[Published under the direction of the General Literature Committee.]
| PAGE | |
| Mary's Meadow | 13 |
| Letters from a Little Garden | 117 |
| Garden Lore | 155 |
| Sunflowers and a Rushlight | 161 |
| Dandelion Clocks | 201 |
| The Trinity Flower | 215 |
| Ladders to Heaven | 233 |
"Mary's Meadow" first appeared in the numbers of Aunt Judy'sMagazine from November 1883 to March 1884. It was the last serialstory which Mrs. Ewing wrote, and I believe the subject of it arosefrom the fact that in 1883, after having spent several years in movingfrom place to place, she went to live at Villa Ponente, Taunton, whereshe had a settled home with a garden, and was able to revert to thepractical cultivation of flowers, which had been one of the favouritepursuits of her girlhood.
The Game of the Earthly Paradise was received with great delight bythe readers of the story; one family of children adopted the word"Mary-meadowing" to describe the work which they did towardsbeautifying hedges and bare places; and my sister received manyletters of inquiry about the various plants mentioned in her tale.These she answered in the correspondence columns of the Magazine, andin July 1884 it was suggested that a "Parkinson Society" should beformed, whose objects were "to search out and culti[x]vate old gardenflowers which have become scarce; to exchange seeds and plants; toplant waste places with hardy flowers; to circulate books on gardeningamongst the Members;" and further, "to try to prevent theextermination of rare wild flowers, as well as of garden treasures."
Reports of the Society, with correspondence on the exchanges of plantsand books, and quaint local names of flowers, were given in theMagazine until it was brought to a close after Mrs. Ewing's death; butI am g