Evening star., 1932-06-03

sight at this time of year than the great
globes of the Oriental poppy, shining in
the early morning or late afternoon
sunshine
There is a quality to this fine blossom
which the poetic disposition will tend
to call mysterious" the more practical
man merely glowing"
The giant cups, to S inches across.
answer fully to both descriptives. One
might even say that there is a mySteri-
GUS glow to them, SO different are they
from the average flower in our borders.
The so-called Oriental poppy is a
form of Papaver which grows upon the
average gardener. 1t shares with many
other plants the ability to attract a
flower lover the more he knows It,
The world always gives its admiration
TO the rose, without waiting for the love
Of 1t to grow up in heart and mind. 1t
is one Of the flowers which mankind in
stinctively prefers.
The poppieS, however, scarcely belong
in this class. Such admiration as is
given them, in the run OF the garden. is
not the innate Sort but merely a sort Of
forced praise, wrung from unwilling
lips, In many cases.
One has to knew them intimately for
them the unforced praise which they
deserve. It is another case of seeing a
thing. but not really seeing it.
The gladiolus comes In the same
group. Very pretty" some one will say,
gazing upon a vase of glorious beauties.
The gladiolus enthusiast will know, by
certain infection in the voice, that
the beholder sees, but at the same time
does not see.
1t undoubtedly is possible for a
human being to admire, in the alb
stract. without once touching the
genuine in admiration.
This is true of all the works of art.
from paintings to books. One may
stand in front of some famous paint
ing and think one is graSping its
beauty but years later. at sCme mos,
unexpected time, under new circum-
stances. one will realize that only now
is he coming into proper apprecia-
ton Of greatness.
So do scores of school children every
year wade through the classics, feeling
that the books must be great. but not
really knowing why they are great, and,
in many instances, feeling in their
mind of minds that some Of them are
not so great, after all.
Time, which brings all things will
bring them some day the fuller realiza
ton of greatness, when they have had
enough experience of their own to bal
ance the experience of the master
writers.
In the garden the amateur is con-
stantly catching himself discovering
for the first time, the real glory OF
some flower. although he may have
been gr~Wing it for many years.
Thcle is something akin to a con-
version in it; the spiritual qualities in
the love of flowers are precisely those
elements which most human beings
need the most. Many flower gardeners
will do we'll to hold fast to their flow
ers, rather than yield without protest
to the hue-and-cry going up in some
quarters for the immediate establish
ment of home vegetable gardens.
The home growing of vegetables Is
always desirable. The writer here was
one Of the first in this vicinity to voice
the larger need this year. but he did not
mean at that time. nor does he mean
now. the tearing up Of flower gardens
to accommodate vegetables. In the vast
number of cases this is neither desir-
able nor necessary.
Many small yards are unsuited fol-
the growing of vegetables. owing to
shady conditions which not only de-
prive vegetables Of their necessary sun
shine but make it extremely difficult
for the gardener to grow any but
shade loving flowers.
The great -flowered Oriental poppy
(Papaver orientalel is perhaps the IA
vorite poppy of the modern amateur
gardener owing to its comparative ease
OF culture and its most striking flowers
As We have attempted to point out
its glowing cup of flame is a thing OF
beauty which grows upon the gar
dener. whether he prefers the more
orange variety or that one which
shades to vivid pink tinge
1t is noteworthy that the Oriental
poppy is one of the few flowers which
will attract the attention Of the house
cat Animals normally tend to pay no