Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-04-15
THIS AND THAT


The point Il, az we see It, that the
individual home owner, except In par
ticular instances, Is after beauty for
the Summer season only. II he can
have plenty Of flowers then, he has
about all the gardening he wants and Is
willing to let the yard more or less
take care Of itself for the remainder Of
the year.
Now, this is exactly where the trusty
petunia and zinnia come into their own.
One Of Washington's leading banks Is
distributing free zinnia seed this Spring
under its own imprint. It Is not going
into the seed business with untried and
fancy flowers which may or may not do
well, but Is sticking to a grand old
species which will bloom If anything
under the sun will. Thus 1t displays its
sound judgment in beauty az well as in
business.
Herr DR.. ]. G.. linn, professor Of
medicine at Gottingen, who lived In the
eighteenth century, is remembered in
this flower, which came from Mexico
originally. On most of the seed packets
it bears the so-called popular name OF
Youth and Old Age" but that Is
rather too poetical for general use. Few,
If any, so name it. zinnia is good
enough. When it first came into ordi-
nary garden culture the flower heads
were rather coarse, but plant breeding
over many years has refined the bloom
to a point where it Is unjust TO brand
it as anything save beautiful.
The dahlia-f Powered types and other
varieties of the large 2innias may hold
UP their splendid heads with any OF the
ANIMALS. II they are somewhat stlh In
character, they also are sure-f1re, de-
pendable and ever-blooming. AS we
f6nr0 a
at least 50 varieties which may be
secured. 30 one need not stick to the
mixtures which most seed houses are
content to sell.
The zinnia will grow anywhere and
for anybody. It will grow In the sun
and it will do reasonably well in shady
places, although one would not recon-
mend 1t for the latter; for 1t comes from
a sunny cline, and must have plenty OF
ultra-v violet to do its best.
y \
The petunia Is no less a satisfactory
flower for general home use than the
zinnia. In addition to being thoroughly
reliable, q bloomer under all conditions
it has more adaptability than the I'm
mia. It makes one OF the best flowers
for growth in porch and window boxes
There Is one white variety which prac-
tically amounts to a vine, and will put
forth blossoms at q height Of 6 or
feet If grown near fences or shrubs
where it has a chance to climb.
PetuniaS are such shallow growers
that they may be stuck in almost any
place in a garden-beneath shrubs. by
the sides of roSebusheS, close to peonieS
and the like, or side by side with iris,
where most ANIMALS would be bit toe
stanch to go. The petunia is not f1nicky
about its soil or food, or even water. 1t
does well almost any place. Its one
fault is not a very bad one, after all:
when rain deScends the poor petunla
becomes very wilted and bedraggled. A
few hours Of sunshine will put it on its
feet again, bigger and better than ever
During the interval, however, the Pc
TUNA bed Is Q sorry-looking place.
It used to be q fashion for authors to
write prefaceS In which they humbly
stated that If but one person were
benefited by what was to come they
would be more than satisfied. We would
say here that II at least two persons
are lured to try the "petunia and zinnia
garden" this year we will feel happy
This is one Of the best garden tips
the amateur can get at this season
There is plenty Of time to set out either
seed or plants. If one Is lazy, he can
90 to market and come back with many
nice plants in pots for q few dollars
all ready to be set in the ground. For
the same amount Of money one might
plant a city block with zinnia and pc
tunia seed. And we insist that q yard
or block towering with Zinnias and Pc
tunias would be worth going far to see.
We don't mean Just q few, but great
masses Of them. all over the place. And
beautiful clear up to frost. something
said Of all ANIMALS, but only true OF
these two.