Evening star., 1934-07-17
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES z. TRACEFELL.

or pen. at least in the garden. the
I saddest are these:
Those rose bushes need spraying
again"
/ One is almost inclined to feel that
perhaps the Winter did a good thing
when 1t killed so many Of them. Those
I bushes, at least. will require no more
( spraying OF dusting.
There Is nothing either interesting
or pleasant about the operation Of a
hand sprayer, and but little more In
spraying with compressed air affair.
/ Spraying against diseases and pests is,
at best, a necessary chore, and happy
/ is he who can bring to the task a dis
{ position which does not mind the
I necessary, no matter how boresome.
OF such are the kingdom Of heaven
on this earth.
Common barberry will take on new
popularity, we are convinced. as the
result OF last Winters killing of
| privet.
| And this Is good. because 1t Is an
/ excellent, although to some eyes
untidy, hedging material Its untidi-
ness, as some regard 1t, is mostly the
result Of too close contrast with the
mathematical neatness Of q good
privet hedge. kept properly trimmed.
II one likes the perfectly straight
! line, and many do, of course. there
is nothing to equal privet, for it can
be cut with a razor-like edge.
The greatest trouble with the privet
hedge is that IL tends to die out in
side, and at the bottom, where the
light fails to strike It, and this be-
comes more true the better the growth
is at the tops and sides.
The barberry. on the other hand,
seems to grow well all over; 1t does
not sulk because in places it does not
get all the light 1t might prefer.
The privet hedge. If done according
to the books. must be cut low for
one or even two full years, in order
to permit it to make q thick sturdy
growth at the bottom. rather than at
the top.
Every one knows this. but how
many do 1t? Not many. The tempta-
ton to get as quickly as possible what
the planter wants, hedge, Is too
much for us, we let it grow as high
as possible as quickly as possible.
The barberry hedge is not that way,
the plants grow up and sprawl more
or less gracefully according to the
eyes and minds which see IT. In all
directions, without care or attention
on the planters part.
mas 4Ia Ioee - syAan{-
men bushes of Radiance and Red
Radiance. those sturdy staunch twins
Of popular rose growing. Most Of us
thought that no amount of cold could
kill EN-.
Yet in the very next garden there
would be a dozen of these bushes abso-
lutely untouched by the zero and SUBJ
zero temperatures.
How to explain 1t?
Less inherent vigor, undoubtedly, In
some plants than in others, If there
Is to be any explanation at all
Lilacs generally are doing we'll this
blooms last Spring on bushes which
had never blossomed before.
In the authors garden the growth
of French lilacs has been exceptionally
/ good, although none of them bloomed.
1t is too bad that the lilacs as grown
! in cultivated gardens are not surer
bloomers. If they were, their popu-
larity would overwhelm that of most
other shrubs. AS it is, they are a
very uncertain quality, as far as their
beautiful flowers are concerned, which
/ is a real blow to their prestige, even
their greatest admirers must admit.
| They have yet to attain, in many
| gardens, the sure-fire quality of the
tulips, the iris and the peonies.