September, 1920 
well as where she actually was. She dreamed 
much of fairies during this time both waking 
and sleeping; but this she ascribed to a fairy 
play she had witnessed, not even remember- 
ing her fanciful wish. She also t hought much, 
and with vivid imagining, of flowers, their 
forms, colors, odors, and inarticulate poetry ; 
but this she attributed to the influence of the 
season, the pageant of her daily walks, and 
her thought of what was going on in the 
garden at Thomiknowe. 
The grand surprise and triumph of the 
Peony season at Thomiknowe was in the re- 
sults achieved by two of the seedlings before 
spoken of. While the Peonies generally did 
well, beating their own records, and in some in- 
stances transcending the descriptions of the 
dealer’s catalogues, these seedlings rivalled all 
the rest, and, in view of the fact that Peonies do 
not usually attain typical form until they 
have bloomed for several years, were the 
wonder and glory of the garden. One of the 
two bore ten primary blooms with many 
secondary ones, the primary blooms being of 
very full globular-rose form, reaching in two 
instances eight inches in diameter, and in 
color a pure white so intense as to make all 
other whites seem tinted. The other had 
three good primary blooms, one of the three 
being, however, much superior to the other 
two. This bloom would be classed as of the 
flat-rose type, very full and measuring seven 
inches in diameter, while its petals shorten- 
ing sharply towards the center gave it a cy- 
athiform, or cup-shaped effect and in color 
it was a rich mauve-rose, so delicate that it 
seemed a translated odor, a thing of subtle 
essence rather than of graduated pigments. 
The interest and marvel of it all culmi- 
nated in the naming of these two notable 
youngsters. By the demonstration of their 
remarkable attributes, endorsed by the tri- 
butes and enconiums of the two specialists 
and many amateurs who viewed them, they 
were clearly of the very nobility of the Peony 
race, and worthy of most noble and distinc- 
tive appellation; but that they should have 
received such unusual and sacrosanct designa- 
tions as those actually given them was re- 
garded as ascribable only to the peculiar 
idiosyncrasies of the gardener. That was, 
however, in ignorance of the secret history 
which this paper is for the first time relating. 
The first of these seedlings, the wonderful 
white Peony, was named Shechinah, the 
name in Jewish story of the luminous cloud, 
the dwelling of the presence. Had the gar- 
dener by some occult power or divinatory in- 
tuition caught the fairies’ secret, or did he 
name this transcendant floral form thus be- 
cause it seemed to him in some sort a new 
epiphany of that ineffable presence which 
went before the Isrealitish host in their olden 
journeyings and overhung the mercy-seat of 
their tabernacled sanctuary, and that has 
led the hosts of the true and earnest-hearted 
in all heroic struggle for and progression 
towards the better things, and defined the 
sempiternal mercyseat of man’s penitent, 
yearning and aspiring communion with God ? 
It fitted both; and the conceptions are 
mergent. Earth’s best ever touches heaven. 
The other seedling, the one with the mauve- 
rose bloom, was named, Sangreal, the name 
in Christian tradition of the sacred cup of 
the Saviour’s valedictory supper with the dis- 
ciples, in which also Joseph of Arimathea is 
believed to have caught the last life-drops 
from the Saviour’s body on the cross; and 
that became the agent of such wonderful 
effects in later story. This name was per- 
haps suggested by the cup-like shape of the 
floral form. But deeper than this, there 
must have seemed to the gardener something 
intrinsically sacred in the flower and signifi- 
cant of the deep communions and vicarious 
devotions of holy love. 
Thus, whether designedly or guided only 
by profound intuition and sensibility, the 
gardener named his two great flowers by des- 
ignations which are symbolical of the two 
Slower (Grower 
great ethical and redemptive cults of human- 
ity, Judiasm and Christianity— the cult of the 
guiding and guarding Deity; and that of the 
vicarious passion of holy love, archetypal in 
the “cross and passion” of the Divine Man. 
These names cannot be found in the cat- 
alogues of the Peony men. The gardener of 
Thomiknowe has not yet distributed the 
stock and perhaps never will. To see these 
flowers, therefore, it will be necessary to visit 
their garden home; and though there is no 
precise directory the garden will be found if 
sought aright. Love-inspired and visioned 
labor has wondrous wizardry. Communion 
with nature and collaboration in her processes 
convert thorny hills into Thomiknowe gar- 
dens where the presence and the cup are 
surely found. And pure, high friendship es- 
tablishes communion in the things of the 
garden and in the things of the soul. 
The lady remained serenely unaware of all 
the fairy business her lightly uttered wish 
had evoked, albeit she had thenceforward a 
haunting sense of a strange intimacy with 
the garden like the indelible memory of a 
vivid dream. 
Which flower the lady’s presence indued 
we shall never know; but it scarcely matters. 
Indeed, what matters it though fairy agency 
be entirely discredited! Communion in the 
love and joy of flowers and the influence of 
friendly interest upon their culture acting 
across three thousand miles of separating 
distance are facts as big and wonderful as 
anything that most marvelous fairy tale 
ever told. And fairy story may serve to 
open our dull discernment to the common- 
place wonders of our lives. 
The Darwin Tulip. 
[Written expressly for The Flower Grower.] 
Much of the adverse criticism of the 
early Tulips is due to the preponder- 
ance among them of gaudy or harsh 
colors which do not harmonize with 
the surrounding landscape. 
Quite different are the Darwins with 
their rich tints including various 
shades of heliotrope, mauve, salmon- 
pink, maroon and deep crimson. The 
large flowers, which appear in May, 
are borne on strong stems two to two 
and a half feet high, and placed well 
above the foliage. If the flowers are 
cut as soon as they open, they will de- 
velop to perfection in the house, and 
last many days. 
The culture of these Tulip is very 
simple. The bulbs should be planted 
during October or November in soil 
that has been previously enriched, 
placing them five to six inches deep 
and about four inches apart. No further 
care is required except the application 
of a cover after the ground has begun 
to freeze, and the removal of the cover 
in early spring. This cover may con- 
sist of coarse stable manure, or a layer 
of leaves, the object being to prevent 
alternate freezing and thawing in the 
Tulip bed, a condition which would 
disturb the roots at the base of the 
bulb. 
When the blooming period is over, 
the bulbs are allowed to mature, a 
condition indicated by the yellowing of 
the leaves. They are then taken up 
and allowed to dry in the sun for a 
few days, after which they may be put 
away in a dry place to await re-plant- 
ing in the fall. Or, if preferred, the 
bulbs may remain undisturbed and 
shallow, rooted annuals planted over 
them, care being taken to avoid in- 
137 
juring the bulbs while using the trowel. 
Before the World War these and 
other bulbs were propagated in enor- 
mous quantities in the favorable soil 
of Holland, and sent to all parts of the 
civilized world, and though the ship- 
ments to this country are increasing 
since the cessation of hostilities, they 
are still much below normal. 
H. S. Tillotson. 
THE GLADIOLUS 
Fragrance in Gladioli. 
The genealogy of the modern Gladiolus is 
a complicated matter. Of the numerous 
wild species, mostly from Africa, there are 
twenty-two concerned in the development of 
the cultivated varieties. In this develop- 
ment hybridizers have been more concerned 
with the developing of color and size, with 
earliness and hardiness, than with the ques- 
tion of fragrance. 
But there are several wild species of Gladi- 
oli possessing greater or less fragrance, and 
several of the earlier hybrids inherited the 
same quality, though it appears to have been 
lost in later developments. The fragrant 
species come from various parts of Cape 
Colony in Africa. 
The blossoms of G. tristis are described as 
“ sweet-scented from dusk to dawn.” In 
this same species the variety concolor, like 
the type, is fragrant in the evening. 
G. recurvus, the “violet-scented Gladiolus,” 
appears to be the most fragrant of all. “The 
flowers are very fragrant, with a scent de- 
scribed by some writers as similar to that of 
Violets or Orris Root.” 
G. maculatus has an “extremely strong, 
almost narcotic scent, which is especially 
noticeable in the evening.” 
G. grandis, too, is sweet scented in the 
evening, and G. cardinalis is said to have a 
“fragrance of some Lilies.” 
From this ancestry it is not surprising 
that several fragrant hybrids have been pro- 
duced. 
G. Colvillei, originated in 1823 by a Mr. 
Colville at Chelsea, in England, is a hybrid 
between G. cardinalis and tristis, var. con- 
color, and has fragrant flowers. 
G. fragrans is a hybrid between G. re- 
curvus and tristis, raised by Dean Herbert. 
“ The flowers are variegated and sweet- 
scented.” 
G. odoratus was also raised by Dean Her- 
bert, and while not described as fragrant, 
the name would indicate at least some sort 
of odor. 
The latest of these fragrant hybrids is G. 
Victorialis, which was offered in 1893 by 
Dammann, and is described as “somewhat 
scented.” 
This completes the list of fragrant Gladi- 
oli, both species and hybrids, so far as the 
information is at hand. And this rather 
meager information indicates that the pos- 
sibilities in the development of the Gladiolus 
have not yet been exhausted. Fragrance 
may yet be added to the beauties of color 
and form exhibited in such endless variety 
by this favorite flower, but whether it would 
be an improvement or not is largely a matter 
of opinion, or of taste. 
[Abstracted from Cornell Extension Bulletin 9, 
Gladiolus Studies 1.1 
Thomas M. Proctor. 
Wood ashes are said to be especially 
good for Cosmos and it is reported that 
this plant will utilize large quantities 
of wood ashes to advantage. It is worth 
trying. 
