Stranica 366 [366]
THE POTOMAC AND RAPPAHANNOCK
Virginia, Mrs. [Thomas Jones, ‘‘Virginia cones, acorns and seeds
would be most acceptable.’”’ Robert Beverley, the historian, writ¬
ing about 1700, tells how easily and abundantly both fruits and
flowers were grown in Virginia. He writes, con amore, of the
tulip, “the perfection of flavor’ and “all sorts of herbs,’’
and "the charming colors of the humming birds revelling among
the blossoms,’ etc. ‘his Virginia historian of the long ago shows
the same knowledge and love of flowers that his many-times grand¬
son, Captain James Bradshaw Beverley, does in the following
sketch of the old garden at Avenel—a garden designed more than
a hundred years ago by James Bradshaw Beverley and his wife,
Jane Peter of Georgetown, the grandparents of Captain Beverley.
The garden of Avenel was formed by two flower-knots, which
are shown in the diagram. To quote from Captain Beverley, "the
flower-knots which were at Avenel were copied by my grandparents,
if | remember aright, the one on the right from ‘Tudor Place’ and
that on the left from ‘Blandfeld.’’’ In drawing them, I have not
attempted mathematical precision, as no instruments were available;
to have done so would have been difficult. And no drawing could
convey to you the beauty, the wooing welcome, the dolce far niente
of it all.
Nothing but old-timey flowers! None of our grand new roses,
not one. Nothing but old-timey flowers. And it has often struck
me that our new productions, while each by itself, posing for its
portrait, as it were, is indeed a prince of beauty, do not add much
to the looks of a crowd. Have you ever seen, at a cemetery, a
floral tribute composed only of wild flowers, which had been selected
with taste and arranged with a sense of harmony? The florist’s
best eftort meets its peer.
No drawing, I said—of course not—not even Paul deLongpre’s
brush could have done those flower-knots justice. And vet "the
Sunburst” and “Mrs. Charles Russell’? were not there. Only the
old Damask, the Hundred-Leaf, the Hermosa and the Daily, the
Harrisonian, the Champigny and Grevel. Then came the Giant
Lae