VINE OF THE MONTH 
V’'LL TAKE VANILLA 
Distictus lactiflora is a most beautiful 
vanilla-scented flowering vine from South 
America. Distictus is a member of the 
Bignonia family, or what are commonly 
known as ‘trumpet vines, but it is quite 
distinct from any of its cousins, both in 
color and character. It is evergreen with 
good-sized leaves and a string climbing 
habit, though a little slow when young. 
Once established in a sunny location, Dis- 
tictus puts on a beautiful display of laven- 
der flowers for several months in the sum- 
mer when the trumpet blossoms come out— 
a rich violet with a yellow throat which, 
within a few days, shades off to a some- 
what softer color. 
This colorful vine is considered by many 
to be the finest of all climbers, and indeed 
when one beholds a good specimen in full 
bloom it is hard to imagine anything more 
beautiful. Although the plant was first in- 
troduced in Southern California many years 
ago—at least a quarter of a century ago— 
it is still quite uncommon. It has never been 
easy to increase, although the recent in- 
novations in commercial propagation have 
brought forth a fair eely of plants in the 
trade, of which we have an ample stock. 
If there is a warm situation in your gar- 
den where a vine might be planted we 
urge you to come in and see Distictus in 
bloom. It does particularly well in the 
coastal area, and no other trumpet flower, 
or any vine for that matter, can match it 
for profusion of bloom. 
Five gallon containers, $5. 
TO MOW, OR NOT TO MOW 
Landscape Lines 
Recently we were listening to an en- 
thusiastic soul describing the beauties of a 
summer morning at his Brentwood canyon 
home, ''... the sigh of the breeze through 
the Sycamores, the twittering of the birds, 
the wild Lilac in bloom on the hillside, the 
hum of the lawn mower and the smell of 
the freshly cut grass... '' We go along 
with everything, except the last. We hate 
the sound of a lawn mower and the smell 
of newly cut grass! Unless, of course, some- 
one else is doing the cutting. 
A perfect Sunday morning can be ab- 
solutely ruined by grass. You know some- 
thing has got to be done about it. It needs 
cutting. In fact it needs cutting badly. 
And not only that, it's no longer the rich, 
emerald green it showed on the seed pack- 
age; it's a kind of off-chartreuse and the 
devil grass is now making a very successtul 
fight to take over completely. What a 
beautiful morning . . . it was. 
So what we are driving at is, do we 
need so much lawn? And right there you 
can get yourself an argument. But for our 
part, we know from years of experience 
that a ''good" lawn is a luxury, the most 
expensive part of the garden upkeep. 
So we like to compromise. If a lawn is 
necessary, we make it as small as possible. 
And what, you ask, becomes of all the 
rest of the area that would normally be in 
lawn? You would be surprised at the choice 
of material that makes excellent substitutes 
for grass. And believe us, there are lots 
of things besides Ivy and Ivy Geranium. 
Many of them can be walked on like grass. 
And we don't mean Dichondra. 
The Evans & Reeves landscape depart- 
ment has designed and installed, recently, 
several gardens where, in place of lawns, 
various gravels of different textures and 
colors have been used. This kind of treat- 
ment is of course ideal for garden furni- 
ture and the maintenance is practically 
nil. Another treatment used by our land- 
scape department is a combination of red- 
wood paving blocks and Dichondra. 
So if you are a slave to a lawn mower, 
we can show you how to throw off the 
shackles . . . sit down in a comfortable 
garden chair on Sunday morning, relax 
and listen to the hum of a distant lawn 
mower. 
