Evening star., 1925-08-15
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

BY my bed I have some beautiful
| Giadioli," writes q soldier in the hos.
pital. Their color ranges from a
light pink to a deep cerise. What a
marvellous thing.
Surely. no one but God could have
| created them. L am sure they couldn t
have been like Topsy, and Just grew.
1t Is queer, but 1t is the little
things In life that give me my greatest
faith in God. How can a man be an
agnostic when he sees a perfect Gre
ation in a Gladiolus?"
| There are three points I would like
to emphasize In connection with the
above letter. One Is the place flowers
play In the life of the sick. Another
is the wonder of the Gladiolus, king
or flowers. The third is the impor-
tance of little things.
| There is no danger of exaggerating
the remedial Value of flowers for those
abed. They are at once CONNECTIONS,
| pictures. gems and sermons.
| Flowers are confections the i'll may
enjoy without harm. They are pic
| lures no artist can paint" at the
same time they rival the brightest
gems that ever shone. Above all, they
preach the happiest sermons, without
ostentation, telling the patient that
he, too, Is under the care of immor.
tai forces.
| The Gladiolus, it seems to me, is
among the very finest flowers for pres.
| entatfon to sick person, for their
utter lack of odor makes them more
acceptable than blooms blessed with
sweet perfume.
! The latter have their place in ma.
ture. but mostly outdoors. Perfumed
| blossoms within doors are distasteful
to many we'll folk, and almost in.
variably to those who are sick. Some.
thing about them seems to offend.
| Towers without odor are more accept
able.
Many persons (among whom the
writer is one) prefer flowers without
smell at all times. Perhaps this is
one reason why l like the Gladiolus.
This flower. rapidly gaining the title
| of king of flowers" (the Rose long
| holding the title of "queen') depends
for its appeal upon it's unrivaled
| blooms, If one may call them such,
its grace and its unusual habits.
The Gladiolus is the cat of flowers.
| AS the cat has q galaxy of peculiar
| habits that make him interesting TO
| cat fans, so the Gladiolus, with its
| sword-shaped leaves, sudden shoot
| ing" OF the flower spike, blooming up
| the spike. and bulb habits, appeals to
| those who love 1t.
! The Gladiolus combines in one plant
all the charm of the bulbous plants
such as the Tulip. the glorious color
ing of the Rose, and the cut-fiower
worth of the Aster.
In addition, it responds readily to
human care, although 1t can make out
very nicely by itself, and allows the
| gardener to have a fine time poking
| around the soil, watching it, helping
it along. stalking up its spike so winds
will not blow 1t over, and in tending
| 1t in a vase.
Cut and placed in water as the
first blooms appear. the Giadiolus will
| blossom up the entire spike, If the
water is changed daily, the faded
! flowers removed and a small portion
of the spike cut off.
! The inside of the vase gums up
with q sticky exudation from the
| spike, so the vessel should be thor
oughly rinsed each morning and the
| spike we'll washed. 1t helps freshen
up the flowers If they are sprayed
! with water.
Surely the Gladiolus is one of the
most graceful things in all Flower.
land. And working upon the sure
basis OF worth the Creator put into
this flower. fioriculturists have made