Evening star., 1936-04-26
Garden at Wheatley School
Deserves Widespread Fame
Development of Neighborhood Dump
Into Spot of Beauty and Usefulness
Made Possible BY Cooperation.

around the sides Of the lot. At the
time there were seventh and eighth
grade schools at Wheatley. and every
one of its 800 pupils from the kinder
garten through the eighth grade had
a part in the making of that garden.
With zeal and craftsmanship which
still worthily endures. the seventh
and eighth grade carpenter shop
classes devoted themselves to the
making of lattices for climbing roses
and an entrance gate and pergola,
whose supports they set in cement.
Next, Miss Mortimer sent out the
call for donations of shrubs, climbing
roses and plants. Every one must
bring something for the garden. Every
one did, from little handfuls of sun
flower seeds, single iris roots, to fow-
ering shrubs and climbing roses that
today make this former dumping
ground a garden spot of beauty. The
sunf1ower seeds were planted, too, and
by August stood like sentinels guard
ing the entrance to a paradise that
had been achieved out of desolation.
The story of the Wheatley garden
that was in the making went afar
into other sections of the city. Mrs.
Truman Able, famous in Chevy Chase
for her very special iris. brought an
automobile full of her choicest speci-
mems as a gift to the cause. Today,
half of the gardens in Northeast Wash
ington are proud to display their iris,
children grown, from Mrs. Abbe's par
ent stock. For, when the Wheatley
garden thins it's treasures, it shares
them with the parents in the neigh
borhood, so that the glory that is the
Wheatley School gardens one season,
eventually is the neighborhoods They
don't keep up with the Jonses in that
section of the city, they keep up with
the Wheatleys gardening projects,
and severe pace it has been.
The side terraces which flank the
Wheatley School kept washing down
in that discouraging way terraces have,
despite earnest efforts Of various gar
den groups. Finally some one sug-
gested banks Of iris. II one is to
judge by the present-day aspect, the
victory has been won with riot of
purple splendor soon to delight the
eye of the beholder.
Teacher in Attendance.
During the very first Summer of
the Wheatley School gardens exist
ence, Wheatley pupils with a garden
teacher in attendance three days a
week, even during July and August,
harvested the crops from their own
vegetable gardens. Theirs was the
joy. too, of taking home the crops
which they had planted and cultivated.
Such radisheS, onions, beets, carrots,
string beans, tomatoes and Swiss
chard never had been raised in the
opinion Of these little gardeners. Un-
paralleled appetites for grown
vegetables developed along with the
vegetables themselves.
1T was" says Miss Mortimer, diff
cult to tell which parents were more
proud of. their children or the vege-
tables they were raising.
Until nearly Thanksgiving time,
they enjoyed those vegetables. The
schools class rooms and neighborhood
homes were frightened, too, by
punches upon punches of nasturtiums,
zinnias, marigolds and other fast
growing ANIMALS cut by the girls from
the plants that had flowered as a re-
suit Of their efforts"
Nor. was the garden put to bed for
the Winter until the whole school
had engaged in leaf-raking contest
which instead Of ending in a leaf
burning cleanup, diverted them into
a scientifically made compost pile in
the garden. Thus, were natures own
stored chemicals put to use for an
other season.
The succeeding years have brought
increased usefulness and beauty. each
season featuring some new project.
One year the boys laid the f1agstone
walks. first securing the material from
friendly contractors. Another time
they put in the curved stone steps
by which you descend from the play
ground level into the garden itself.
The sign over the entrance gate, also
fashioned and painted by pupils,
reads: Look Through Nature UP to
Natures God" Making racks to hold
garden tools was great fun, too. There
wasn't anything I more enjoyed than
g. glimpse into the tool room to see