Visitors to the farm greatly admired the large, creamy-white lily-like
blossoms of the datura. Farthest from the house were the useful herb
beds, filled with parsley, hoarhound, sweet marjoram, lavender,
saffron, sage, sweet basil, summer savory and silver-striped rosemary
or "old man," as it was commonly called by country folk.

Tall clusters of phlox, a riot of color in midsummer, crimson-eyed,
white and rose-colored blossoms topping the tall steins, and clusters
of brilliant-red bergamot near by had been growing, from time
immemorial, a cluster of green and white-striped grass, without which
no door yard in this section of Bucks County was considered complete
in olden times. Near by, silvery plumes of pampas grass gently swayed
on their reed-like stems. Even the garden was not without splashes of
color, where, between rows of vegetables, grew pale, pink-petaled
poppies, seeming to have scarcely a foothold in the rich soil. But
the daintiest, sweetest bed of all, and the one that Mary enjoyed
most, was where the lilies of the valley grew in the shade near a
large, white lilac bush. Here, on a rustic bench beneath an old apple
tree, stitching on her embroidery, she dreamed happy dreams of her
absent lover, and planned for the life they were to live together some
day, in the home he was striving to earn for her by his own manly
exertions; and she assiduously studied and pondered over Aunt Sarah's
teaching and counsel, knowing them to be wise and good.

A short distance from the farm house, where the old orchard sloped
down to the edge of the brook, grew tall meadow rue, with feathery
clusters of green and white flowers; and the green, gold-lined,
bowl-shaped blossoms of the "Cow Lily," homely stepsisters of the
fragrant, white pond lily, surrounded by thick, waxy, green leaves,
lazily floated on the surface of the water from long stems in the bed