Greetings From 
OVER-the-GARDEN-WALL 
Another season of bloom has passed, another summer and fall of work, another winter 
of preparation for the coming season. Now, as this is being written, I. reticulata is blooming, 
as are the crocuses and other little spring bulbs, and we take time to review the past months. 
Last season, the quantity of bloom was not as great as usual; evidently the warm weather 
that we had in January started growth that was frozen by the later extreme cold; the same 
seems to be true this year. The California introductions have suffered the most, though 
losses are not confined to these. It would seem that a rather heavy mulch is necessary for 
first, and even for second-year plantings of many of the new irises. But to offset the lack of 
bloom last year, the quality of what we had was very fine. Mr. Milliken, a visiting iris grower 
from California, gave the garden high praise in the A. I. S. Bulletin. The Oriental Poppies 
were a joy to every visitor, with their colors ranging from deep, glowing reds to the palest 
pink and white. The Hemerocallis (Day Lilies) with their clear lemon and orange colorings 
made an interesting foil both for the irises and the poppies, though our first year planting 
of the hemerocallis did not give us the mass of bloom that we hope to have this year. These 
plants will make gloriously bright accents in the border from May until September: or the 
softer colors will be just as acceptable to those desiring the pastel combinations. To our great 
delight, the Fall-blooming irises made their part of the garden very interesting for several 
weeks in the autumn. The peonies gave us some beautiful blooms, notably the new singles 
and Japs. The rock plants did their miniature best to please the customers throughout the 
season. Even the cacti surprised us with quantities of their silky, colorful blossoms. 
The summer and fall were filled with work that kept hands and knees dirty and backs 
tired; but dirt and aches are easily forgotten when so many customers are well pleased! Further¬ 
more, the fact that we added many new introductions in our specialized lines, and the happi¬ 
ness we know we shall derive from them, proved a great incentive. And such landscape work 
as we were able to do for others seemed to meet with approval. 
Somehow, the winter is not the period of rest that many think we have! Until Christmas, 
we are busy making dish-gardens, that are found to be such acceptable gifts for shut-ins and 
for those hard-to-find-something-for friends. January is spent in bringing garden records and 
customers’ lists up-to-date; February, we admit, offers more time for lazing. In March the 
catalogue must be written — and we would not recommend this for a form of relaxation! 
And now it’s spring, and when this reaches you, it will be Iris Time again. We hope that 
many of the new irises will flower, that all visitors may enjoy them: — Lady Paramount and 
Happy Days, the two huge yellows from California; Mr. Connell’s Blithesome, heralded as 
the most entrancing iris ever introduced; Burning Bronze, Tint O’Tan and several other 
outstanding varieties of Dr. Ayres’; The Black Douglas and Ukiah, dark red-toned irises, 
one from Mr. Sass and the other from Prof. Essig; Trail’s End, selected as one of Mr. William¬ 
son’s best seedlings and named just after his death; Junaluska, the charming coppery rose and 
gold blend from Dr. Kirkland; these are only a few of the many promising new varieties. 
One must not neglect the mention of the new Intermediates and Re-Bloomers that the Sass 
brothers are sending out each year. There are also some of the newer Hemerocallis and Poppies 
that will delight the visitor. The Peony planting is in its third year, and we expect that the 
three hundred varieties of these will give rather marvelous bloom. Again, as in other years, 
we wish to stress the point that those who come just once, at the height of the iris season, 
miss many joys. Those who can, come often; approximate blooming dates are on page 43. 
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