

 made trumpets of them to blow the airs 

 of Elfland on. On cloudy days the flowers 

 often remained open imtil late in the after- 

 noon. They seemed to have lost their 

 reckoning of time because the sun was out 

 of sight. Whoever gave this flower the 

 name of Morning-glory had something 



of the poet in his make-up, for it i: a 

 most fitting one. The Four-o'clock was 

 a flower that seemed to have some chron- 

 ological instinct — or shall I call it knowl- 

 edge? — for its blossoms were prompt to 

 open about four o'clock on sunny days, 

 but in cloudy M^eather they, like the Morn- 

 ing-glories, seemed sorely at a loss as to 

 the time of day, and in guessing at it 

 they made a great many mistakes. 



To one who loves the old-fashioned 

 flowers the knowledge that there has been 

 a revival of interest in them of late af- 

 fords much pleasure, for it proves that 

 merit, though temporarily obscured, will 

 find recognition in the long run. Xew 

 flowers may enjoy a greater popularity for 

 a little time, but they can not take — and 

 hold — the place of the old ones unless 

 they are as good, or better. I have never 

 lost an opportunity to speak good words 

 for the old stand-bys, and I hail it as 

 significant of a healthy, gTowing taste 

 for true beauty and genuine worth when I 

 see the old-fashioned flowers given a place 

 in the modern garden. This is as it 

 should be. Let merit be the standard of 

 judgment always. If this is done among 

 the flowers, I have no fear about the fu- 

 ture of my old friends. 



