Pennsylvania School of Horticulture for Women - Wise Acres Yearbook (Ambler, PA)

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W ise-oA cres Perennial Seeds 1 pkt. Columbine—Long Spurred Hybrid......................$0.15 1 pkt. Delphinium—Gold Medal Hybrid ........................15 1 pkt. Arabis Alpine .........................................10 1 pkt. Hollyhocks, single, mixed ............................10 1 pkt. Linum Perenne .........................................10 1 pkt. Lupinus Polyphyllus ...................................10 1 pkt. Myosotis Dissitiflora .................................15 1 pkt. Digitalis—Grand Shirley ...............................15 ---- $1.00 Bulbs 50 Gladiolus Primulinus Hybrid, mixed.......................$1.50 1 doz. Darwin Tulip—Clara Butt ...............................50 Zl doz. Cottage Tulip—Moonlight ...............................30 Zl doz. Tulips Clusianna ......................................34 2J 2 doz. Narcissus—Variety Empress ............................62 Zl doz. Narcissus—Variety Emperor ............................62 Zl doz. Narcissus—Variety Mrs. Langtry .......................62 Zl doz. Narcissus—Variety Barrii Conspicuous..................50 ---- $5.00 Perennial Plants 1 Phlox—Elizabeth Campbell ................................$0.25 1 Phlox—Miss Lingard .........................................25 1 Iris—Variety Queen of May...................................20 1 Iris—Variety Blue Boy.......................................20 1 Iris—Mme. Cheran ............................................20 1 Japanese Iris ..............................................25 1 Hardy Chrysanthemum—Variety Lilian Doty....................20 1 Hardy Chrysanthemum—Variety October Gold ..................20 1 Hardy Aster—Variety Climax .................................25 1 Hardy Aster—Variety Liege ..................................25 ---- $2.25 Brier Rose—Harrison’s Yellow ..................................... 75 $10.00 chapter from “Flowers for Every Garden ” to be published by the Atlantic Monthly Press of America. T wenty'two

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School of Horticulture a careful selection of varieties had to be made. After a season or so the plants could be divided or cuttings could be made and the stock greatly increased. The selection of the bulbs presented quite a problem. With the unprecedented high prices of Narcissus due to the quarantine regulations, how was one to get any' thing at all for the modest sum of a few dollars in gold? Tulips, fortunately, have not been affected, and one can still select some of the less expensive but none the less lovely varieties. Finally, after much juggling, I had the list of bulbs complete, and included in it were fifty Gladiolus, Primulinus Hybrids mixed, which I felt was quite a triumph. One might not have the perennials in all the fullness of their beauty that first summer but if one had fifty Primulinus Gladiolus it would coni' pensate for almost anything. Some could be planted early in the season and some could be planted later to bloom with the young seedling Delphiniums, for there is hardly a lovelier combination than the soft blue of the Larkspur with the pale salmon and yellow tints of the Primulinus Gladiolus. It was a simple matter to make up the list of annual seeds and I began to be amazed at how much sheer loveliness could be purchased for the sum of our golden dollar. Never, never, should anyone say that they cannot “afford” to have a garden! One dollar's worth of thoughtfully selected annual seed will plant a bit of garden ground that will be a thing of beauty and joy the whole season through. As for my friend’s garden, by the time I had almost finished my list I began to wonder whether her 50x100 foot lot was going to hold all that she would have. After sketching out a little planting plan, however, I found that she would be able to have a really lovely flower border the first season of almost 50 feet in length and 3 to 3] 2 feet in width, and that by the second season, when the perennial seedlings would be ready to assume their full responsibilities she would be able to almost double the extent of her activities. There was, however, one last decision to make before my lists were quite complete. There was just seventy'five cents left to spend and I couldn't decide which of three things to purchase. I wanted a Peony, variety Festiva Maxima, and 1 very much wanted a Bleeding Heart because I love them so and no garden seems to me quite complete without one, and I also wanted a Brier Rose, Harrison’s Yellow, to use as an accent at the far end of the flower border. Each of the three things cost seventy'five cents and it was only after long hesitation that I reached my decision. I would forego the peony for it was, after all, easier to give that up than to give up either of the others. I would send a bit of Bleeding Heart from my own garden and 1 would spend the seventy'five cents for a Brier Rose, which, with its myriad golden blooms, would be a symbol of the magic that can turn real gold into flowers. THE FINAL LIST Annual Seeds 1 pkt. Snapdragons—Variety Silver Pink ................$0.10 1 pkt. Sweet Alyssum—Variety Little Gem...................10 1 pkt. Phlox Drummond;—Shell Pink ........................10 1 pkt. Phlox Druinmondi—Snow White .......................10 1 pkt. Shirley Poppy—single—Wild Rose Pink ...............10 1 pkt. California Poppy—Yellow and Orange mixed...........10 1 pkt. California Poppy—Rosy Queen .......................10 1 pkt. Zinnias—dwarf- Salmon Pink ........................10 1 pkt. Baby's Breath—Elegans Alba ........................10 T wenty'Onc $1.00

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School of Horticulture Tail-Feathers and Temperaments Edith H. King P) EMEMBERING Ambler, one picture comes very clear—the clean black outline of i. trees in the woods across the road; a gray sky and, flapping across it, black wings of crows in two's and three’s and straggling groups. There is much cawing to ac-complish this daily migration—harsh sounds, yet somehow not out of the picture. Going to breakfast in the early morning there were always two or three starlings conducting a Punch and Judy show in the Plane tree. I suppose they are outlaws in bird society but not less amusing for that. We worked in the rose garden with bluebirds fluttering back and forth. The croon of a bluebird is half happy, half wistful, and, to me, wholly beguiling. They miss much who have never listened for it and then hoped to see the breath-taking blue of the bird. It's an experience that can make every spring more significant. Once I found a bluebird's nest in a hollow tree—the first one! And so might you! But the nest I remember even better is the one on a long, out-reaching arm of the beech tree by the creek—the nest that was not so big as half an eggshell. 1 was idling on my back under this old tree giant when directly above my head the excited buzz and green flash of a hummer made me very suddenly alert, but still. She hated my being there, but she took up her post on the nest just the same, for there were eggs to be protected. Of course she was not to be disturbed then, but I promised myself to come back in a week and see the little birds. I didn't get back, much as I wanted to. But in the fall I made a trip to the old tree and easily reached the branch where the nest was. I still have the nest on its broken branch, but never could it possibly have been discovered without the bird herself having directed my attention. Birds along the water seem always to have a special fascination. Kingfishers— it's so easy to know Kingfishers and so endlessly interesting to watch them. And the little green heron has shadowed me up and down the banks for long distances, his curiosity almost too much to be endured. The squawk of him is fearsome. But the great blue heron! When I first saw his tracks I knew they simply could not happen. No such big bird could be, that was all, not in that little creek I knew so well. But later I saw him many times as he flew up from his wading, always having seen me first. Only once have I surprised him wading and that once was an exciting moment. Being a canny chap, he knows his head on the long crooked neck and the pointed bill, looks just like a dead limb if he keeps still enough. I looked and looked to be sure I wasn't being tricked by my imagination. When he wiggled his bill I was sure. I moved to get a better view, and as I expected, he flew. Such a spread of wing, as he has! Does he ever make a sound. I wonder? Or is he as silent as the green heron is noisy? You have seen swallows strung like beads on a wire overhead? But you may never have seen a glistening blue barn swallow trailing long wings in the muddy road while she collected mud for her nest. Their little feet are so weak that walking is a T wenty'threc