October, 1920 
45 
prairie farmer, as 
its masses of mul¬ 
berry brown and 
purple invade his 
fields. Its common 
name of flat-top 
describes the form 
of its loose flower 
cluster spread out 
at the top of its tall 
sturdy stem. Gath¬ 
ered about the first 
of September its 
downy flowerets 
keep their rich col- 
Both liatris and 
ironweed are desir¬ 
able additions to 
the perennial gar¬ 
den supplying as 
they do a dignified 
and strong back¬ 
ground for smaller 
plants and being 
quite conservative 
about spreading. 
Another member 
of the same family 
valuable for winter 
use is the thorough- 
wort or eupatorium 
of shady woods 
and thickets bor¬ 
dering streams. 
The blossoms, re¬ 
sembling the gar¬ 
den ageratum, are 
clustered in snowy 
heads on stems i' 
or 4' high, and if 
gathered as soon as fully opened, fluff 
into tiny pompoms which give airiness 
to masses of heavier bloom. They com¬ 
bine well with the seed spikes of dock 
and sheep sorrel. Eupatorium may also 
be used effectively in the home garden 
where one wishes a note of white. 
Moth Mullein 
A dainty little wayside weed variously 
styled pernicious or beautiful according 
to one’s viewpoint and called a “favorite 
of mine by John Burroughs is the moth 
mullein of fields and roadway. Grow¬ 
ing but a few feet high it is recognized 
in early summer by its slender stem of 
yellow flowers in a loose raceme, which 
later becomes a spray of dainty brown 
balls. A low dish of dull orange pottery 
with a loose arrangement of small wild 
lettuce leaves interspersed with several 
Laurel and pine 
branches have been 
set in majolica jars 
on this Italian mantel, 
making a perfect win¬ 
ter bouquet. Walker 
& Gillette, architects 
of these dainty 
stalks of moth 
mullein is a pleas¬ 
ing study in soft 
browns. 
Familiar to 
everyone who goes 
afield is the as- 
clepias or milk 
weed, more appro¬ 
priately silk weed, 
with its esthetic 
tinting of dull vio¬ 
let browns and 
crimson pinks giv¬ 
ing beautiful 
patches of color 
during July and 
August to fields 
stretching from 
New Brunswick to 
Kansas. The in¬ 
teresting warty 
seed pods if gath¬ 
ered while green, 
in September, will 
dry and open, re¬ 
vealing and releas¬ 
ing slightly the flat 
brown seeds, each 
with its tuft of 
long silky white 
hair. These pods 
are interesting 
when used with 
pussy willows, 
their colors har¬ 
monizing well. A 
beautiful bouquet 
in a slender gray- 
green vase has a 
stem of milk weed with its open pod 
veiled in silk, a stem of honesty and a 
single blade of grass with its heavy head 
of golden brown seeds. Butterfly weed, 
also a milk weed, has small slender 
pointed pods fine in combination with 
misty white baby’s breath which dries 
well. 
Wild Indigo and Teazel 
On many a roadside may be seen in 
June flat masses of clover-like foliage 
sending up stems several feet high along 
which hang delicate cream-tinted pea¬ 
like blossoms. This is baptisia or wild 
indigo, so called because indigo, of a 
poor quality, is obtained from it. A mem¬ 
ber of the pulse family, the plant has a 
curious habit of turning black as it with¬ 
ers. The wise collector of winter bouquet 
(Continued on page 60) 
One of the most beau¬ 
tifully fruited vines is 
the carrion - flower. 
Collected after a frost 
it loses its offensive 
odor. The berries are 
blue black 
Bayberry has never lost 
its charm as a winter 
decoration, its crooked, 
grayish brown stems 
and white berries hold¬ 
ing their color 
The globe thistle dales 
back to Colonial gar¬ 
dens. Its metallic blue 
flowers, gray stems and 
foliage make a pleasant 
scheme 
