"A Book of weird queer Stories" (none written yet).
"Bottles in the Sea," "Witches in Eggshells," "Elephants in Abyssinia," etc.
And (a dear project) a book of stories, chiefly about Flowers and Natural History associations (not scientific, pure fiction),
"The Floating Gardens of Ancient Mexico," the "Dutch Story," "Immortelles," "Mummy Peas," etc., etc. (none even planned yet!)...
To H.K.F.G.
[Undated, Fredericton.]
... How well I know what you say about the truth of Mother's sayings of the soothing effects of Nature! I used to feel it about gardening also so much. Visions of three yellow, three white, and three purple crocuses blooming in one pot beguile the mind from less happy fancies—perhaps too the largeness and universality of Nature disperse the selfishness of personal cares and worries. Then I think the smell of earth and plants has a physical anodyne about it somehow! One cannot explain it....
To Mrs. Gatty.
Fredericton, N.B.
5th Sunday after Trinity, 1869.