IT’S TIME FOR... 
Three shade-loving Spring plants which make 
ideal Easter gifts flattering to any garden are the 
CINERARIA in blues from azure to indigo, tall 
or short, solid shades or patterned, and several 
other colors, $1.50 to $2.50; old-fashioned BLEED- 
ING HEART. (Dicentra spectabilis) rose to pink- 
and-white, $2. in eight-inch pots (with a small extra 
charge for attractive wrapping); and the feathery 
plumes of ASTILBE in red, white and pink at same 
price. Those who know Easter in the East or North 
may satisfy their nostalgia too with RED BUD 
(Cercis candensis), a fine deciduous small tree with 
purple-pink pea blossoms all along branch and trunk, 
$4. in five-gallon cans. Familiar shrubs of like as- 
sociation are represented by MOCK ORANGE or 
Sweet Syringa (Philadelphus coronarius}, SNOW 
BALL (Viburnum opulus), and WEIGELIA. All are 
deciduous; all are happiest in some sun and some 
shade with ample moisture. 
Another best in traditional bloom is again 
available in late-flowering AZALEAS which include : 
such BELGIAN INDICA HYBRIDS as Ernest Eck- 
hart, Mme. Monroe, and Jane Peters, fine pinks 
and reds (at $1.85 and $3.50), little planted in 
this area; late SOUTHERN INDICAS like Pride of 
Dorking, a blood-red which grows fast in sun or 
part shade, one gallon, $1.85; and the even less 
known extra-late MACRANTHA AZALEAS, the 
pink and white Gunneri and the brilliant La Cerise 
whose name describes the color. These Azaleas are 
not new, and have been show pieces of fine old 
gardens in the. Azalea belt for generations, but 
somehow have been overlooked in southwest gar- 
dens in recent years and we reintroduce them be- 
cause their lush and hardy beauty extends the 
Azalea season well into early June. 
Exotics include two ECHIUMS not described in 
the special article—E. FASTUOSUM, a blue-flower- 
ing, bold-foliaged shrub to five feet and more 
across, and E. WILDPRETI, a rose-flowered, grey 
leafed biennial to eight feet but narrow, pyramidal, 
unbranching. Both are fast-growing from one gal- 
lon cans at $1.25. April too brings again the mag- 
nificent large-flowered lavender BRUNFELSIA LIN- 
DENIANA, not to be confused with B. calycina 
floribunda, a good but less rare shrub. B. lindeniana 
has a shorter but gaudier season in some shade, 
and comes in $2.50 and $7.50 sizes. 
Now that Daffodils and Tulips are through 
blooming you don't have to let their ripening folli- 
age sprawl all over the flower beds until ripe enough 
to cut off. Give a few hours to tying each clump 
of bulb foliage into a neat bundle with a piece of 
raffia then doubling over same and tying again. 
This gives room for the plants between the bulbous 
material to grow. and cover the ripening bulb foli- 
age. When completely ripe, cut off. Also prune 
H UG l, Cvans 
The Apostle Paul is on record 
with the remark that the Athen- 
ians is his time were always seek- 
ing something new. So are we 
ourselves: we explore all the cor- 
ners of the universe by correspon- 
dence with plant collectors, Botan- 
ical gardens, and the likes, to find 
meritorious plants to enrich our 
gardens. 
When the late Ernest H. Wilson 
(one of the greatest plant collec- 
tors of all time) left England to 
explore in western China, some 
horticulturists who should have 
known better, remarked that all 
the worth-while plants from China 
had already been introduced, so 
by way of refuting this point of 
view Mr. Wilson brought or sent 
back two thousand new species. 
It does not follow, however, that 
because a plant is new or rare it 
is also interesting or beautiful, in- 
deed we have discarded many 
new introductions for one reason 
or another. And, many fine plants 
are not adapted to our climate, 
or will not succeed without special 
attention being paid to their re- 
quirements in the matter of soil 
and environment, attention which 
not all gardeners are prepared to 
give. 
While we are always concerned 
to find and grow new plants, we 
are not suggesting that any true 
and tried old plants should be 
neglected. Many of the _ finest 
things in our gardens have been 
in cultivation for years, sometimes 
indeed for centuries. Plants of this 
description have been faithful 
friends for as long as we can re- 
member and we properly regard 
them with deep affection; if they 
appear out of sorts or ailing we 
are not happy till we have re- 
stored them to health. 
back all fast-growing, early-bloom- 
ing shrubs and vines immediately 
after blossoms have passed. Prune 
(don't shear) and fertilize Hibiscus. 
Fertilize roses now and_ every 
month—steer, rose food, Super- 
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