GARDENING NOTES

New Zealand Tablet, 24 June 1915, Page 51

GARDENING NOTES

(By Mb. J. J oyce, . Landscape Gardener, Christ church;) tc (By Mb. J. Joyce, Landscape Gardener, Christchurch.)

'”^ v •". ' : 1-’ ' • - '* ?-' - v ■: ..*- h ~ >-■ ■ ■ . - ■ : - -v, ; r THE PLEASURES OF. GARDENING. , ’; A beautiful, well-stocked garden; has a .most elevat- • ' ing influence on the. mind. All- and poor, learned and unlearned—admire and appreciate nature’s;giftsto-,® man in the collection and variety of the. ; many flowers d ' and plants, which are placed at his disposal -for the V beautifying of his home. Every encouragement should v be given to the poor man to imitate his rich neighbor in this direction. If the poor man is trained to love and admire the beauties of nature, he will have as muchS- : ; pleasure in his well-stocked ‘ little ‘ section as the rich man will have in his acres. In fact, the" poor'“man" 2. has a better opportunity of enjoying his little pldt, as he has the pleasure of doing his own work, and can • take all the credit for, his handiwork. The .rich; man ?-•- can p£fy for his work, and therefore cannot take any ; credit for his labor. Man from the earliest ages has taken an interest in flowers for nature has distributed *! them all over the universe. Even the savage adorns ; his brow with flowers and foliage from his native forest, and, as he progresses in civilisation, his admiration of -f.| the beauties of his surroundings increases. Flowers must have been created solely for man’s pleasure, as ' • no other -being is capable of enjoying and admiring their -‘ beauties. Even the child in its mother’s arms is capable of admiring the beauties of a flower, .and will make an attempt to possess it. A man who is a student of nature gets unlimited pleasure in the study of, and * in observing the habits of cultivated and wild' flowers. There is a language in flowers. Our pious forefathers used to associate their flower with their every-day life, dedicating it to their - patron saint dr«|tother favorite person. Thus the crocus was dedicated to St. Valentine, as it usually flowered about the middle of February. A species of daisy flowers about the time of the Feast of St. Margaret. In. France it is called la Marguerite. The crown imperial (a species - of fritillaria) flowers about the date of the Feast of St. ?J? Edward, King of the West Saxons. A flower named cardamine, on account of the whiteness of its bloom, “is-vi called our Lady’s flower, in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The scarlet lychnis, a flower with a long stem, called the candlestick flower, was supposed to be lighted £ for St. Johmthe Baptist. The white lily expands about the time of the Annunciation, and, being a pure white flower, is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin. St. Joseph is represented often with this flower it is also called .I .St. Joseph’s lily. Here in New Zealand it is called : r Christmas lily, as it blooms about the end of December. , The passion flower is supposed to be in bloom on May 3 h , (the Feast of the Finding of the Holy Cross). Our i forefathers saw in.'the formation of the leaf, in the anthers and sepals of the flowers, emblems of the Crucifixion of our- Lord. Then there are our Lady’s slipper '- (cypripedium) and the marigold (a crown of gold, hence'? 1 ; the name). Then, again, we have the foxglove, popu- M larly named our Lady’s fingers. There are numbers of other flowers with legends, but this is sufficient to * show how our forefathers interwove the names of the [s pure white flowers with the life of our Lady. White® flowers also represent joy and happiness, and. sometimes|| grief and sorrow. We give the happy bride a white bouquet, and a wreath of orange blossoms on her mar-®? . riage day, and then, when death and mourning take possession of the once joyous and happy home, we cover the coffin of the dead one with wreaths and crosses of whit© flowers. Again, we plant the graves with pure white flowers as a tribute to the loved one,® who sleeps there.