Evening star., 1925-02-17

Twelve seed and rose catalogu ues
equip any imaginative person FOR the
fascinating occupation OF hresioe
gardening, as it has been called,
about the only form Of gardening one
may indulge in at this time OF the
year.
Fireside gardening Is quite neces-
| sary, too, II the real gardening Begin
ming here about April 16 Is to be a
| success. No matter how much seed
you may have saved from last year,
there is always plenty more to get. new
plants to secure, more and better rose
bushes.
July and August will show to the
world whether the gardener was one
side gardening, or whether he was
one of those happy-go-lucky fellows
who just 'let things grow"
With catalogues free for the ask
Ing, and cheerful fireplace or warm
| radiator, there is little excuse for
not putting much thought on the
garden well in advance of the grow
ing season.
1t is not only in war that pre-
paredness avails much. In the happy
peace-time pursuit of gardening, es-
pecially in the raising of flowers, a
thought In time truly does save nine
failures.
1t may be remarked here that,
although we call 1t freside gardening,
1t Is just as happy an occupation and
just as beneficial to those who en-
gage in 1t, IL 1t is carried on by a
radiator.
The fireplace Is something that
every home does not possess in these
| modern days. But every home with
a small dooryard-as they used to be
called-ought to have a flower gar
den. no matter how tiny.
One rose Is the epitome Of all roses.
A lilac bush in full bloom Is worth
as much as all the lilacs in creation.
The garden Is one place where quail
ity, not so much quantity, Is the
| living ideal.
We have our garden we'll started. as
the result Of last years work. The
dooryard has a carpet of grass, that
fundamental of all good gardens. 1t
came up in six weeks from red clay
and today seems as II 1t always was
there.
We have 20 or more small rose
plants, which seem to have weathered
| the Winter in good shape. We made
a mistake In buying those little fell
lows. We know that now, in the
amateur gardener should not waste
his time and effort with the baby
| rose plants, but always should pur-
chase the two-year-old plants. 1t is
roses he wants. He should leave
the propagation to experts, at least
that first year.
The plants OF hardy phlox and fox
glove are showing green already. The
small lilacs have buds and the mock
orange stands firm by the gate
The two rose bushes transpanted to
the front of the house, where they could
get more sun, did the best Of all. Those
bushes taught US one thing-that roses
like sun. and more sun. You cannot give
| a rose bush too much Of it.
We look forward to the Spring, when
the bulbs planted last fall will begin to
peep through the grass. The tulip, the
crocus. these will appear early. The
peonies will show up later.
This year we want to have moro roses
| and better roses. and some new plants
to put into the ground at the earliest
possible moment.
books. illustrated in beautiful colors,
showing everything from beets to
pansies, cabbages to roses. Tho wealth
| OF them confuses one at first. The IL
Illustrations are so gay, the descriptions
are 80 fascinating-and all the flowers
seem equally grand!
But there is one thing we have
learned, from our experience Of last
year-not to be taken in" so easily by
the glowing descriptions of the enthu-