348 
Old Time Gardens 
Tongue plant, I here give its botanical name Chrys- 
anthemum balsamita , var. tanacetoides. A far more 
popular Sunday posy than any blossom was a sprig 
of Southernwood, known also everywhere as Lad’s- 
love, and occasionally as Old Man and Kiss-me- 
quick-and-go. It was also termed Meeting plant 
from this universal Sunday use. 
A restless little child was once handed during 
the church services in summer a bunch of Cara- 
way seeds, and a goodly sprig of Southernwood. 
The little girl’s mother listened earnestly to the 
long sermon, and was horrified at its close to find 
that her child had eaten the entire bunch of Caraway, 
stems and seeds, and all the bitter Southernwood. 
She was hurried out of church to the village doctor’s, 
and spent a very unhappy hour or two as the result 
of her Nebuchadnezzar-like gorging. 
Like many New Englanders, I dearly love the 
scent of Southernwood : — 
“ I’ll give to him 
Who gathers me, more sweetness than he knows 
Without me — more than any Lily could, 
I, that am flowerless, being Southernwood.” 
Southernwood bears a balmier breath than is 
ever borne by many blossoms, for it is sweet with 
the fragrance of memory. The scent that has 
been loved for centuries, the leaves that have been 
pressed to the hearts of fair maids, as they ques- 
tioned of love, are indeed endeared. 
Southernwood was a plant of vast powers. It 
was named in the fourteenth century as potent to 
