Image provided by: SEIU Local 503; Salem, OR
About The Oregon state employee. (Salem, Oregon.) 1944-195? | View Entire Issue (Jan. 1, 1951)
12 Are You a Gardener? By ELOISE EBERT A dm ini strati ve Assistant Oregon State Library T here is som ething about th e ’/first b re a th o f spring, or the’xfirst glimpse of a forsythia bush th a t stirs th e soul of m an to aspire to m em bership^ in th a t closed corporation know n /as “G ardeners.” If any gardener chances to read w h at I have;to ject, T h asten to add.fiW all .hum ility! th at m y only qualification ‘»is 'th a t I I ve flowers! Nothing would please m e m ore th an to be able to TELL sem e one th e nam e of a flower, ra th er th an to alw ays have to say: “W hat’s?-" TH A T?” Because I think th a t m ore people belong to m y cate gory th an to th e select group of g ar deners, I am suggesting a few books to read w hich m ay fool some people into th in k in g th a t you know w hat you are talking about w hen you drop a few punch lines as: “House plants are often difficult to B re * for i n ^ m - m er, p artic u la rly during vacations” or, “T h e O e ttle s have no a ttr flow ers and a re not deSiWble for cul tivation from any standpoint.” /'^Al ways rem em bering, of course, to add them at the m ost appropriate tim e!) The first book h o ic k e d out, Lilies for Every G arden by Isabella P res ton, (A ronge Ju dd, 1947) asked |H question: “W hat is a lily?” Now if I had asked such a stupid question I don’t believe m y friends would be very understanding, b u t it«.' ..seems th a t it is a good question because for years people have been calling plants lilies th a t w eren ’t lilies! In glancing over this book I th in k you w ould need to be a lily lover ,to7 begin With .Mgs it seems to be difficult to'¿grow lil® |s b u t it should be consoling to know th a t a greenhouse is not really n e cessary. T hree w onderful books on. rhodo dendrons m ade me determ ined to en courage m y friends to p lan t them . (Ifl is really qtfflO B11 accom plishm ent to even spell rhododendron.M flgdid feel a b itis a g g the other day* w hen a new - ^gm nfttftW-Qrëgon ;H io u n c e d th a t’ she had never even sdfen^one in bloom — at least I know f t i a t ori^ ^ ^ W g a lce. ■The H andbook of R hododendrons, nnfili s h e d 8 S |th ^ M L W ^ rs i^ ^ rf W ash- ington A rboretum F i l n d M S (1946) teijW 8SS tof^row them , and leas, in a sm all g ard en , about diseases and pests and lists the species that grow the best in th e N orthw est. R ho dodendrons, Azaleas, M agnolias, C a m ellias and O rnam ental C herries, HH A . T. JohnsS ^B L ondon. 1948 ) is very inclusive and describes a blue rhodo dendron, Which I h a v e n ’t s M i l (A re there any in O regon?) A nd it, says th at azaleas are, p ro p erly speaking, rhododendrons, w hich w as a new idea to me. A th ird book on this subject, 'by F. K in g d S -W a ia g f ^ P e l l e ^ ^ l & Cudahy, 1950), suggests th a t th e am - ateur can experim ent in in au g u ra t- ing a rom antic f m a r ^ g ^ ' am ong the flowers and gogMy aw ait th e re s u l t s S o m e of th e finest hybrids ha ve been raised b y am ate u r g ard en ers as opposed to n u rse ry m en .” He goes on to say th a t rhododendrons do not like thej^Sn, w hich is one re a son th at they flourish so beautifully in Oregon (I m ight a|rd th a t m y sen tim ents are not those of th e rhodo dendron. A very nice little ’ book, Success w ith Wild F low ers, by F ra n k C. P el- lett (A. T. d e g H M a r l l 1948)* i S u i d appeal to all n atu ralists. One chapter which BM^cTd w as filled w ith new ideas on “plants of poisonous quali ties,“ b u t I did n ’t know th a t lady- slippers w ere a l m o s t ^ o ^ a dga^p d .iso n oak. Signs should be posted to w arn anim als not to eat. larkspCqg or del phinium , lupin, lily of th e valley,-tptit-
