Stranica 221 [221]
OCR
Historic: GARDENS “OF: VIRGINIA | eee and in planning their garden did much for future generations— much that has extended beyond the confines of their evergreen garden. This garden is of the sort that can only be found about old houses where sweet and sacred memories linger like the scent of the box and the flowers which bloom within it. How cold and unfriendly modern gardens seem when compared to the oldfashioned ones! At Elk Hill, most of the flower inmates can trace their pedigrees back to the floral emigrants from England and Holland. [he young plants that replace the dead ones are scions of the old stock. Strange blossoms, changing every springtime, would not be in good standing with the venerable day lilies and periwinkle, or the mock orange and althea, some of whom can remember the day when the elms and poplars that shade the lawn were only saplings. In the following verses, "My Garden,” written by Mrs. Stokes, we give a charming picture of Elk Hill at blooming time: “Century-old boxwoods their vigils keep Like sentinels on guard o’er the flowers sweet, Lilacs, purple, peonies, pink, Jonquils, hyacinths, tulips; think Of the beauty, the fragrance, the charm— Syringa, spiraea, lilies adorn My Garden. “Ah! Roses twined with memories sweet! With rapture many hearts in ‘membrance beat; Wars have raged under colors of the rose, Lancaster and York cost England in throes. A bier is covered! A bride’s path strewn! But return to the roses all—abloom In my Garden. “As I sit in an arbor, all vine-clad With yellow star-jasmine, I would I had The power to picture on every side Nature’s canvas painted in springtide. [134]
