Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-04-09

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about the easiest and cheapest method
of planting q boundary or screen, and
are so common that most people feel
thoroughly at home with them. The
| lilacs and the Spireas and the ForSythiaS
are known to almost every one; they
are the commonplace of shrubdom.
There yet remain many interesting
and beautiful shrubs which few persons,
except the specially interested, know at
all, but which, nevertheless. ought to
be found on the average home grounds,
no matter how small.
Consider CalycanthuS Floridus, or the
common sweet shrub. Every one knows
of 1t, but how many can you place your
hands on? Few homeowners seem to
use it any more, yet there was time in
this country when no yard was consid-
cred complete without its shrub"
A measure of It's popularity was that
it was singled out to be called by the
common name shrub" In some sec
tons it is called the Strawberry Shrub.
Almost every one, as child, has i'm
prisoned its curious -colored
blossoms in handkerchiefs, in order to
keep the happy fragrance.
CalycanthuS usually flowers in June,
but is rather slow grower, and may
not bloom for several years. There is
an old superstition which declares that
If this shrub does we'll 1t shows that
there Is petticoat rule in the home.
Clethra Alnifolia. or sweet pepper
bush, Is another one not SO we'll known
to the average gardener as 1t might be.
In saying this 1t Is perhaps necessary to
state that II one happens to be familiar
with a plant, he regards 1t as well
known, whereas II he personally does
not know it, he feels that no one else
does, either.
l. A round of gardens will reveal few
Of these Summer sweet bushes, as tI1ey
are sometimes called, yet it sends forth
delightful honeylike perfume in June
and sometimes as late as July. Its fiow-
erS are white, none too large, but in
teresting enough.
Clethra grows to about 8 feet at ma
turity, but perhaps will not get that
tall in the average home garden. 1t Is
almost impossible for home grounds TO
duplicate natural conditions. and most
of these things are real children of Ma
ture.
Calycanthus, for instance, usually
grows to a height of feet and some
times taller, but it will take several years
for this, as the shrub Is an even slower
grower than the lilac. Since that
glorious shrub has been mentioned, there
is perhaps no better time to consider It.
The lilac remains, with great many
persons, a peculiarly dear plant. No
doubt memory and its associations play
the greatest part in this happy result,
since there Is no anchor of memory more
Arm than a fragrance.
The fresh odor OF lilac is supreme
among fragrances. 1t is literally too
bad that no perfumer has been able to
capture exactly this strong yet delicate
odor. When 1t Is put in bottle, in
most instances. 1t takes on something
which 1t does not possess on the twig.
1t will not be long now before the
elusive odor is with us again. Some
thing there is about it which recalls
youth and Springtime to older heads
and hands: 1t will forever be the one
flower of those delightful memories.
The lilac does very we'll in the rather
heavy clay soil OF the District of CO.
lumbia. Some experts say that old
bones, shoes and similar debris should
be put at the bottom of the hole where
lilacS are planted, but perhaps this is
the advice Of perfection, something on
a par with the old-time instructions OF
the rose growers. now happily permitted.
by general consent, TO go into the dis
card.
Those familiar with the named
varieties of lilac say that there is no
comparison between them and the old
fashioned purple kind which most Of
us know Perhaps that is true, but
We. for one, refuse to give up the COM
mon sort 1t is the lilac of memory.
and as such must continue to occupy
q peculiar niche of its own.
Surely every homeowner would do
we'll to go in more heavily for lilacs
than most do. They are comparatively
free from disease, although sometimes
plant will develop a scale. This
peculiar form of bark infection may be
controlled by painting with the proper
remedy. Some Of the best of the named
varieties are Ludwig Spaeth, single,