Much to my delight, I recently discovered a significant cache of Park Seed and Wayside Gardens vintage materials that were new to me. I'd love to find a cultural historian or sociologist interested in studying their contents--for example, all the amazing advertisements ("Here is a cure for those dreadful fits! Only $1!!") and letters from readers ("Dear Mr. Park, I enclose a leaf and flower of a plant for a name. ...").
Another interesting feature of these gems is the consistent use of poetry. I have found little poems, either from the company or submitted by readers, in almost every early book. By the time of the 1911 series that was given to us not too long ago, each book has at least two full pages devoted to poetry. Most of it is garden-related, of course. And all of it is charming! Here are two for you to sample.
The Flower's Mission
Some persons cherish diamonds,
And others jewels rare,
But give me, next to loved ones,
The fragrant flowers fair.
The rich may boast of pleasures
The poor can never know,
But all may have the flowers
That by the wayside grow.
By A. C. Olin
Crawford Co., Kansas
June 1898
Legend of the Primrose
Evening Primrose, turn your petals
To the pale and twilight west
Where the day-god gilds the cloudland
As he sinks on Thetis' breast;
Turn your tranquil flower beauty
Where I see your petals glow,
For you make my mind go dreaming
In the misty long ago.
Evening Primrose, I am thinking
Once a stately princess dwelt
In the marbled halls of grandeur
Where the knighted came and knelt.
But her harp that beat life's measure
Played a sad and minor waltz;
Plutus showed her gilded maskers,
Hymen bound her to the false.
When the gods in pity found her
Sadly dreaming in her bower,
With a magic wand they gently
Turned her white soul to a flower;
Scorning sunlight's gold and glamour,
Princess of the long ago,
Fragrant beauty of the twilight,
Evening Primrose, be it so!
By Florence Josephine Boyce
Washington County, Vermont
August 18, 1896
By the way, if you enjoy garden poetry and occasionally try your hand at writing your own, be sure to pop over the the Park Seed website and enter the new garden poetry contest, running through most of September. The winner will be featured here and in the Park Seed eNewsletter. I look forward to hearing from you!
ide
