Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-08-05
PLANTS MUST SLEEP
WHEN NIGHT COMES

| You know the lines about the man of
| the poets fancy:
A yellow primrose on the rivers bank
A yellow primrose was to him and nothing more
! How many OF us who make gardens
and love them really have anything more
than superficial knowledge of the plants
We minister to. And how unfamiliar we
are with, may / Say, their private lives.
Yet the more we learn about them the
more fascinating they become, especially
When we find that they are endowed with
strong individuality. Often they seem to
possess real intelligence. Certainly the
manner in which the roots will strike a
line for water or food and climb over
obstacles and make their way around
corners until they reach it is marvellous
Some plants feed on insects and trap
| them in the most ingenious fashion
Others seem timid and even irritable.
The sensitive plant, for example, will
close tightly il touched ever SO lightly
Sometimes, indeed, it will retire within
itself If one but stamps on the ground.
Many people fail to realize that plants
require sleep much as does human
kind Some one has declared that under
the artificial life of the city they may
actually suffer from insomnia. Watch
the dandellon blossom when night comes
and see them lie down to rest And
many other flowers close at night Their
periods of sleep differ, however and
some appear to require more than others.
Some, like the portulaca, decline to more
than open their eyes sleepily until the
sun comes out in it's fullness Other
kinds have fixed and regular hours for
their repose.
Botanists have studied and classified
them until it has been made possible tn
! construct floral clocks the time being
marked by the opening and closing of
| the different blossoms.
The daisy gets its name from the fact
that 1t opens at sunrise; days eye may
| be bit fanciful, but its significance is
| plain. Mirabilis was given its more
| common name of four o'clock because IT
! shows its face to the world at about that
hour, being closed in the middle Of the
day. 1t is well to know these facts
when planning garden to be always in
1 bloom.
/ Observe your godetias and you will
find that they close up tightly late In
the evening, perhaps after the hour when
! you ordinarily leave the garden AS
every one knows. the morning glory does
actually glorify the morning, just as the
| evening primrose reserves it's beauty for
the shades of evening. The water lily
of our lakes sleeps from dark to dawn
1 with its petals tightly closed Other
kinds are later in waking.
| Yet some of our most chaste and mod
est appearing flowers are lovers of dark
ness. Nicotiana is a charming and fra
/
blossoms only at night. 1t is unknown to
| those who frequent gardens solely in
daylight hours, and its rare perfume is
! never caught save at a distance. One
| garden amateur who grew this tobacco
| plant for the first time beheld its unloveiy
| stalks day by day as she worked among
her flowers, and decided that the bios
| SONS had been blighted. She determined
| to dig out the plants to make room for
sorts which should be more pleasing, but
one night she happened to pass along
| the garden walk, and her attention was
| caught by an odor of such delightful
quality that she let herself he guided by
II to bed fairly agleam in the moon
| light. Then. for the first time, she saw
her nicotianas In full bloom. These
| flowers. 1t may be said. are excellent
planted near porch Or a sitting room
| window, where their perfume will fill the
air at night when the wind is still The
| and there are other blossoms which de-
/ light In moonbeams.
| So plants not only live, but breathe
and wake and sleep much after the
i fashion of those who care for them. OF
course, the scientists will tell you that
/ nature has arranged all this to properly
| regulate the flow OF sap in the plant, the
1 now being retarded and the growth
checked while the plant sleeps, but this
does not change the curious and humans
i like nature OF the phenomenon or make
1t less interesting to observe. knowing
i these peculiarities which our plant ac-
quaintances have, or learning them by
| observation a the season progresses we
find ourselves making new plans for next
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