Evening star., 1936-04-08

son must be practiced with care, else
more harm will be done than good. This,
too, is part Of the philosophy of those
who never think about protection, and
they are right again, as far as they 60.
although some will continue to think
them wrong.
The point simply Is that so little
effort is required to protect such plants
as properly may be protected, that it
seems somewhat foolish not to do it.
Nothing can compensate for the loss of
the peony blossoms, for instance. One
would feel rather foolish, contemplating
ruined plants, to realize that just a
little foresight would have saved them.
Many gardeners believe that often
when plant is not killed by cold at
this time Of year 1t may be severely
hurt, nevertheless.
Consider these peonies, queens Of the
late May and early June garden.
While they bloom, they do not bloom
well, especially in contrast to other
bushes which were covered during the
below-freezing mornings.
1t may be, as many think, that the
touches of frost held them back, so that
no amount of warmth and sunshine
afterWard could make them do well.
This is something to think about, at
any rate, whether absolutely correct or
not. In the garden, as in life itself,
there are many things which may not
be entirely true, yet have enough truth
In them to be of real service.
The happiest gardening is achieved by
those who think about it, as they go
along and take advantage of their own
brains, such as they have. This will
mean that the philosophy, the ethics,
the morals, indeed, of the entire gar
dening process will be considered. This,
too, is gardening.
Care should be taken in uncovering
briefly protected plants to see to it that
the coverings, of whatever form, are re-
moved not too suddenly. Recourse must
be made to the outdoor thermometer
and coverings kept on until the air is
well above the freezing mark. This is
peculiarly necessary because one can
not be too sure Of the temperature be-
meath the basket. At the best, such
protection gives only slight edge"
on the outside air.
We cannot wrap thick woolens about
garden plants. Too complete protec-
ton would make the contrast too drastic.
The idea of protection is to help the
plant some, but not too much. This IS
not drawing such a fine line as it may
sound. Nature has put real toleranceS
in all her real children. They are able
to withstand great changes, within rea-
son, but that does not mean that they
should be made to stand them too COM
pletely, if the home gardener can pre-
vent it. Something of this idea is be-
hind the use of Smudge pots in orchards,
in order to keep just enough heat among
the trees to keep out the final nip of the
frost. 1t is not so much the freezing
process, in itself, as that final nip, which
does the dirty work.
1t must be kept in mind that warm
sun on frozen or near-frozen plant tissue
is very bad. Therefore, watch the sun
as we'll as the thermometer. and remove
the coverings as soon as the tempera-
ture goes we'll above 80 degrees, in order
that the rays may not be too strong
when the plants are first exposed again.
If harm has been done, despite all pre-
cautions, the plants will soon show it,
in cooked" appearance. which is much
the same as if they had been subjected
to boiling water If the coverings cannot
be taken off until later in the day, it
might be good thing to shade the
plants for a time, in order that the
change be not too sudden.