Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-08-19
BY BARBARA FEM GILES.

IF FLOWERS had souls and coulC
talk, there is a man in Washing
ton who would understand them
4 That man is George w. Hess, di
rector of the Botanic Garden Ii
December Congress granted an appro
priation for the extension and improve
ment of the garden To this large
wealth of knowledge and understand
ing that only sympathetic mind ane
intensive experience can produce.
At the foot of the Capitol, only {
stones throw from the busy, worried
atmosphere that is a part of thl!
legislative city of the Nation, lies bi
of countryside. II has been worked
! over with meticulouS care, yet holds &
wild heart of natural beauty within
Horticultural discoveries from scientific
laboratories have been reset here. neat
ly labeled and exactly catalogued. Still,
it is a. countryside that gives no hint
of being anything but peculiarly
blessed and favored piece Of ground,
exquisite with towering plants. There
is peace in its atmosphere. generosity
in its lavishness, instruction in its
order.
For is years Mr., Hess has worked
with the Botanic Garden. His small,
neat. white house is built on the
grounds His Office IS just across the
Street, sandwiched somewhere between
the shipping rooms drying rooms and
various other appurtenances OF bo-
tanical work It is most unpreten-
tious Office. containing, besides the
usual office furniture. an old, very large
and comfortable leather armchair. This
chair he politely moves forward Tor
visitors and seats himself uncomforta-
blv in the swivel chair before his desk.
It does not fit him we'll Moreover,
there is something incongruous about
Mr.. Hess in an office. He is more at
case among his plants moving slowly
down the rows between the tables IN
the room of lust the correct tempera-
ture for small pots of growing things.
His large hands gently touch the
tiny, green shoots and leaves. He stops
every few moments to explain how
such and-such flower was produced
through patient crossing and recroSs-
ing of mother plants. He exhibits with
pride the sanSevieria. which grows from
a mere clipping of The leaf. He pauses
to speak of that plants dependence
on the mother shoot until maturity
is reached. when the parent plant dies
off. He philosophically details the
Similar dependence of the human child
on its mother until the age of response
bility. Near his plants he flowers into
speech.
However, in the office. away from
his plant pets. his thoughts do not
flow so easily. He tits uncomfortably
in the hard chair and reveals himself
reluctantly when the subject is him.
self. He will converse for hours on
the. Garden that, under his years of
management, has become showplace
Of the Nation. He discourses earnestly
and enthusiastically on the appropria-
ton granted by Congress to extend
and beautify the place.
There is no end to the interesting
explanations with which he VIII favor
one concerning the plants and their
characteristics. And from these mat
ters one is able to construct the char
acter OF the gardener His surround
hrs have permeated his life, so that
he reflects whatever characteristics may
be translated into the human.
You ask. Where were you born, Mr..
HeSS?"