Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-03-21

DIAN before you plant. as the beauty
= of your garden and lawn will de-
pend upon the way your grounds are
laid out. Gardening must be carried
out with patience and perseverance, to
which must be added thoroughness IN
ones method. Imagination and fore
sight also play an important part. NO
two gardens are ever alike. They renect
the tastes of their owners.
The aim of the home gardener should
be to avoid gaps in blosSoming and TO
see to it that there is something bloom
ing each month of the season. We md
more and more that gardeners are APP
preciating the quiet restfulness OF the
garden where there may be only few
touches of brilliant color. but where
luXuriant growth of foliage exists.
How often one meets an otherwise
well designed garden, but which lacks
finish near the house. 1t is compare
lively easy to make an attractive gar
den from a straight piece OF land, out
the difficulty seems to be to avoid un-
attractive effects where the architec-
ture leaves off and the garden begins.
Harmony Of color should not be forgot
ten when planting that part OF the gar
den that is near the house.
Selecting Seeds.
1t is important to make an early Sc
lection of flower and vegetable seeds
from the new seasons catalogues. Seeds
should be sown thinly. More failures
can generally be traced to sowing too
thickly than to any other cause. Tnlck
sowing, apart from its waste, means
that young forest of seedlings appears
all struggling toward the light, with the
result that weak, spindly growth is pro-
duced. There is an absence OF air cir
culation between the seedlings. the
surface sod becomes stagnant, due to
the accumulation of moisture, ana
damping off disease sets in.
Another important matter to decide
is what depth to SOW. The general ten
dency is to SOW too deeply. 1t may be
accepted that with the majority OF small
seeds sowing should be done on the sur
face and the seeds need only be COW
cred with the lightest busting OF sand,
so that they may be seen shining
through. With larger seeds, a thin
covering of finely sifted soil is neces-
sary.
Attractive Animals.
No garden should be without a rep
resentative collection of ANIMALS, for
they are plants which give q brilliant
display and a quick return e 2 small
initial outlay, and comparatively little
trouble II your garden is new one,
then for the first year your main stand
by will be ANIMALS, for these, together
with such flowers as gladioh and dah-
las. will bring about a transformation
within the short space of few months
and will relieve that feeling OF baroness
which prevails in so many new gardens.
Among the lists in seed catalogs there
is a wide range Of ANIMALS for al! pur-
poses There are ANIMALS suitable Tor
bedding. for edging or for growing in a
rock garden. Some ANIMALS flourish adj
mirably in certain situations, giving but
q Door show in other corners, so that
it is necessary to select your ANIMALS
with care and consideration.
It cannot be too strongly urged that
seed should be obtained from a reliable
firm and that the plants should have
a fair start through careful sowing,
judicious thinning and early transplant
ing. 1t may also be helpful 70 state
that ANIMALS are divided into two main
classes-those that are commonly de-
scribed as hardy and THESE that are
half-hardy.
The hardy kinds can be raised from
seed sown outdoors from now until
June, but the half-hardy varieties must
be sown in a warm greenhouse or In q
frame in early Spring, or upsto the first
of May.
There are many ANIMALS that are
suitable for filling in gaps in mixed
border or for planting in bed re-
served solely for annual flowers. In the
front rank there are clarkias, godettas,
nasturtiums, pot marigolds, mignonette,
cornhowers, peoples, asters and annual
chrysanthemums Sweet peas and a
few everlasting flowers could complete
your seed list of ANIMALS. There are
many varieties.
Trend of Fashion.
Among the general purpose flowers
there is none which indicates the trend
Of horticultural fashion better than the
gladiolus, unless perhaps. the sweet pea
and the rose are contenders. During
the last 20 years the gladiolus has been
improved almost beyond recognition,
and most satisfactorily from the garden
point of view, since the development has
resulted in the production of host of
varieties of mixed strain, but showing
q wide range Of colors and habits of
growth. Every year sees a decrease in
that stiff formality which once char
acterized the flower, until now 1t has
come to be regarded as one Of the most
desirable for both garden and house
decoration.
The gladiolus is flower which lends