Evening star., 1932-04-23
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES Z, TRACEWELL.

spots where half dozen or more would
fit in nicely.
This is not to be wondered at, after
all, when the fact is taken into con-
sideration that it belongs to the great
apple family. that glorious group Of
trees and shrubs which include so many
genera, including apple trees rose
bushes, the Japanese ounce. the
althea, and hosts of others, so dlf1erent
and vet all belonging to the family.
Most gardeners go out of their way
to make the pronunciation OF hibiscus
a difficult matter, when it is one OF the
easiest of botanical names. 1t IS pro-
nounced exactly as it is spelled. The
accent comes where one 1nstlnctlVeiy
wants to put it.
If the gardener will think OF high
biscuits" he will never have any more
difficulty with hibiscus The hi is
pronounced high" the bis receives
the accent and the Gus is pronounced
"cuss."
Ard there you are, surely nothing to
shy away from, or be afraid TO at
tempt to pronounce. as so many nome
gardeners are. 1t is particularly un-
fortunate that anv one should be
frightened away from this plant, which
is so easy to grow and which, WIN
ordinary attention, will do such Won
ders in the way of giant flowers IN
any garden.
It's great root system is its salvation
in the average place. Only one who
has transplanted a hibiscus in the Fall
can have any idea of the length and
thickness of those big roots. 1t IS
almost impossible to get them all out.
The plant makes no protest. 1t lust
grows some more, and in the Spring
has enough roots to take care OF It's
canes, grown anew each season. THESE
may reach a height of six, seven or
eight feet. A heavy wind and rain
storm in Summer may do them some
damage when planted in the garden
without the support of each other
which their thick growth in their nat
ural haunts affords them
1t is a point of garden wisdom, there
fore, to stake the bushes just about
blooming time, with stout stake such
as is used for dahiias. Painted dark
green and placed to one side of the
clump Of canes, a band of cloth may
be passed around the entire group, hold
ing them securely against possible
damage. On the other hand, If the
gardener thinks this too much trouble,
he may forget about it and permit the
hibiscus to take their chances with The
world. They probably will come out all
right, anyway.
One thing that he must be sure OF.
however and that is to give them
plenty of water during the hot weeks of
Summer, especially at blooming time.
AS this is a requirement Of most plants,
however. there is nothing noteworthy
Oh troublesome in this regard One who
remembers their marsh ancestry will
not begrudge them their drink. but will
rejoice with their leaves at plentiful
supply of moisture.
YelloWed leaves will turn a bright
fresh green overnight. after a heavy
watering in the evaing. The hibiscus
likes plentiful supply of bonemeal for
food, although 1t will do very well with
out it. too. There is no more happy-go-
lucky plant than this and few so likely
TO be source of pride to the gardener
Say what one will, there is always some
thing intriguing to the gardening mind
in showing ones friends flowers which
are larger than any they possess in
their own gardens.
The hibiscus blooms about the mid
die of July. and keeps it up for 3 or 4
weeks. after which there is a foliage dis
play which begins to get poor about the
end of the Summer. Altogether, this is
one Of the best novelty plants the aver
age home owner can grow. Despite the
publicity it has received it still is a
novelty to many gardeners. Once plant
ed. it comes up every Spring and makes
new canes. on which its huge flowers,
dearly loved by bumblebees, appear for
their few brief hours. In Autumn these
canes may be cut back to the ground,
as they are no further use to the plant.
They are light and strong, and may be
used the next year to stake gladiolus
and similar light things.