Evening star., 1948-11-15
This and That
By Charles +. Traee,Deli
BETHESDA, Nd.

Dear Sir:
Some pokeberry bushes grew up on my
place, and have fed the birds all fall
IT leave them alone. will they grow again
next year?
They are rather on the sprawly side. but
like them Just the same, and so do the birds.
1T has been a real treat to watch the mock
ingbird come every afternoon to these bushes
Gould transplant these bushes to the front
Of the house. where could watch better, or
do you think them ungainly there?
Would appreciate your opinion. Thanking
you, am Sincerely, H. L."
whose root can be dug up.
1t also grows from seeds dropped down after
blooming.
It Is true that the plant is leggy to the
extreme, and easily broken of in some Of our
sudden afternoon thunderstorms in the sum-
mer.
This comes about because the bush is not
very hardy. 1t has a soft stem, though some
times an inch or even two inches thick.
A good planting Of pokeberries will grow
about eight feet tall, and as much as 10 or
IL feet In diameter.
Once the largest canes are broken in wind
storm, the bush has q somewhat untidy ap-
pearance, but perhaps no more so than nor
mally, for the pokeberry is not a cultivated
plant, and no matter where it grows, it shows
much Of the rank growth of its normal posi-
ton along the roadside or in the meadow.
No garden planner has ever suggested it, as
far as we know. for foundation planting.
We know several places, however, where 1t
has come up as such, and all the owners have
permitted the bushes to remain.
Some have even grown fond Of them in such
position, realizing that they tend to give .
somewhat unusual look to the place.
The burdock is another plant that no one
G>vaAr Va, v>1oa$
when it comes up, as 1t often docs 1t has
charm all its own.
Certainly, all such wild things have vigor
that more cultivated plants might envy.
The pokeberry throws down seeds and these
bloom anew in the spring.
The plantation tends to grow sometimes
usurping the place Of more digniied things.
Yet in their own way, these bushes have .
berries, in clusters in the fall turn 4 deep
purple red and are the delight of many birds,
with special reference to the mockingbird.
Not every mocker remains here. That Is
why the ones that do occupy special place
in the affections Of suburban dwellers. The
fine birds love to fly in, especially In the
afternoon, to devour . few berries.
The pokebe-ry IS favorite Of other wild
things, too.
Mice get them As they are knocked to the
ground by birds.
The skin Of the berry is quite tough. This
is why 4 mouse Is able to carry one up the
wall of house and deposit 1t unbroken on q
freshly washed blanket In the attic, as We
once knew to happen.
The pokeberry bush has such vivid rela-
tionship to the American country scene that
thousands Of plain Americans, especially those
in the modern big city suburb. are delighted
when 1t suddenly appears in their small
gardens.
No matter how rank it is, tile poleoerry
bush has an honorable lineage among the
weeds, IS We call those sturdy, strong growers
of the countryside. 1t lures the birds, still the
first citizens Of the air, despite mans inva-
sion Of that element. 1t gives new note OF
naturalness to place which sometimes seems
too cultivated. too pruned, too clean, too tidy
The home gardener on the small place does
best when he SHES away from too much OF
anything and keeps his place not too messy
nor too tidy, but in that enviable position In
which really wild things grow alongside the
cultivated plants. In this way, he suits him.
self, not some one who writes book about
what hs ought to d.