264 
Old Time Gardens 
as purple, but as brightly blue as Scilla. The 
dwarf Ageratum is also a long-blossoming soft-tinted 
blue flower ; it made a charming edging in my 
sister’s garden last sum- 
mer; but I should 
never put either of 
them on the edge of 
the blue border. 
The dull blue, 
sparsely set flowers of 
the various members of 
the Mint family have 
* 
no beauty in color, nor 
any noticeable elegance; 
the Blue Sage is the 
only vivid-hued one, 
and it is a true orna- 
ment to the border. 
Prunella was ever found 
in old gardens, now it 
is a wayside weed. 
Thoreau loved the 
Prunella for its blue- 
ness, its various lights, 
and noted that its color 
deepened toward night. 
This flower, regarded 
with indifference by 
Chinese Bell-flower. nearly every one, and 
distaste by many, always 
to him suggested coolness and freshness by its 
presence. The Prunella was beloved also by 
