The Garden Magazine, February, 1924 
337 
example, at North Elmham and Walpole St. Peter; that she 
has been the motif of a great play-writer like Massinger in 
“The Virgin Martyr”; of painters and engravers galore from 
1418 down to Jacques Callot and Carlo Dolci, and much later 
still to the English Edward Burne-Jones; and that hard-headed 
and jealous florists should have placed themselves under her 
protection. The pit from whence all the many embellishments 
have been digged is just this: 
Dorothea was born at Caesarea in Cappadocia in the time of 
Diocletian. She became a Christian. Fabricius, the Roman 
Governor, wanted to marry her when he became aware of her 
beauty. He used both persuasion and torture in his efforts to 
make her recant and return to the worship of the heathen deities 
and when everything failed, he condemned her to be tortured 
and beheaded, which event took place on the sixth of February, 
A. D. 311. 
How far the incident of the good-looking young lawyer Theo- 
philus taunting her as he watched her passing to her death is 
true, 1 know not. 
Fair maiden hastening to thy spouse. 
Send me, I pray thee, of the fruits, the flowers 
Of His celestial garden; for with us 
’Tis winter, and no flowers or fruits are here. 
But only clouds and snows and bitter winds 
Scourging the naked fields. Send me of them, 
For fain am I to take them. 
She promised, and before she died she knew her prayer was 
answered. 
For beside her stood. 
To comfort her, a youthful Angel fair 
With locks of gold and eyes as blue ds Heaven; 
And in his hands he bore, so runs the tale, 
A basket. 
She sent him to Theophilus. 
Fair Sir, this is my mistress Dorothy 
That sends you gifts; and with this he was gon< ; . 
The youth’s heart 
Was touched with awe and pity, and he rose, 
And his heart melted, and he seemed to take 
Of the celestial fruit, as one who takes 
The Eucharistic bread; and straight his soul 
Rose to new life, and held the Faith, and owned 
The Holy Name, bore like her his pain, 
And passed from pain to life, and gained the crown 
Of martyrdom, and is like her in joy. 
With this knowledge the illustration is easily understood. 
It is a picture of the frontispiece of the rare flower book already 
mentioned, “ Le Jardin d’Hyver. ” 
There are the two figures of Dorothea and Theophilus, each 
bearing a Palm which is the pictorial way of representing a 
martyr. Between and above them is the Angel boy handing 
to Dorothea a crown of Roses and to Theophilus, a basket of 
flowers. No fruits are to be seen. 
This, however, is only one of the many variants of the legend, 
which show its age-long popularity. Dorothea is often con¬ 
nected in some way with Roses to the exclusion of other flowers, 
as for example in an old Breviary of 1321 : 
Paradisi de veridasio 
Rosas mittis notario 
Quern mortis cum salario 
Coeli jungis sacrario 
Freely translated: “You send roses to the lawyer from the 
green fields of Paradise. He will join you there, when he too 
has died the martyr’s death.” 
Again in an engraving of 1466 of the marriage of St. Catherine 
it is Dorothea who is handing the Virgin the wreath of Roses 
with which she is about to crown the bride. 
So, if 1 may return to my first suggestion, it would seem that 
if a figure of Dorothea is in harmony with the spirit of every 
garden, there is a peculiar appropriateness in connecting her 
with those parts which are specially given up to the cultivation 
of Roses. Knowing something of the aims and work of the 
American Rose Society whose slogan is “ a Rose for every Amer¬ 
ican yard, and a dozen for every garden ”; feeling sure that many 
of its members read The Garden Magazine 1 have somewhat 
exceeded the strict limitation of our Editor because I feel he 
will like his rose-readers to know that this Virgin Martyr has 
always been thought of in connection with this oldest and 
youngest of flowers. 
PLANTING CHART FOR A FAMILY’S VEGETABLES 
(See following page) 
ADOLPH KRUHM 
Formerly in charge of Vegetable Variety Tests for Leading American Seedsmen; Author of 
“The Vegetable Garden,” and “Home Vegetable Gardening from A to Z” 
S !?|JJHE home garden vegetable patch must not be worked 
on the plan of the farm fields. The family objective 
should be a regular succession of moderate quantity 
yields of high quality varieties, whereas the commercial 
ideal is the production of the largest crops with the least number 
of pickings. Quality, even at the expense of quantity, will 
better repay the labor of raising vegetables in your own garden, 
because the ordinary run of things, and what may be called 
bulk or field vegetables of ordinary kinds, can be had in the 
markets at reasonable prices. The home gardener’s great 
advantages lie in being able to grow varieties of exceptional 
quality and in being able to pick his crops in perfect condition, 
i.e. while still young and tender, although, strangely enough, 
plenty of amateur gardeners don’t seem to realize this, and are 
content to grow to the market standard and do not gather the 
crops while still perfectly young and tender. 
The accompanying planting chart is designed to serve the 
home, not the market, and is based on twenty years’ experience 
and experiment among vegetables. The variety selections 
given have as a whole proved the most dependable on a 
wide range of soils and regions, but, of course, express my 
personal preferences. The reader who has his own preferences 
may regard those here given as types, substituting preferred, 
or proven varieties which are more in accord with his own 
tastes. 
As to dates: They are based on experience and actual records, 
but of necessity must be somewhat flexible in practice, varying 
with weather and other conditions. One thing, however, to be 
stressed is that it is unwise to defer a later planting because some 
crop in bearing has not actually yielded its maximum. Better 
by far to take it out after its “peak of production” is passed 
and utilize the space for a succession planting. 
The time of harvest and estimate of yield are, of course, 
approximate, and allowances should be made for variations of 
soil, fertility, season, and weather. The chart is based on the 
assumed needs of a household of five persons and an assumption 
that the gardener will maintain average good garden conditions, 
and attend to all the growing needs of the crops as required. 
