A Moonlight Garden 425 
white Columbines picture far better the derivation 
of their name ; they are like white doves, they seem 
almost an emblematic flower. William Morris 
says : — 
cc Be very shy of double flowers ; choose the old Colum- 
bine where the clustering doves are unmistakable and dis- 
tinct, not the double one, where they run into mere tatters. 
Don’t be swindled out of that wonder of beauty, a single 
Snowdrop ; there is no gain and plenty of loss in the 
double one.” 
There are some extremists, such as Dr. Forbes 
Watson, who condemn all double flowers. One 
thing in the favor of double blooms is that their 
perfume is increased with their petals. Double Vio- 
lets, Roses, and Pinks seem as natural now as single 
flowers of their kinds. I confess a distinct aversion 
to the thought of a double Lilac. I have never seen 
one, though the Ranoncule, said to be very fine, costs 
but forty cents a plant, and hence must be much 
grown. 
There is a curious influence of flower-color which 
I can only explain by giving an example. We think 
of Iris, Gladiolus, Lupine, and even Foxglove and 
Poppy as flowers of a warm and vivid color ; so where 
we see them a pure white, they have a distinct and 
compelling effect on us, pleasing, but a little eerie ; 
not a surprise, for we have always known the white 
varieties, yet not exactly what we are wonted to. 
This has nothing of the grotesque, as is produced 
by the albino element in the animal world ; it is 
simply a trifle mysterious. White Pansies and 
