Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-06-13

afraid to give it. Part Of the fault,
| therefore, is solely his own.
X II \ r
The plain truth is that gladiolus
bulbs, in the hands of the average home
owner, tend to run out" This is never
mentioned in the average glad" htera-
ture, but every one who has expert
mented with this bulb for several years
knows 1t to be a fact.
The enthusiast buys himself hun
dred plump bulbs from first-rate
grower. They are packed with win
and wigor," so chock-fu1 of life that
all the purchaser has to do is plant
them rightside up.
At blooming time the enthusiast be-
gins to sing the praises of the gladioluS.
The next Spring he begins his planting
with as high hopes as ever, only to be
somewhat disappointed.
He did not fertilize enough. Yes, that
was 1t. 1t is true that his bulbs gar
ing lost some of that upright plump
ness which distinguished the parent
corms.
So the third year he plants, now with
less enthusiasm, to find that his flower
spikes have dwindled, with a conSe-
quent falling off in size and beauty
of blooms
He is still "fan," but not such an
enthusiastic one as he was three years
ago. He is willing to accept part Of the
blame for himself, but not all Of it.
He begins to see what every gardener
must, If he uses his eyes, that in this
sport, as in most others, all Is not gold
that glistens.
There can be little question that a
few gladioli, well grown, are better than
a large number poorly grown, for no
one really knows this flower until he
has seen it at its best. Then its beauty
has an almost breath-taking quality.
We feel that if any reader thinks this
overdrawn he has not seen a fine va
riety at its best.
1t is our garden pride that we have.
We have grown them so in our own
back yard Never can we forget the
first time we went into the garden and
found that Burbank's Flora had unfold
ed in the night. Or the Towering OF
Byron Smith. Or those great blooms
of Youell's Favorite. Or those Mrs.
Pendletons, more than feet high.
Once a person has grown such "glads"
he becomes critical, and rightly SO.
Nothing short of perfection will do.
Those who have never seen the real
thing may be satisfied with lesser
DlOOIflS, puL NE Never Will NC. always
there arises before his minds eye the
vision of perfect flowers.
Now the only way for him to get such
fiowers-again we speak of the average
home gardener in the average home
gardens to buy fresh first-size bulbs
every year from the best growers. Then
he can give away those of his own har-
vest and help carry the gospel of the
"glads' to his friends. They will be
satisfied with what they get, since it
costs them nothing.
We have come to the conclusion that
a dozen new gladioli each year would
be more satisfactory than two or three
hundred WORKOUT bulbs. The personal
pride of the gardener must be laid
away. Let him confess to himself df
not to his neighbors) that the profess
SIGNALS can do it better than he can.
1t is their business.
The amateur who wants to keep up
his interest in the gladiolus must rec
ogniZe his own shortcomings, his own
failings, and be willing to buy new stock
constantly in order to keep his beds at
the peak point. Then, and then only,
we believe, will he reap the glorious
harvest of gladiolus beauty.