Evening star., 1936-11-05

They are not woody shrubs. however.
in any sense, but are in the class Of true
herbs, with soft stems which die back to
the ground each season.
In the old days Of grandmother gar
den it was the custom to leave the
"pinies" alone, 50 that In time they be-
came huge bushes, perhaps six feet tall
and 10 feet through.
Perhaps we all could have peony
bushes as large again II we let them
alone. This would include refraining from
cutting the tops until nature finished
them.
Even then the tops may be left. Some
growers insist that the peony root Is bet
ter for the protection which the dead
branches and leaves give, and permit
these to remain all Winter.
Day lilies do better for cutting the tops
after frost kills them.
A scheme of planting ANIMALS, advo-
Gated by some, may be tried.
1t consists OF sowing poppy seed in the
iris bed, this Fall.
1t will lie dormant all Winter. and
come up early in the Spring and bloom
about the time of the iris flowers.
This is said to make a fine combina-
ton and it would be well worth trying,
much better than putting poppy seed on
rolls, where they have all of the appear
ance of so many insects to the imagina-
tive.
The use Of seeds for such purpose al
ways strikes a gardener as worse than
waste. The taste they contribute is pure
ly secondary, whereas the flowers they
irt, 3v,fa urarld 81 II,
broadcast along country roads, would
bring beauty into the lives of thousands,
provided. Of course, that there are any
people left who so look for beauty. Oc-
casionally one Is pessimistic and willing
to believe that no one cares any more,
but that idea. too, is as old as the hills,
and no doubt a better one is that no
beauty is wasted, that some of it strikes
responsive chord somewhere and some-
how.
It might be practical to SOW a great
many seeds Of annual flowers at this
time.
The scheme would fall down with the
proverbial bang. of course. If the weather
should stay so warm that the seeds would
sprout.
Once they got above the ground nip
ping winds and zero temperatures would
kill them. and with them the seed.
There is not much chance of this hap
pening, however, If the seeding is de-
layed.
Fall-planted seeds of ANIMALS would get
a fine start in the Spring and be pro-
ducing pretty little plants long before
Spring planted seeds could get started.
1t is worth keeping in mind. Perhaps
most gardeners have seed packets which
they did not use up entirely. Their con-
tents. sprinkled over borders. and then
raked in good, might as well be tried that
way as thrown in the trash, as they final
ly are in most cases.
It would be just as well. in such expert
mental paintings, to put the seeds deeper
than the directions on the packets cali
for. This would make sure that they
would not come into the air long before
time.
All such paintings should be delayed
until cold weather seems to have set in
for good.
There should be more such expert
ments in the home garden. Most ANA
teurs become obsessed with the desire
for success, and permit failure to take all
the fun out Of their gardening. An in
terest in experimenting. and also in tiny
plants, such as the grape hyacinth, will
do much to put more happiness into an
occupation which should be, success or
failure, all happiness.