Evening star., 1935-06-27
THIS AND THAT
BY CHARLES E. TRACEWELL.

If you have a garage side where shade
lies most Of the day, try some Of these
lilies, in their yellow, blue, white or
other colors.
Many of the older varieties can be
purchased at very reasonable rates, and
for most of us they will do quite as
well as any.
Once in the ground, they bloom every
year without fail and without any bother
on the home gardeners part.
This is a most desirable feature. 1t Is
all very well to talk about the chores Of
gardening as if they were vast joys, as
no doubt they are to a fortunate few,
but many persons want something which
requires less spraying and mulching and
attention in general.
Spraying roses, for instance, is nui-
sance, and who dares say it isn't?
X Il 4
Well, you won't have to spray the day
lilies, either with liquid or dust.
Wherever you put them they seem to
do WELL especially If there is some shade.
Since there are many spots in many
gardens where such things as petunias
and Zinnias and marigolds and other
ANIMALS will not grow well, it is fortu-
nate thing that SO many of the peren-
malls long for such a situation.
Among these the day lilies must be
given place.
These are hardy border plants which
occupy that strange position of being
very old, yet at the same time are the
darlingS of the elite.
There Is just one other class Of plants
at the present time which occupies the
same position.
These are the herbs, so called, the
hundred and one, or we might almost
say the thousand and one, growing
things from literally all over the world
which have been of peculiar value and
interest to mankind for medicinal, culi-
nary and other uses. From the Civil
War onward in this country the herbs
fell into diSuse, aided by the machine
age and science, until nobody but very
old-fashioned persons, indeed, knew any,
thing about herbs. During the last five
years or so all that has changed. Herbs
have become the darlings of society, and
garden clubs everywhere hear lectures
| on them, and persons everywhere, eSpe-
| cially in the cities, are planting them.
The happy thing is that one no sooner
becomes interested in them, through
whatever chance or angle, than one be-
gins to read about them, to delve into
the lore of centuries and find out some
thing of their history, charm and ro-
nance.
1t IS the same with the day lilies.
Grandmother had 'em, but she had
| no such opportunities to grow EN- in
variety as the gardener of today. The
reason is that the hybridizer's art was
not developed then as it is now.
The plant hybridizer creates new COL
orS, even forms, and places such wealth
of plant material at our finger tips that
| often we are embarrassed by the luxury.
Sometimes this increased number of
forms so complicates the situation of the
home gardener that he wishes the plant
breeder had let old plants alone. We
! hope this is not true of the day lilies
| and do not imagine it is, at least yet
1t may be true, too, that in much in
crease of plant materials, within the
same genus, some danger is run of
weakening the structure of the plant
and making it susceptible to diseases
and pests. This may or may not be
true of the gladioluS; nobody knows.
At any rate, as long as the day lily is
the healthy, vigorous plant it is, let us
enjoy it and plant it in our gardens.