Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-21
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

Who is there who does not possess
| In his garden some particular bush or
plant which simply will not bloom?
A survey of the questions and an
swers departments of magazines de-
voted to home problems, including those
of the garden, will reveal any NUMBER OF
| INQUIRIES from persons who want 10
know how to make stubborn plant
flower.
one man says his peony bushes, now
in the ground for seven years, have
bloomed but once. He wants to know
how to make EN- bloom. Perhaps a
correspondent writes in and suggests
that he keep all ants off the formed
buds las the ants deposit sweet coat
ing over them and prevent them from
unfolding"
This seems to be a widespread peony
myth, probably built on the fact that
the peony buds Secrete a sweet fluid
which attracts ants. The ants are
there, all right, but they are not inter-
ested in preventing the buds from open
ing.
calycanthus, which she set out several
years ago, has not rewarded her with
buds to date. Others in the neighbor-
hood have done we'll, but not her bush.
| X X x X
How can any but theoretical answers
be given?
There are so many factors to be con-
sidered that only the Great Designer
knows them all.
shrubs which demand sun in the shade,
and then wondering why they will not
bloom.
Often the transplanting from the
north to the south side of the house
will work wonders with recalcitrant
shrub.
In many cases, however there are
obscure reasons for failure to bloom
which are locked up in the tissues OF
Che plant, and about the best thing the
gardener can do is to dig it up and
replace it with another
If bloom is what he wants-and gen.
orally it is-he should give no plant
more than one normal blooming season
to do its best. Then he should give
it away to friend. who will not expect
much, and probably won't give the
thing any care, anyway. Sometimes in
such cases the plant, as if angry at the
forth with a rhapsody of flowers. Ma
ture is queer as well as grand some
times.
Since plants are so manifestly de-
pendent upon weather conditions, it
cannot be doubted that these offer the
readiest explanation of why some years
are good rose years." or good peony
years." or "flne iris years.
And since the weather is not sub
ject to mans control-at least not yet
about the only practical thing the
home owner can do about it is to make
the best of 1t. This pleasant philosophy
leaves us just about where we started
The fun in it comes in observing care
fully the flowers which do especially
well, and in talking it over with ones
garden-interested friends.
Observation, after all, is not given
to all men and women. So many thou
sands are SO immersed in eating,
breathing, walking around and similar
occupations that they have no time for
anything else. They are, after all,
merely animals dressed up in clothes.
A man becomes a human being when
he has time to observe and note all
those things which the brute creatures
are not able to observe. Among these
observations so essential in civilization
are those which involve things of
beauty. notably the flowers.
To live needless of the greening of
the grass Is to miss much. To be able
to compare one season with another,
and to delight in the occupation, is
to make time itself a companion in
| ones journey through life