Evening star., 1928-06-08
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES f. TRACEW ELL.

with the flowers listed Is a beautiful
sight Much depends, of course, upon
whether one likes pOppies. THESE large
gobular flowers, so rankly hagrant, are
| repellent to some persons, but ma ar
| dent deVotees in others, who discover
much beauty III them.
| Il From now on there will be hiatus
| in the average garden while the an
nllals are growing up and the gladioll
are maturing their flower spikes. Early
seed time made no difference this year
because the cold held seeds back from
termination, so that he who planted
early got no particular advantage oVer
his neighbor who waited.
| AlthpaS. SnoWberries and hibiscus are
doing extremely well, owing to the moiS-
! ture OF recent days, which has enabled
| them to put out their leaves in great
shape. The growth Of the hibiscus Is
an annual point of interest. AS every
| one knows, these hardy plants die down
| to the ground every Winter. leaving the
| life Of the plant In the tremendous ana
, heShy root system.
| About the middle OF April small shoots
appear around the old canes. which are
best cut Off III some instances the ten
der green tips grow boldly up through
the soft pith of the old Stumps.
| They put out leaves Immediately, and
! it is only few weeks before the plants
are a foot high again BY this time IN
June well grown specimens are fully z
feet high. BY July Is. about which
| time they begin to bloom, the hibiscus
will be or 6 feet in height, with the
central canes exceeding that length by
foot or more.
Every garden ought to have at least
one of these plants, if no more than be-
cause it throws the largest flowers Oh
ALL Blooms the size of a dinner plate
are the ordinary procedure with 1t. II
is true that they last only few hours
but one can't have everything.
The question OF fertilizers always
comes up when two amateur gardeners
get together these days. Usually they
agree on the merit of the time-honored
well rotted cow manure" but lament
the fact that 1t is difficult to get. So
what is the next best thing to use?
A mixture of bonemeal and sheep
manure half and half, Is perhaps the
best fertilizer available to the amateur.
II has the merit OF being clean and easy
TO handle. as well as possessing little
odor. and with 1t one runs little risk OF
hurting his plants or grass.
hS a IaNlI ltI tiiAHNl bAIi1 hAiAtuAS AiN"
secured the Endorsement OF some OF the
real experts of America. 1t must not be
expected that this combination will
show anything tiashy in the way OF re-
suits Real garden progress is not made
In a hurry The fertilizer that stimu-
lateS rapid and easily seen growth
perhaps forces the plant to undue ac-
tiyity. and is best avoided by the aver
age home flower grower who wants only
normal, healthy growth OF stalk. foliage
and flower.
If one is content with normal growth
and enough vigor in plants TO resist
diseases and insects. he will find bone
meal and sheep manure an easily pro-
curabe efficient fertilizer. AS safe as
it Is, however. he should take care not
to get 1t on stems or leaf, but should
place it at a distance or or 8 inches
As a lawn fertilizer he should sprinkle
1t generously on the dry grass, after
which II should be raked down with the
back OF rake to knock 1t off all the
blades and leaves This Is followed i'm
mediately by a thorough soaking of the
ground with the hose or by rainstorm
II one is lucky enough to time his effort
to catch one handy. Tidbits in the
form of fertilizer tablets. of which there
are several forms on the market. make
a tasty addition to the liking OF most
plants Rather too little than too much
fpftiliyp iS the motto