Evening star., 1933-11-04

vagaries Of Nature, but there Is little
sense in selecting varieties which bloom
so late that the chances are very much
against their. best Towering. While the
gardener here will not have to be so
careful in this respect as the flower low
ers OF the Northern States, little dis
cretion and inquiry will do great deal
to insure the full pleasure Of the gar
den's NUNS"
Another factor responsible for much
disappointment with this favorite flower
Is the hesitation of many home growers
to divide old plants. This is a nuisance
undoubtedly, unless one happens to like
pottering around with flowers. but 1t
also Is necessity.
Every one has seen old chrysanthe-
mum plants in a condition which pro-
fessional gardeners describe as ''leggy."
This means that the stalks for one or
two feet from the ground are bare Of
leaves, or with brown dead leaves stick
ing to them.
Such a condition is unsightly, to say
the least. The lover or garden beauty
must concentrate on the blooms. if he
wishes to enjoy his plants. This phi
losophical attitude. however, is not al
ways possible. especially If one happens
has called finicky mind.
II the old plants are divided in the
Spring, preferably during the first two
weeks in May in this latitude. there will
be far better chance for bushy plants
in the Fall.
A common objection to the garden
chrysanthenum Is that 1t takes up so
much room in the beds during the
Towering season of other flowers. This
objection may be overcome, according
to the experts, by growing the pants In
pot, as they do in greenhouses, and
then placing them in the flower borders
in Autumn just prior to blooming.
These may be kept in the pots. and
thus sunk in the ground. or taken from
the containers and planted out bodily
in the border. Either way Is said to be
good. Maybe gardeners might apply
the same system to the tulip, whose
slowly dying leaves in the Spring look
particularly unsightly in the borders.
After tulips have bloomed, the bulbs
with their leaves might be dug up and
placed in pots in some out-of-the-way
corner, maybe on a shelf in a garage
near window where they would get
plenty of light.
The verb potter" used above, Is an
interesting word. According to the die
tionary it means to work in a feeble
or desultory manner at or in subject
or occupation. Other definitions are to
dawdle, to loiter, to trif1e away ones
time
The derivation is supposed to have
come from an obsolete Old English
word. 'pote" to push, probably based
on the idea of being pushed around
from one thing to another without aim
or purpose
Our idea Of the derivation Of the
verb potter" is more complimentary.
Working with the soil Is as old as
civilization.
Maybe the verb ito potter around"
means simply to work with flower pots
What more natural?
When one is potting plants. or un-
potting them, ne will be regarded as
doing very little by spectator.
A gardener can spend a morning
pottering around in this fashion, with
out much visible effect being wrought.
Since the deductions of humanity are
often salse, and even more often de-
rogatory nothing would be more natural
than for dictionary makers to assume
that Ito potter" means to dawdle,
loiter, trife away ones time. The
truth of the art Of pottering. however.
is just the opposite. One Is enjoying
ones self. and making a better world
as one does so. What greater delight"
than that?