Evening star., 1936-06-26


small but charming plant which comes
as near as any to living up to the allur-
ing designation of "everbloomer"
It is the Feverfew, whose finely divided
leaves and small heads of white daisy
like flowers add Q touch OF distinction
to any border.
Although a perennial, 1t will bloom
the first year If the seeds are put into
the ground the Fall before or II started
indoors in February.
This habit permits the Feverfew to
straddle the flower fence, and be both
annual, in effect. and perennial In its
habit Of blooming year after year.
Its scientific name is chrysanthemum
parthenium, which shows its relation
ship to a great group OF flowers.
A long history lies behind the Fever
few, as its common name would suggest
to those who realize that many OF our
garden favorites have been used in folk
medicine for centuries.
The very name, Feverfew. is derived
from the word "febrifuge." or that which
has the power Of lessening fever. In
addition, it is said that a strong brew
Of the Feverfew flowers will help keep
mosquitoes away, If rubbed on the skin
ana permltted to dry.
The dainty foliage, the upright habit,
and the pretty little flower in such pro-
fusion, together with ease Of culture and
surety of growth, make the Feverfew a
general favorite in gardens, especially
the woman's garden.
There perhaps is no garden mostly
taken care of by a woman which does
not contain this very fine little plant
and flower.
There is something about it, evidently,
which particularly appeals to the fem
mime mind. The average male gardener
will want something more snowy, some
thing calculated to knock the eye out"
OF visitors as they wander around.
Women are satisfied with smaller fow-
ers, such as the sweet Eglantine whose
white blossoms, like wild roses, send forth
their fragrance in sudden gusts which
catch you by surprise.
A man wants a roSebuSh with big
roses on it, so he can tell everybody how
much work 1t is. what with spraying
and fertilizing and pruning, but woman
demands little more of flower than it
be what it is supposed to be.
Hence women, in the main, are the best
gardeners, precisely because they are
more willing to experiment with plants,
to shelter and take care of them, and
to see something good in the least of
them.
This is particularly good plant be-
cause of Its large number of small white
blossoms
White is necessary garden color, II
one may be permitted to call white a
color
AS far as garden work is concerned,
white surely is color, and one of the
very best.
In most back yards it should be found
more than it is. Nothing ties the various
colors together as well as white. Blue
has been used largely for this purpose,
but cannot equal white.
Another good point Of the white how-
ers is that they show up nicely after
dark and in the cleaning, when so many
people like to sit in the garden and
watch the firef1ies.
Fireflies are accent points in the pic
ture. The real garden glow Of the
dusk is contributed by the Feverfew, the
Nicotiana, the pale Regal lilies. For
this purpose slight admixture of pale
green, or pale pink, is permissible Such
flowers are white enough for all prac-
tical purposes.
\ 4 \ 4
White flowers do their work subtly
While beautiful in themselves, their main
purpose is to act as relief to other and
more striking colorations, such as are
found in almost every garden, and espe-
cially, in the newcomer or beginners
garden He especially needs white, here
and there throughout his borders, to re-
lieve too close paintings of colors which