> & 

have a tendency to put out new crowns from 
the side of the parent crown. This gives the 
plant a whopperjawed appearance which is 
definitely frowned upon by the faithful. To 
maintain the chaste single-crown perfection of 
a White Lady, therefore, one is forced to be 
continually gouging away at these “suckers.” 
Non-suckering habit, then, simply means that 
the variety in question does not have this un- 
fortunate characteristic. 
How do you cross violet? 
Look at your violet. See those two little yel- 
low gimmicks right in the middle of the flow- 
er? Well, those are anthers. Now, see that lit- 
tle straight stick going out at the side? That’s 
the style. Let’s say you want to cross a pink 
on a blue. Remove a flower from the pink. 
Pull back the petals and gently pull the anth- 
ers apart—sometimes they seem to grow to- 
gether. Using the pulled-back petals for a 
handle (yes, indeedy, it’s close work), take 
the pink in your left hand, grasp the blue 
flower (leave it on the plant) firmly in your 
right, and thrust the style of the blue flower 
into the parted anther of the pink. With small 
scissors, snip off the anthers of the blue, and 
cross your fingers. It will take about a week 
for the seed pod on the blue to begin to swell 
—you might go ahead and cross several to 
eke up for the one or two which won’t 
cetcy mie 
IT have been told that I should never turn my 
violet around, to always keep the same side 
facing the light. Is this true? Mrs. C.B.G., 
Kansas City, Mo. 
se ke os because they shift their strength from 
side to side and this weakens them’? Phooie. 
SE seem to sustain the shock pretty 
well. 
When is your greenhouse open? We would 
like to drive down to see your plants? 
Open any time—frequently out of town over 
weekends. But I should warn you before you 
drive any distance that there isn’t much to 
see. We do mail-order stuff exclusively—no 
big specimen plants. Trays of sprouting leaves 
and baby plants may be slightly interesting, 
but are certainly nothing to come 500 miles 
out of your way to view. If your itinerary is to 
bring you to Arkansas, may I suggest that you 
go by Springdale (above Fort Smith) and visit 
the Treasure House. Mrs. Hartenbower is the 
lady in charge of violets there, and she has 
something for you to see! It’s right on the 
highway. Can’t miss it. And for GOODNESS 
sake, ask about highways before you start 
zooming around Arkansas. We have a highway 
program under way at present. When the 
roads are good, they are very, very good, but 
when they are bad, oh my. 
Affectionately, 
“Fass 

