Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 107

GARDENING By JOSEPH WITMER I MINNEAPOLIS SUNDAY TRIBUNE I Nov. 3. 196.1 KNICK KNACK How Do Plants Survive Winter? It's a Puzzle Gardening By William Rieck the freezing-thawing belief advise not to mulch until after the first hard freeze, but they seem to forget that for before a hard freeze we have nightly freezing and daytime thawing, the same being true in early spring after the covering has been removed. ONLY IN extreme cases, however, does this condition affect more than an inch or two of surface areas. The most extreme example of freezing and thawing occurred a few winters ago when an early December very hard freeze was followed in late December by several days of warm, rainy weather which City Bird Club Is Incorporated The Minneapolis Bird Club has been incorporated as a nonprofit organization by the State of Minnesota, it was announced last week.

The club has about 1,000 members and is both the largest and fastest growing branch in the National Audubon Society, said Lawrence M. Jones. 2211 27th Av. president. Other incorporators besides Jones are Mrs.

Helen T. Lien, 5148 29th Av. club secretary, and W. S. Quam, 6045 Logan Av.

S. I The club meets on the first land third Tuesday evenings i of each month September through May in Heritage Hall at the Minneapolis Public Library. It conducts the Christmas bird count for the Audubon Society and makes several one, two and three-day trips in the area annually. For several years it has also tak en lengthier summer trips to Mexico, the Rocky Mountains, the Gaspe Peninsula and Florida. Family Spends 2 Pet.

on Cereal Products NEW YORK, N.Y.-(UPI) The average family spends less than 2 per cent of its income on cereal products or about $35 per person per year, a consumer survey con ducted by economists at Michigan State University found. Planters Help NEW YORK. Y. (IPD Pole planters equipped with brackets and light fixtures solve the problem of placing decorative living plants in areas where space is limited. Many smart metal and hardwood finished pole planters are available to accommodate an interesting floor-to-ceiling arrangement of plants in clay pots.

Prelect cHMrii, pets nd pneertyg ANCHOR AO-aiumimm or xinc-dd itaal Standard chain link or dotar-wovan Modarmaati laataBatiaB) by factay-traiaad Oldaat maker far hamaa LOW US 15 MONTH HON! TODAY UNion 6 4961 or CA 2-3230 6417 Penn Kit. Mpls. 23, Minn. Owt-af-Towa Inquiries littd No down payment 36 months to pa; lit Payment in December African Violets jj 3" ao Iii bud bloom I Meec T0NKADALE GREENHOUSES 3 173f TaakowMd Rd. Wl I44M jg IN WAItK! FENCE fVg-cjL3j i faatinvi took every bit of frost out of the ground even in beds that were mulched.

That winter was one of the kindest on record just about everything survived including young and underdeveloped perennials most vulnerable to freezing and thawing. Clinical experiments and sound observations lead to a more acceptable theory that most winter damage is caused by two other conditions desiccation and extreme fluctuations of temperature, the latter only remotely related to freezing and thawing. On the other hand, extreme fluctuations temperature and desiccation (complete drying out) are closely related. THIS PRACTICAL theory is based on what every housewife knows about a home freezer. That a severe change in temperature will usurp moisture is undeniable.

It happens in the home freezer when food is transferred from room temperature to below zero storage without a protective wrapper to conserve moisture, resulting in what is known as freezer burn. It happens on paved highways, moist in the evening but "frozen dry" by morning due to a sudden extreme drop in temperature. Noting these facts we find it reasonable to believe that mulching is for the purpose of keeping the surface temperature constant which in turn will conserve moisture even in the absence of snow. It is known that under a heavy snow covering or deep mulch the ground temperature remains fairly constant throughout winter regardless of air temperature. If we could be sure of getting ample snow, mulching would be wholly unnecessary.

Snow covering is ideal because it insulates the roots of plants against extreme temperature changes and desiccation while adding its own mors-ture to the soil. IN SUMMER a great variety of mulching materials can be used for a summer mulch grass clippings, sedge peat, peat moss, compost, manures, ground corncobs and hulls of various kinds, but these would be too expensive for deep mulching in winter. The two most practical winter mulches are leaves held in place by wire or branches and straw. Leaves, when available, cost nothing and for treeless areas straw is relatively inexpensive. Our first concern is for roses.

They are hardest to bring through the winter. Several methods of winter protection are in general use, but all seem to have advantages and disadvantages depending on the amount of work involved, and on winter conditions that, of course, are not predictable. Last winter, for example, the trenching method gave best results under adverse conditions. In the long run this method may prove to be the most reliable though it entails a lot of work. Expert rose growers in increasing numbers are staking their reputations on its merits as being worth the extra effort.

A TRENCH IS dug alongside each bush; canes are SO POPULAR LAST YEAR THAT WE BROUGHT THEM BACK AGAIN! WONDERFUL GIFT IDEA! GROW HYACINTHS S'vi'Y ill uiATrni will give you a garden of beauty that you never expected. 9 Carrots arranged alone in a manner such as this will give you a small garden of truly novel beauty. 0 Cabbage planted in the same manner will give you a plant that you can use on an occasional table in your living room. These novel gardens are wonderful projects for the children either at home or at school. Enhance the beauty by adding a red vegetable dye to the water, thereby giving a red tinge to the leaves' veins.

or no mulching. On the other hand, delphinium, daisies, platycodon, car-dinalis, coral bells and others that are not reliably hardy should be covered. If you have a garden problem, write to Joteph Witmer at the Minneapolis Tribune, Minneapolis IS, Minn. He'll be glad to help you. WAIT NOW IT'S EASY ft.

counter 915.00 ruTjinnriir' 5 ft. counter $1875 6 ft. counter $22.59 8 fa eounter $30.00 10 ft. counter. 937.50 12 ft.

counter. 945.1 Ceramic Wall Tile DO IT YOUKtU TOOIS IOANBJ Sq. Ft. Kentile Asph.lt Tile COIOIS fif" THE SALE PRICE. 55.

FORMICA REKNANTS 2x5'. 2M 3x8'. 5M 2JSx6' 3" 2'x10'7M 3x6'. 4 4x10' HM Porch Enclosures Again this year Bochmars has imported specially prepared Hyacinth bulbs from Holland to brighten your home this winter. The bulbs are grown entirely in water you can watch the roots develop through the clear con tainerl In approximately 10-12 weeks your home will be enhanced by fragrant, beautiful Hyacinths! Vegetable Garden Here is the living garden that attains the ultimate in economy and novelty.

Its main components are parts of vegetables that you would normally discard with the garbage. Common vegetables such as carrots, cabbage, potatoes, turnips, beets or any of this sort when handled in the following manner will give you a setting for your kitchen that you will admire and enjoy. The foliage from these vegetables develops in a stunted manner many times not even recognizable as the foliage that you see in the summer garden from these same vegetables. 1 Cut off the tops of the carrot a half inch from the stem. Do this to several.

2 Cut a half-inch slice from a common Irish potato, making sure you have at least one eye. 3 Cut a cabbage one-half inch down from the stump of the top. cut back to within 2 feet of the graft and tied together as compactly as possible. One half the bush opposite the trench is dug up and then the bush is gently bent over into the trench and buried with soil, later mulched with 2 feet of leaves or straw. The same trench can accommodate two bushes.

Come spring, the canes emerge as green as they were in the fall and with half the roots undisturbed the bush is ready to go. The hilling method is widely used, a mound of soil being placed against the base of the bush, a foot high and wide. This might be called semitrenching since the lower part of the bush is buried without disturbing the roots, but invariably that part of the canes above the mound will blacken and must be pruned back in spring. The straight leaf mulch is more common among gardeners whose time is limited sometimes effective; sometimes not. With this method the bed or bush is encircled with wire 3 feet in diameter and filled with leaves to a height of 2 feet.

Climbing roses should be taken off their trellis, old nonbloom-ing canes removed, the others tied together, laid on the ground covered with soil and heavily mulched. Do not remove any of this year's growth that bears bloom next year. Tree roses may be trenched or if grown in tubs can be stored in the garage over winter. CLEMATIS, which blooms on old wood, should be left as is, mulched WHAT'S YOUR PORCH PROBLEM? Rain and wind ruin your porch parties? Insect trouble? Porch unusable except' for a few choice days each year? Seasonal moving and storing of porch furniture? Unseasonable cold weather force you inside? No porch at oil? (We build complete porches.) 4 Cut beet or turnip down one-half inch from top. Select a pie tin, cake pan or a soup dish and fill with sand.

Arrange the cut vegetables with the cut surface into the sand approximately one-quarter inch deep, with the cabbage in the center, potatoes, beets and so forth, arranging in the manner you choose. 7 Set the dish in a sunny location in the kitchen and water until level reaches the top surface of sand. This garden takes lots of water keep moist. 3 In a matter of days these vegetables will start to sprout and in a short time around the base. Dead wood then is removed in the spring.

Varieties that bloom on new growth can be cut back to grade and mulched. Many of the hardier perennials such as peonies, daylilies, hostas, lythrum, astilbe, shrub roses, bleeding heart and rudbeckia have shown that they can survive winter with little DON'T DO IT INSTALL-UR-SELF ru-ritauTiD FORMICA CURVED COUNTER iKS. TOPS No-Diir idci ON PLYWOOD hi Quality Only kenthe vinyl asbestos tile 0 HANOSOMI COIOIS TILE ftC SALE PRICE .7 PLASTIC WALL TILE SI Cobra I from ww. .4 2 I ACOUSTICAL TILE For Amusement Rooms 16c value quality qi. only i e) NetMnej eWwit yeevs fe It If nv 4 Solve We have come a long way in finding out what happens to garden plants in winter, but the final conclusion is yet to be determined.

Several theories have been advanced along with some second guessing as Witmer to why winter mulching is necessary. The most prevalent theory holds that mulching prevents freezing and thawing, but this theory must be looked upon with reservations. Proponents of By RALPH and TERRY KOVEL Mark Twain's writings inspired many of us, but one artist of the 19th century interpreted his works in a unique way. He carved a wooden figure of Colonel Sellers, the master huckster from Mark Twain's book "The Gilded Age." This figure stood in front of an apothecary shop in Sellersville, Pa. It's purpose was to urge the passing public to stop and buy.

Q. What is the story he-hind the willow pattern? A. The willow pattern that pictures a bridge, three figures, birds, trees and a Chinese landscape was first introduced to England in 1780 by Thomas Turner. The pattern became popular immediately and has been reproduced ever since. The legend connected with willow ware was invented long after the pattern first arrived in England because no Chinese folklore was translated into English until after 1800.

While the scene was of Oriental origin, the legend of a romantic pair fleeing from a cruel father is just not Chinese in thought China was a land of arranged marriages, not of romantic love. There is one Chinese legend that may be connected with the willow pattern. A political group tried to overthrow the government and they circulated the dishes to remind the people of their aims. The three figures represent the A 4 COLONEL SELLERS Carved in WS Show to Feature 300,000 Mums More than 300,000 blooms will be on display from Nov. 10-24 at the Minneapolis Park Board's annual Chrysanthi-mum Show.

The show will be at the Park Board greenhouses, W. 38th St. and Colfax Av. from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.

daily. Admission is free. The theme of this year's show is children's story land. Last year the show attract-ecLabout 18,000 perens. km Anfeqiiecf M7 mi Bob art In Hyacinth container Stop 2.

Paper cone keeps light envoy from bud. Step 3.1 Bulb are brought into light whtnihooti are 3" tall on more. Step 4. Your Hyacinth reach final development in window light, adding thtirfragrancoand deli-cote btauty to your midwinter home. SPECIAL COMBINATION PRICE 79c 3 for 2 00 Complete foe, container, bulb, paper cone, charcoal.

lulbi Available im ffnir Whito Dlio ewtwdw add tor Mint 4 MdaMiwI Mitara. three Buddhas, past, present and future. The doves are the souls of those slain in battle. The pagoda is a symbol of a shelter for escaping monks. There are no early Chinese examples of this design known to exist.

Legend says they were all destroyed by the government Q. My grandmother gave me a tilver plated pickle jar. It hat tongt, a glatt jar on the intlde, and a titter lid. It it inscribed "Royal Mfg. Co.

Warranted, Triple Plate." How can I clean the parts that are black? A. "Royal Mf." is a mark by the Weinman Company of Philadelphia, about 1900. The piece was silver plated over white metal. If the black parts cannot be removed with silver polish the silver plate has worn off. Your pickle jar can be replated.

Shelbume Museum has printed a series of books for the collector. Woodworking tools, quilts, hat-boxes, decoys, carriages, and folk art are discussed in separate books. The pictures are excellent and the material authoritative. If Kur bookstore does not ve them write the Shelbume Museum, Shelburne, Vt. Q.

What it a fainting couch? A. A long, thin recamier sofa of the 1820s was made for the reclining woman. This lounging bench or chair was referred to as a "fathing couch." Today you would feel silly fainting into the nearest couch but in the 1800s it was quite proper behavior. Rose Society Plans Meeting The Minnesota Rose Society's annual business meeting and election of officers will be held Friday at the Student Center on the University of Minnesota St. Paul campus following a 6:30 p.m.

dinner. "The Touch of Nature," a sound film in color by James Wilkie, will be shown. There will also be a question period on rose culture. Reservations may be made by calling Mrs. Roy Helm, 929-1872, or Mrs.

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