Evening star., 1932-07-09

| low family. The first part of its name
is simply that Of the holly, or lex. the
/ sacred plant OF the old Druids of Britain.
All the blossoms of these plants,
| wherever found. have a certain. simple
| openness, combined with coloration,
| which is at once their charm to men
| and bumblebees.
No doubt 1t is because hollyhocks
/ are universally liked, and have been
| easily secured for many years, that
| they are memory flowers" to SO many
| people.
: In part, however, they are well re-
membered, and so well beloved. because
they are among the limited number of
| flowers which invariably attract the
! attention of children.
| Only the exceptional boy pays any
| attention to the growing gladioh, or
! the choicest roses. but not a young
ster misses the Towering Of the holly
| hook. or of the althea bushes their
cousins
It may be said, with much truth.
| that the boys seek bumblebees, which
| they know will be found in the althea
blossoms, drunk with yellow pollen
This may be granted, without de-
! tracing from the fact that small chill
| dren do pay attention to these flowers,
no matter for what reason, and there
by do unconsciously become familiar
with their genuine beauty.
This fact helps make certain that
the hollyhock is planted ever year by
these same boys when they grow I'D,
and this despite the hollyhock rust,
which tends to ruin the plants If 1t is
let get foothold.
Many growers however, never ex-
perience this trouble. 1t is with this
flower as with all others. II one stopped
to consider the diseases to which 1t is
subject one would never grow it, per-
haps.
Not thinking OF them, the gardener
goes ahead and enjoys their beauty
without worry, and, strangely enough,
without much trouble.
One drawback of the hollyhock is
that during q storm the long flower
spikes may be blown over. This NAV
be prevented by tying them to stakes,
or simply looping them up with soft
cord tied around an entire group Of
them
We once saw q black bathrobe cord
used for this purpose, and the effect
was rather good. Most growers do not
go to that trouble and come out Just as
well.
Not all gardeners know that by cut
/ Il11R OH bUG liONcl SHAh6Ss dlLCl LLlCy
have bloomed, the plants often may be
forced to bloom a second time' early
in the Fall.
The plants should be cut back to
about a foot from the ground, saving
as many leaves as possible, and each
plant given a good dose of bonemeal,
we'll watered in.
With ordinary good fortune and
clean culture, the plants so treated
will bloom again, not with such long
spikes or such large flowers as the first
time. of course, but long enough and
large enough to justify the faith in
them.
We have said that most gardeners
raise good hollyhocks without trouble
and are not much bothered by the So
called rust.
This does not mean, however, that
clean culture will not help. This
simply means that the base leaves,
those which incline to trail upon the
ground. should be kept cut of, to per-
NIT sunshine and air to reach the
earth at the base of the stalk.
These are the first ones, usually, to
show the effects OF hollyhock rust, and
If they are removed promptly, upon
the first tinges Of the disease being
noticed, the chances are very good that
the plant will flower as usual.
The unfortunate part Of talking
about plant diseases Is that such talk
seems to put the emphasis upon them,
whereas so many of our best flowers
do we'll despite their diseases and their
pests, so that no flower lover should
be deferred from planting anything he
likes. The happy thing is that more
often than not he plants regardless"
and enjoys many beautiful flowers in
his garden. Among these the holly
hook, old and getting better every day,
is among the best.