Evening star., 1939-05-20
Leaves From
The Garden
Notebook
House Plants Nav
Be Set Outdoors
For the Summer

One way of taking care of our
house plants during the summer is
to set them out in the garden. The
easiest way to handle house plants
is to bury the pots SO that the plants
will secure the necessary moisture
from the soil. Care should be taken
to put them where they will not
receive too much sun, particularly
the hot afternoon sun. Ferns and
other shade loving plants should be
given cool, we'll protected situations
1t has been suggested that the
home gardeners procure the Japa-
nese beetle traps as means of con-
trolling these voracious eaters. One
word of caution-if the beetles are
not already in your yards, the use
of trap and bait will tend to bring
them there. A trap is satisfactory
means Of control after the yard has
become infested. The Bureau of En-
tomology and Plant Quarantine of
the Department of Agriculture has
for distribution leaflets on the con-
troll of the Japanese beetle, also the
placing and care of traps.
At this season OF the year many
of the garden clubs are conducting
flower shows. 1t is highly desirable
for the home gardeners to visit them
and study the exhibits. In this way,
it is possible to find out the different
types and varieties of flowers which
are we'll adapted to this area and
TO make selections according to color
and flower form. Most garden shows
are particular to see that the entries
are properly labeled as to variety
and so the home gardener can OBJ
tain a lot of very useful information
in this way.
One way of protecting iris roots
from the ravages of the iris borer
is to watch for the small worm as
it crawls down the leaves into the
root. The eggs are laid on the
foliage, where they hatch, and the
small worm makes its way slowly
down the leaf into the sheath. Its
progress, especially after it has en-
tered the leaf sheath, Is visible and
wherever noted the worm can be
easily crushed by grasping the leaf
near the base between the thumb
and forefinger and pulling upward.
This is good garden practice, since
1t prevents the borer from reaching
the iris rhizome. Rhizomes once in
fected by the borer are subject to
soft rot and hence control Of the
borer will reduce materially the
chance of infection by this dis
tructive iris disease.
X X X X
Speaking of garden pests, it is
we'll to once again emphasize the
need for a regular spray program
to control insects and diseases
While the chewing insects are most
conspicuous by their activity, the
sucking insects cause material in
jury to plants and flowers. Diseases
also are a continuous threat to the
health and pleasure of our gardens.
Many stores and seed houses carry
prepared sprays suitable for use by
the home gardeners. When buying
one, however, 1t is desirable to make
sure that it will control chewing in
sects, the sucking insects and dis
eases. BY using such a spray, one
application will control most Of the
garden pests. I emphasize this point
since gardener complained to me
recently that nicotine -sulphate did
not seem to control the worms that
were eating her flowers.
~ X
A new spray is recommended for
the control of the gladiolus thrip
1t is much superior to the paris
green spray which we have been
using in the past in that It does
not burn the foliage nor effect the
growth Of the corms. It Is called
the tartar emetic spray. Two ounces
of tartar ernetic and 8 ounces of
brown sugar to gallons Of water.
This should be applied as a mist
that is, do not spray so heavily that
the spray runs down the foliage.