146 
The Garden Magazine, April, 1924 
rounded by a border of 
wonderful blue extending to 
the outer edge. 
Here in the vicinity of 
Cleveland the first week of 
December, in spite of the 
cold, I find Baby-blue-eyes 
peeking up at me through 
the fallen oak leaves, ap¬ 
parently as happy as though 
they were on their native 
mountains, telling their se¬ 
crets to the low blue Lupins. 
Don’t miss thefun of rais¬ 
ing some next year.— Mrs. 
Clarence H. Judson, 
Lakewood, Ohio. 
A Twenty-Year-Old 
Snowball in Dakota 
A SNOWBALL THAT HAS SURVIVED A SCORE OF NORTH DAKOTA WINTERS 
Weeks of suh-zero weather have failed to diminish the zest of this fine 
Viburnum (V. opulus sterile) at the home of Mr. C. L. Meller, Fargo, N. D. 
rockery, with Megasea (Saxifraga cordifolia), Polyanthus, Maiden Pink, 
Arabis, various Sedums; and German, Siberian, and Crested Iris sur¬ 
rounding its base. 1 find that I cannot keep either the Speedwell or 
the Cupflower through the winter and so have to set out new plants 
each spring. 1 consider them, however, important additions to the 
rock garden and well worth the extra effort necessary to grow them. 
One day while working about the plants on the rockery, 1 was 
startled to discover a fat toad blinking at me from beneath one of the 
stones. A few days later another appeared, followed by still others, 
until 1 began to wonder whether I was to be afflicted with a plague of 
toads like the plague of frogs that Aaron brought forth with his rod 
from the waters of Egypt. Not having a natural interest in toads, it 
took me most of the summer to learn how much they were benefiting 
the garden, and to turn a slight antipathy for them into an honest 
liking. Now for three summers the rockery and bird-bath have been in 
constant use, the toads sometimes taking possession of the bird-bath 
when the weather is hot. There are perhaps nearly three times as 
many toads in the garden as there were before the rockery was built, 
and there seems to be little danger of ever over-crowding the tenants. 
Almost any day early in the afternoon five or six huge fellows may be 
seen looking out from various vantage points between the stones as if 
guarding the entrances to a witch’s cave, not, however, the wicked hag 
of our childhood’s fairy tales, but a kind brown fairy who patiently 
watches over the growing flowers and helps to make the garden a 
pleasant and peaceful place in which to wander.— Kathryn S. Taylor. 
Taunton, Mass. 
Little Californians at Home in Ohio 
To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 
WONDER how many subscribers in the Eastern and Middle-western 
states had Baby-blue-eyes (Nemophila insignis) in their gardens 
last summer and fall? These charming little Californians are just say¬ 
ing their first how-do-y.ou-do to our Middle-western posies, and they 
are doing it with a most engaging smile. 
The plants come up well from seed, forming little bushes four or five 
inches tall of rather fern-like leaves. They soon betray their curiosity 
by craning their necks over into neighboring ground. Mine got a very 
late start, but, in spite of it, have trailed along in unexpected directions 
for a couple of feet. The flowers are single and have pure white centers 
reaching about half-way up the petals, where they are suddenly sur¬ 
To the Editors of The 
Garden Magazine: 
OME shrubs were evi¬ 
dently meant to be 
massed, others with a 
growth much more sym¬ 
metrical, never attain their 
fullest possible development 
except when grown as gar¬ 
den specimens. Not the 
least of these is the common 
Snowball or Guelder-rose 
(Viburnum opulus sterile.) 
As to hardihood, how can 
there be a much hardier 
shrub than this Viburnum 
which will endure without ever killing back, weeks of sub-zero 
weather, seasons of drought and insect ravages year after year. 
If nothing be done to combat them, plant lice can be counted upon 
every year and never a leaf is left uncurled. Occasionally there comes a 
year when the lice are conspicuous bv their absence and then a well 
grown, properly pruned Snowball bush is truly a thing of beauty and a 
joy all summer. The lice can be conquered if only the spraying be 
done on time and the market affords some excellent preparations for 
the purpose. As to soil, the Snowball is not exacting, though its rate 
of growth is perhaps the slowest of any of the Viburnums.—C. L. 
Meller, Fargo, N. D. 
Protecting Early Crops from Late Frost 
To the Editors of The Garden Magazine: 
HIS experiment, an utterly new one to me, may help others, al¬ 
though doubtless it has been tried many times. 
Last season shortly after our first crops of Beans, Corn, etc., were 
well up there came a cold spell with a heavy frost predicted. 1 knew, 
of course, that it would not hurt the more hardy stuff, but I wondered 
about the Peas, Beans, etc., that were doing so nicely and were up 
about 5 or 6 inches. I figured an experiment would be worth while, 
as the freeze would undoubtedly get them if left unprotected, and there 
were too many to try to save by covering with papers. So we went 
up and down the rows pulverizing the dirt and then raking it up (with 
our hands so as to not injure plants) till where rows of vegetables had 
been, there were long mounds of earth. This, due to the prolonged cold 
snap, we left on for 3 days (the days were fairly warm), then we took 
our hands and a hand weeder and clawed the dirt away and found our 
vegetables in perfect shape. We sprinkled them the next morning 
(which was warm) to remove the dust from the leaves. Aside from 
protecting the Beans and other things, this procedure brought the cut 
worms, which were very numerous, to right below the surface of the 
mound and in removing the dirt, we were able to kill hundreds which 
might otherwise have done severe damage. Also we had more abun¬ 
dant crops of these vegetables and had them earlier than our neighbor, 
who had protected his small patch with jars, papers, etc. 
In Kansas City, Mo., two years ago I raised a “bumper crop” 
of Cotton on one plant. It was beautiful—and seemed an 
oddity to the people in that immediate vicinity.— Billie Ballon, 
Springfield, III. 
