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Show JSjj) NURSERY ttxr April 28. 1982 Copyright 1982 by Edword M. Rowley ROOTED IN AMERICAN FREE ENTERPRISE JlUl) NURSERY tJ ' - . 'TV, . - yi J -; r DG DDGQG AGADrJS We Have Hundreds Of Flats Grown In Our Roosevelt Greenhouses Petunias tolerate temperatures in the twenties and branch better when it's cool, so get yours now and have a head start. FRUIT TREE J CENTER N J Plant One Of Our WINTER TESTED TREES and FLOWERING SHRUBS y-.a y ... ,y-:r-:jyy;:. t&xiyw " ;yyyyy; , , . ..';.',''' v-. Ve'vt? ri"'l'x''l a wiy to winter them over and nutVf. (Ikth fi-irrli'T. Our home gardener program on KNEU You can hear our program featuring tips for home gardeners each dav on KNEU radio. It is known as "John Benson, The Home Gardener" Gard-ener" and presents timely tips to help make your gardening experience more successful and satisfying. Tune into KNEU at 10:45 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Monday Mon-day through Friday Fri-day from now until Mav 28. ONIONS POTATOES Plonts And Sets Certlfied FRUIT TREES y y CASCADE fcpxF mm How I saved a life Dorothy let in our next-door neighbor, who had been frantically knocking on the door. "Eddie! Oh, Eddie, come quick! I think my plant is dying! I looked up from my studies into Sandra's anxious face. People had asked me for help or advice on plant care before, and have many times since, but an event of that kind w as never accompanied with such emotion. Sandra was upset and needed my help. I laid aside my chemistry book and went from our two-bedroom cracker box into Steve and Sandra Covey's three-bedroom one. Those student dwellings on Brigham Young University campus in 1957 were nothing fancy. But they gave refuge to many struggling students while they were preparing to go out and change the world. Not only w as our house very small, but much of the space was taken up by plants. They were in the w indows and on a special set of shelves above the sofa. I guess that's why Sandra thought I might help her dying plant. Steve and Sandra had a larger house because he was already part professor, working on an advanced degree. He was so absorbed in his books that he hardly noticed as Sandra directed me to a lone potted plant on a small table. Obviously it was their only plant. And it was hard to tell what it was, with its wilted leaves lying flat on the soil. My first thought as I reached to touch the soil, was that this plant was dying from lack of w ater. But water oozed out w hen I squeezed some soil. "Must be some kind of root rot." I thoucht. I had seen plants wither and die before when thev had Dlentv of w ater. That w as a cause of much concern as I struggled to understand more about growing healthy plants in the little greenhouse that Dad and I built on the farm a few years before. I lifted one of the limp fuzzy leaves. There was little weight left in the shriveled plant and my gentle tug lifted it right out of the pot. Its entire base w as a brow n mushy mass. There was barely enough tissue remaining to hold the leaves to the stubby stem. Sandra gasped at seeing the plant in that condition and her despair seemed to deepen. I had no idea what to do with this wilted heap. It had barely enough water in it to keep it from being dry and crackly. But I had to try something, to maintain my pride as well as for Sandra's well-being. Suddenly I felt the thrill of challenge welling up within me. I often have this feeling when confronted with an apparently impossible situation. My first concern was to make the leaves look like leaves again. Plump and crisp, with the hairs giving the crisp leaves a cushiony appearance, ap-pearance, rather than accenting their pathetic condition. With a knife, I carefully scraped away the brown rot, washed the base of the plant and placed it in clean water. When I returned from my class that afternoon, the leaves were firm and crisp. Then I thought of something I once saw a veterinarian do. I had gone w ith my commanding officer in the Army's Veterinary Corps to see the colonel's horse. It had a large cut on one leg and part of the treatment was to pour in some finely ground copper sulfate as an antiseptic. It had healed nicelv. It happened that I had picked up some discolored copper sulfate from a laboratory waste can a few days earlier. I thought that if blue vitriol, as it is called, was effective against bacteria in a horse's wound, it might also be against root-rot bacteria. It was worth a try. I i prepared a weak solution, swished the rotted-off plant in it for a minute or two and returned it to the jar of water. K Within a couple of weeks, little white roots were reaching from the base of the leaves into the water. I potted the plant in clean soil and ' returned it to Sandra, who had been checking often on the progress of my patient. Her face was as happy upon her plant's return as it had been sad on its departure 1 went home feeling like a great plant scientist, a successful chemist and a brave hero, all rolled into one. ' FLOWERING BULBS M f n DAHLIA GLADIOLUS ANEMONE FERTILIZERS I SEEDS I PATIO BLOCKS iVoriho romio r'TTT'i r N , food d " xr nn llN0LS Plant lawns Now STRAWBERRY PLANTS And MuchMore! RASPBERRY PLANTS &T) HIGH 0 rr VALLEY (TK ' MJJ NURSERY W WHERE GOOD GARDENS BEGIN On block ail of Rootvlt Mdlcol Clinic and around th cornr i ! i i ; f ED ROWLEY : Plan To Give One Of Our BLOOMING HANGING BASKETS for MOTHER'S DAY , They Are Ready Now SPECTACULAR! You'll Be Surprised when you see the size of our t TAIVJ JUNIPERS r growing in 1 gallon pots j Get your money's worth on thesft" and other TREES AND SHRUBS |