Indianapolis Times, Indianapolis, Marion County, 24 December 1950 — Page 29
Riley
Myers hng
REN
Holiday Gift Plants . Require Special
Care
Initial Proper Planting Makes Problems _ Of Individual Attention Easier for Owner
CHRISTMAS gift plants, like people, have amazingly individual likes and dislikes. But make them happy by studying the differences and they'll smile a long time in your winter windows. Luckily one important problem is aiready taken care of. They
come to you potted in just the leaves only temperature, water to control, The simple device of providing moisture in the air around them will add many beautiful days to their lives. One easy way to do it is the time-tested system of setting the pot on a flat dish full of gravel or pebbles. Keeping water in the dish to evaporate and cloak the plant with moist air.
Watch Drafts
THEN if you can come somewhere near to giving each plant the ideal conditions it likes you can enjoy it for weeks to come. Poinsettias like more warmth than many of the Christmas plants. They will rejoice in over 60 degrees. rather than under. But that doesn’t mean keeping them near radiators or registers —they’ll hate that. Probably their pet peeve is drafty windows, opening and closing doors that sweep cool air around them. They like sun and moderate moisture, neither drowning nor thirst. : Cyclamen on the other hand simply demand cool temperatures (preferably below 55 degrees) or they'll go into a sulk of yellowing leaves. They also demand (they're very demanding plants) plenty of water. Twice a day isn’t too often to water a cyclamen that must be kept in a warm room. Stand the pot in deep water to drink up all it can. Keep cyclamen out of the sun.
Seed Experiment JERUSALEM cherries also respond to cool temperatures (50 to 55), to plenty of water and moist air around the plant. (Try planting seeds after the “cherries” mature if you want an interesting winter project.) Christmas peppers are like Jerusalem cherries. They like
a cool temperature, humidity, They, too,
water,
~ LANDSCAPING
SHADE TREES
EAGLE CREEK NURSERY Telephone CO. 2381
may pro-
kind of soil they like best. That and sun the chief needs for you
Cyclamen.
duce seeds you can sow for late winter fun. Kalanchoe (rhyme it with “pal and Joey”) is like many a non - temperamental individual, sometimes too little appreciated. It likes (but never demands) a little water now and then, some sun, and that's about all. Being a succulent with its fat leaves full of water, it does best’ on the dry side.
Heat is Fatal
CHRISTMAS begonias will hang onto their blossoms longer if you keep them rather cool (not over 60), give them plenty of light and see that no drafts strike them. Many of the Christmas plants can be carried over to another season if you have enough skill, patience and time. But in the ‘dry air of the average warm home they are likely to be so
unhappy they will be only too |!
glad to die. If you have a barely heated sun-room or a sunny window in a cool (but not freezing) bedroom it's worth a try to carry them along just for the + fun of it. - 2) ;
Home Plumber Tip
| For emergency
iclear it up.
“plumbing,”
work on your drain.with a hand{ful of soda and a half glass of] vinegar. The action of the two ‘ingredients is usually enough to
has a new supply of mistletoe so you can get it for your holiday par-
Ae thank-you gift to “your holiday hostess), he hsa flowering plants — poinsettias, azaleas, cyclamen, You'll find a few Christmas greens here, too, for party decorations. And Hoosier Gardener says “Merry Christmas” to all his customers, new and old. Hoosier Gardener, 741 E. Broad Ripple Ave. (rear). BR. 9121 Convenient parking. * of Add Eagle Oreek Nursery's best wishes for a happy holiday to your stack of Christmas greetings. \ It's. happy holidays outdoors as well as in when ‘your yard wears quality landscaping. The broad leaved evergreens, the gaily berried shrubs
-——that-you-find-at Eagle Creek
" are lovely at Christmas time as in summer. ' Eagle Creek Nursery, US 52, 114 miles north of Trader's Point. CO. 2381. x Invited out for Christmas din-
ner? Take your hostess a Christmas centerpiece from
House of Flowers, done in Ber-
nice Brown's distinctive style. House of Flowers will be open all day to-day for your convenience. Christmas corsages,
( Advertisement)
Hoosier Gardener.
ties, Also (for a
order corsages, cut flowers and pot plants from Ceossell’s Greenhouse. Pot plants include fancyleaved caladiums, geraniums, cyclanien, Jerusalem cherries, poinsettias, Christmas cactus. -Also Christmas greens, cones, and fresh cut snapdragons and fragrant stocks for your table centerpiece, and roses - and heather. Cossell’s Greenhouse, 4010 Cossell Rd. BE. 13830.
*
Shade trees (pin oaks, sweet gums) and flowering grabs are ready for for dormant - winter planting at Midwestern Tree Experts. Call Midwestern for dependable tree service. H. N. (Mike) Engledow, Midwestern Tree Experts. CO. 2385.
* *
New Augusta Nursery says Merry Christmas to all gardeners. Many new customers found their way to New Augusta Nursery this year. This is their invitation to return next season with ail others wiio want fine
aE
other nursery stock. New Au- - gusta Nursery, 5000 W. 59th St. CO. 2658. : *
Gloxinias and yellow calla lilies are in at Bash’'s this week. The gloxinia tubers are extralarge for top-notch flowers. Also there : are bulbs for indoor forcing,
Hi RESE £
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Until 9 this evening you can |
Gardening—
Suet, Doug
Emerson Gardeners
By MARGUERITE SMITH | Times Garden Editor
FOR SOMETHING really new, up-to-date and functional in the way of Christmas tree decorations consider suet and stale doughnuts. That's what the members of Emerson Grove Garden Club used, among other equally luscious items, when they decked an outdoor evergreen for the birds’ Christmas this week. The lucky birds are those who call around at the yard of Mrs, John Walters, 1516 Roache St. = # = FOOD isn't the only problem in sub-freezing days. Theodore VanVoorhees, who's art director of the city schools, every now and then directs --some of his art work on tin cans. He turns them into bird watering troughs for the VanVoorhees “chickens.”
| Mrs. Van V. says their win- | dow feeder is so crowded with | customers they save space by hanging the little water cans beside the feeder. Mr. VanVoorhees prepares them by cutting the top almost out, using the turned black lid for a
'
of jagged edges. A continuous supply of cans
freezing and thawing punches them out of shape after a few days. % The VanVoorhees birds will drink before they. eat at their twice a day restaurant. Chief problem is the squirrel who sometimes guzzles half the water before his pals get a chance, ” » » MRS. JOEL HADLEY, publicity chairman for the Audubon Society, says it's surprising how many people fail to recognize the starling in his winter overcoat, though he's one of our commonest birds. Those huge flocks of twitter-
hnuts Are on Deck Outdoor Fir ——
bird |
hanger, and of course, gets rid
is necessary for the constant &
THE INDIANAPOLIS TIMES
Birds’ Xmas Menu | ¥
Emerson Grove Garden Club's Christmas free for
> oi
oy
: birds
is hung with delicacies for the feathered diners. Showing them is Mrs. John W. Walters, club garden chairman. Watching wideeyed are Sylvia Dyke (left) and Stephen Robert Dyke (right), 1427 Roache St., and Virginia Diane Pace, 2471 E. Riverside Drive.
ing blackbirds that congregate around the downtown office buildings are starlings, of course, but they're not true blackbirds, she writes. In the winter they're black but heavily sprinkled with small yellow white dots. The long dark bill changes to yellow .as spring approaches. No other “blackbird” has a yellow bill.
Watering Pan
|. Leave about
hammev down
over other sy p |
OR SHORT
to can when opening.
12. Fold back outside sections of hid.
make tight fold. ~~ ' 3 Bend handle hook to fasten over edge of feeder tvay or pport.
for Birds
4 ‘i
PINEAPPLE
‘of lid attached
to
-
Your Yard—
First Living Ch
It is a Norway spruce.
this right? N. A. B. A.—If you have your tree's of peal moss, straw or leaves you can just set it outdoors on top of frozen ground and throw this loose material around it. Then be sure to keep the roots moist especially if the snow happens to go away and no more falls. Your chief problem is to be sure those roots keep moist. With enough of this loose material around them they won't
THEN whenever the ground
ristmas Tree
Poses Planting Question Q.—We bought our first living Christmas tree this year, | Now we want to know what do about. | planting, especially if the ground stays frozen after Christmas. I A neighbor says we'll ‘be sorry if we plant it near the house? Is
burlapped roots packed in a tub
whether you remove the burlap. It rots very quickly.
Windbreak
DON'T plant your tree close | to the house if you're taking a | long-term view. time and careful
Mrs. Hadley notes that the starling “menace” got started when about a hundred of them were brought from Europe and released in New York City in 1890. They gradually spread west but as late as 1927 when they first appeared in Indiana they were considered rarities. For starling haters she offers a comforting thought. They really destroy a lot of harmful insects including that menace, the Japanese beetle.
» LJ - IT MUST be that snow-cov-ered ground and sub-freezing temperatures have made gardeners more than ever con‘scious of the woes of their not
80 wild friends, for another bird
fan reports his blue jays went after ashes he used on a slippery driveway spot. This in spite of grit and sand he put on their feeder. He hopes all conservationists will remember this need of their wild poultry when snow covers their usual sources of digestive grit.
* ~ " AND A last bird note comes from Miss Edwina Morrow, enthusiatic bird chairman of the state’s garden clubs. There's a national project on foot (or on wing) to start a “bluebird trail.” It's a housing project
. along all state and national highways to entice bluebirds. — EE Summ gaan.
1 |
Canasta—
Query ls fo
| really means something
By OSWALD JACOBY
EVEN AT this late date there seems to be a lot of confusion
about the use of the question: £9
“Partner, may 1 go out?” Some people think that you must get your partner's permission. This is not so. If you want to go out and know that you should go out, just do so. You are not obligated to ask your partner's permission. Others think it is impolite to go out without asking permission. This also is incorrect. The question is not asked as a courtesy to your partner. It is asked because. you want your partner to decide for you. If you know that you ought to go out, do so without asking any questions. If you know that you don't want to go out, play on without asking any questions. After all, your partner is not a mind Peader. Never give him a chance to make a mistake if it is completely in your power to do the right thing.
When to Ask
THE TIME to ask the question is when you are willing either to go out or to keep on playing, depending on, the cards in your partner's hand. If he has a good hand, you want to keep on; if he has a bad hand, you want to go out. He knows what he holds, and therefore he should make the decision. In short, when you ask permission to go out, your question like
i i
id-V
L-
Our annual post-holiday clearance of wearing apparel and accessories,
this: “Partner, you know your
ty
r Information: - I+ Does Not Ask Permission
cards, and I don't. If you like them, don't let me go out. If you don’t like them, tell me to o out.” 2 Now let's get.around to the other side of the table. Suppose your partner has asked the question and it’s up to you to do the answering. How do you decide? “
Troublesome Hands IF YOUR hand is bad, you say “yes.” If your hand is good, you say “no.” Only the in-be- | tween hands give you any trouble, > With an in-between hand, you should tend to let your partner go out. He has already told the enemy that he is ready to go out. Hence they will surely meld what they can before his next turn comes. Rather than give them that chance, you should tend to let him go out when you have no clear reason to continue the
play. ; May Say Anythin ” En Yet ying the ques-
tion, you may say anything at all — provided you are letting your partner meld out. The hand is at an end, in that case, so nothing you say can do any harm. If your intention is to keep the hand in play, you may say only one word “no.” You're not allowed to give any reasons or any other comments.
If you do happen to transmit | information in giving your neg- |
ative answer, either opponent has the right to compel your partner to go out—even though
| you have refused permission.
Q—I have some hyacinth bulbs
I want to bring into bloom for Easter. Can you tell me how to do it? 8. State St.
A—Unless you are experienced in
forcing bulbs (and the unpub-! lished part of this- letter indi-|
cates the opposite) you will do better not to aim at any special
date. For that requires prac-
tically professional knowledge of the use of light, warmth and moisture to control rate of growth. A beginner can get into enough trouble just trying to get bloom on forced bulbs. So why not play along with the
bulbs, potting them right away, |
then bringing them to the light when tops show by several) inches of growth that root for-! mation is far enough along to| support bloom. If you want to| aim at Easter anyway, just re-|
member that more light, ore |
warmth, more, moisture speeds growth. Less light, cooler temperatures, less water hold back the bloom.
See Tomorrow's Papers for Details of
| { Mr, Jacoby Is unable to an-
swer individual questions on canasta from readers. However, he will include the most fre- | quently asked questions in ‘his | column.
i | HH
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{New Year, Southerners eat
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Ayres’
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ildren’s Store
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Yo 12 on
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sia 3
That
riving with a bang when did come, caught most
Luckily even tender ron roots survived until busy gers got around to taking them up. But now they've really got to go into winter storage,
straight next spring, paper bags come in handy. Store them with one variety to a bag, mark variety names with black crayon om the bag. : Dahlia tubers, being moist
name stays on nicely until spring.
Lucky 'Vittles'
For good luck and a
called Hopping John on the first day of the year. It is made of black-eyed peas and rice.
Ham With . ..
Sauerkraut is a fine substitute for lettuce on ham sandwiches.
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inter Clearance |