Evening star., 1928-04-10
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES Il. TRACEWELL.

Living In the little garden presup-
poses that the gardener finds the out
doors more interesting than the inside
| of his house. To do this, however, he
must be as comfortable.
| AT last the time of the year has rolled
around when 1t is enjoyable to be In the
open air. Hitherto one had to bundle
up too much.
Cold winds insisted on sweeping down
ones neck, causing varied. picturesque
combination of Shivers to chase up and
down the spine.
No matter how thick an overcoat or
how gorgeous the muftler worn, Winter
had a way Of outdoing them both. To
stand still in admiration of some Janu-
ary effect was to become half frozen.
There are a few perfectly hardy per-
sons, of course. who seem able to en-
dure any amount of cold With comfort.
but the chances are 10 to / that they
are not gardeners.
Those who genuinely revel in flowers
as nature grows them are mostly of a
different temperament. one might al
most say delicate temperament were it
not for the fact that some of them can
cuSs like troopers or chaw tobacco in
the best fashion of 1910.
This true gardening temperament de-
mandS that there be warmth in the air,
in the ground, in the bodily economy.
Perhaps 1t is not so much q desire for
personal comfort. to some degree at
least, as 1t is feeling of sympathy with
the plant creations.
With the exception of the hardy
chrysanthemums and few other flow
ering things OF Fall. practically all the
flowers are lovers of sunshine, warmth
and water.
Flowers are children of light" some
one has said. 1t was we'll said. Flow
erS love the sun because the sun brings
them both warmth and light. Even
though they be underground. they re-
Spond TO the caressing touch of the
Spring sun. Up through the ground
they come, breaking with delicate snouts
the hard crust of the soil. The tiny
shoots are so tender that flick of the
finger viii break them. The ground is
so hard that vigorous blow with the
first will not dent 1t. How does that
tender shoot come up through such
tough earth?
The first rule for really living in the
garden, spending as much time there as
one have available to give to it. is that
OF comfort. Just as a great violinist
admits that he plays better when he
first has had something to eat. the
gardener admits that he enjoys garden
ing when he is free from cold.
The second necessity is for something
to do. A static garden, where all has
been planned once and for ALL where
nothing remains to be done. invites one
into 1t only on state occasions-when
the gardener wishes to show it off to
friend. or perhaps when the horticul-
tural club comes on visit to the show
place
This is one sort of garden. but 1t is
not the friendly sort that the gardener
loves His may be small place. so
small that TO the uninitiated there
would seem no room for change. But
the gardener knows better and perpetu-
ally plans for betterment.
If there Is no other way to make
changes, he does 1t deliberately, with
malice aforethought, II such a legal
term may be dragged into a garden,
where it really has no right to be. any
more than the evidences OF footprints
of maurauders.
Changes there must be II the little
garden In particular is TO hold that per-
petuity of interest which is the second
rule for enjoyment.
~
We do not see how gardening can be
interesting to those who deliberately