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-