660 



The Weekly Florists^ Review^ 



AritiL 11, 1901. 



vegetable industry of llvcros is enor- 

 mous, and we made an early morning 

 start to see and learn something about 

 it. 



Traversing the before-mentioned ave- 

 nue of'palms, of which there are a double 

 line on each broad sidewalk, our atten- 

 tion is attracted by a novel tree, planted 

 alternately with the phoenix, a tree that 

 at first glance looks like a pinus, but 

 possessed of a slender, airy grace, foreign 

 to that genus, when it suddenly dawns 

 upon us we are confronted by an Austra- 

 lian tree, and it is Casuarina tenuifolia. 

 Here it was a beautiful subject, shooting 

 up clear and straight and conical, like a 

 hemlock, with leafage like that of our 

 white pine and the slender, plumy grace 

 of the tamarisk. Some of the trees were 

 50 feet in height. It was a singular asso- 

 ciation, whether by accident or design 

 I could not find out, but it would be a 

 wise thing to take away all the phoenix, 

 and let that avenue become one of the 

 most unique features of the Riviera. 



Passing a number of small gardens, all 

 filled with oranges and the ground close 

 cropped with violets, anemones, Roman 

 hyacinths and narcissus, we reach the 

 Jardin de Ville de Hyeres — a sort of pub- 

 lie garden containing fine palms and 

 other exotics, all, of course, in the open 

 air; but its feature was its eucalyptus 

 trees. There will be occasion for men- 

 tioning this tree later on, but to this 

 garden must be credited the largest spec- 

 imen seen during the tour — a truly 

 gigantic tree, with a trunk girthing 

 nearly 15 feet and an enormous branch- 

 spread. Yet we were assured that this 

 tree was only planted in 1871. 



We next visited the 



Jardin do Gros Pin, 



which takes il- n; ii..,,, ;i magnifi- 



iL' ihrifin. This 



III . -tablishment, 



iiiiii.M inry, where 



iii-cil in thou- 



cent pine tree 

 was a purely ( 

 in short, a iili^ 

 rhoenix canaii^ 



sanas upon tliiiu-inil- pm -lupment to 

 florists in nortliLiii litjus. The plants 

 are raised from seed, potted, plunged in 

 nursery beds, grown in full sun and wa- 

 tered by irrigation. At the time we saw 

 them (February) they were protected 

 by hurdles made of the southern heath, 

 Erica mediterranea, laid on a light frame 

 construction, blocks of an acre being 

 covered in this way, this being sufficient 

 protection for such slight frosts as occur 

 here, while admitting enough light and 

 air to the plants throughout the period 

 of desired protection. Doubtless many 

 readers are familiar with these open-air- 

 grown phoenix, which in three years 

 make stocky plants, about two feet "high, 

 and are then shipped north, put under 

 glass, plunged in a bed of tan or other 

 warm material, and in a few months, 

 having made a new set of leaves, are on 

 the market. So sturdy and hard grown 

 are these plants that for shipment north 

 they are packed solid in box cars, as one 

 would load a car of lumber; in fact, we 

 were assured only by the possibility of 

 shipping them in this way could profits 

 accrue. 



Besides these small grades, about two 

 acres of ground was covered with a 

 structure made of bamboos and about 

 15 feet in height, filled entirely with 

 phoenix and growing bamboos by hun- 

 dreds, in pots and tubs — a grand lot of 

 stock. 



A comparatively new culture, too, is 

 the aspidistra, grown in the same way 

 and with surprising results. 



The nurseries of MM. Coufourier & 

 Burlat and M. Clin were next visited — a 

 repetition of the foregoing turning out 

 of phoenix in prodigious quantities by 

 similar cultural methods. 



Next we visited the establishment of 

 M. Delor, and were introthur.l «n cul- 

 tures of a totally ililVricni i liai a, tor. 



By way of prcfai.> ii -Imulil lie men- 

 tioned that this l.itil. xall.v .il jlyeres 

 was once a ui.mI .aaM'jr ■jni\r. liiit when 

 orange culiui. I. jm m S|iani. (cirsica 

 and other -muiImih lainiMlr- u .cased 

 to be prolitablr al llwi^-. ;iiul the neces- 

 sity for other more rcmuucrative cultures 

 arose. M. Delor worked out his own sal- 

 vation by growing roses, or, in strict 

 truth, one rose. Doubtless many of us 

 are familiar with the beautiful buds of 

 Safrano rose, abundant in the flower 

 markets of northern European cities from 

 November onward, and know they arc 

 shipped up from the south. M. Delor 

 claims to be the pioneer in this industry, 

 and we saw abundant evidence to sub- 

 stantiate his claim. After several years 

 of experiment he became a one-rose man, 

 and that one rose Safrano. Now he 

 has acres of it. But of especial interest 

 was his original plantation, made 25 

 years ago, the bushes still vigorous and 

 productive. The way it is- profitable is 

 an interesting instance of adapting 

 methods to conditions and environment. 

 Safrano or any tea rose is practically 

 evergreen and never really dormant. In 

 summer heat the flowers are full-blown 

 and useless in a few hours. But the 

 bushes are given a hard pruning early 

 in September, and the resultant growth 

 gives a crop of bloom at a time when the 

 da^'s are shorter and cooler; the buds 

 are cut hard and shipped north packed 

 m light wicker baskets. There are large 

 plots of this rose of difTerent ages, all 

 plants on their own roots, growing in 

 rows about two meters ajiart, with 

 alternating rows of grapevines. 



M. Delor is a plant lover, too, and has 

 surrounded his house with a collection 

 of the choicest. You approach his place 

 through an avenue of Phoenix canarien- 

 sis, which was as fine as anything we 

 saw. They --land about 24 feet apart, 

 havf 111 airhiu- <'c;\v stems about S feet 

 hi;;li. iiiiiii. n-.' hrads of leaves, the tips 

 ju<t i.ai, hill,, il,n~c of the next i>Uint : 

 aii.l uli.a. XM> -,i» tlinii all w.ac Iiravv 



unilu aL^i'oii^ li.'ail- 

 tremely beautiful 

 the ph<cnix wer<^ 

 next thing to con 

 his ar-n.i;.-. Thr 

 em ll.iu.a .ii.nk, 



.1 ilu- north- 

 ia dealbata\ 

 ibout Hvcre«, 

 i|. at :\r. De- 



,:il »ill hr\n 



fade from iiiniHii i I h,. 1 1, , - -a, i ,■ .,]„,, ,\ 

 40 feet hi<:li, iIimu'jIi -nh ]il,uii. .1 m 1^- ■, 

 with sprea.lin- lanl-, Inanrl,,.! d. Ilir 

 ground, and seen from a short distance 

 in bright sun, beneath a deep blue cloud- 

 less sky, it was a picture of l>eauty to 

 which no word- ran L'ivr nrlrqnatp utter- 

 ance nor aiii-r~ liin-li i r|,i .mIh. .-. Sev- 

 eral other -|NrM- 111 ,M:hl,l Urlr al!=0 Itt 



flower, one ]iai I ic nia i l\ .1. -n v iiiu nf men- 

 tion being Acacia ( iilt rifnrniis. having 

 small triangular leaves, like those of A. 

 armata, but of a bright silvery color, 

 the shoots terminated by branching 

 panicles of feathery yellow blossoms. 



Pitfosporums, eriostemons and other 

 handsome Australian shrubs were noted. 



and last, but far from least, we had come 

 all this way to see and realize the beauty 

 of an American palm, a beauty that 

 words fail to convey and that we in the 

 eastern states know nothing of, or we 

 would surely have it. The palm is Brahea 

 (Erythsea), and as growing in the open 

 ground here surpasses in beauty any 

 palm the writer has ever seen growing 

 under any condition. There were several 

 specimens, the best of tliciii having nearly 

 100 leaves, in color like |).,li,lic(l silver. 

 The bluest of blue spruce- -rciwing here 

 would look dull in compari-mi with this 

 plant. Cannot we have it? We would 

 have to grow it in tubs, but outside in 

 summer it should assume as good color 

 beneath our summer sun. Brahea (Ery- 

 tha?a) edulis was also well grown and 

 abundant in fruit, which we were priv- 

 ileged to taste and found it pleasant, 

 the hard seed enveloped in a sweet pulp. 



The Villa Amelie, a private garden, 

 was next visited, Australian plants being 

 the hobby of the at-one-time owner; and 

 here again acacias, eriostemons, metro- 

 .lideras, pittosporums, haakeas, and 

 others too numerous to mention made a 

 garden unique of its kind, with Grevillea 

 robusta as a crowning feature, and a 

 revelation to anyone knowing it only as 

 the small plants we have in pots; where- 

 as here \\a- a ■.■r.ai|i (if trees 30 feet or 

 more in h. ilIiI, \mi!i -terns girthing 3 to 

 4 feet, y.i -nil |Mi,-r,-c,l of all the feath- 

 ery grace til loliayc that commends it to 

 our favor in a small state. 



Much more of interest might be said of 

 ITvercs and it> products — the acres of 

 l.ulli-, I -pi ^I'h i;, .1,1.11, Inarinths, the 



ii..-i .ji.. • .1 • I ;, . .. Ii,.. 1 - of Globe 



.11 1 1. li..i . , ,1 1 i- nil. I fruit gar- 



Irulv in the 



Land of the Olive, 



a tree nf -.m li a ili-l im ( ivc type of 

 beauty, a- will a- iitilii\. -.. . haracteris- 

 tic ail iliii.u.^li ilii- iii.iiiiinu- district, 

 that after ..ne ha- -cm all lliat is fairest 

 and best, native and exotic, still the 

 olive comes back to mind as the predomi- 

 nating feature of the natural flora. For 

 miles we pass through olive orchards, 

 where the tree is made subservient to 

 cultural ineihiiil- ami its beauty gives 

 wav to nliliU. a -\-lerM of pruning pre- 

 Mii'lin..' ulii. Il ki.|.|.- il low with a flat 

 111.! -. ihii 11- II nils can be gathered 

 -I I ii.|iii_' ..11 ill. .jii. 1111(1. These olive 

 inviiiiiil- aliniiiiil (111 both sides of the 

 railroad till we come to 



Cannes, 



in and near to which are palatial 

 homes and gardens of exceeding beauty. 

 The first place visited was the Villa 

 Kothseliild. owned by Baron Alphonse 

 (|e Kdlii-i liild. and though comparatively 

 -MiiiU 111 ana. the garden is filled with 



A hedge uf bamboo 20 to 30 feet high 

 makes a perfect screen fidin the imblie 

 streets and a fine baeU-Knind fur the 

 massive plantings of |ialiii-. aijaves, 

 aloes, etc. Near the eniim.. ami lirst 

 to attract notice is a icun Ml. . nt -|icci- 



men of Cocos flexuosa \.ii \1 Kcse. 



with a stem about 2(1 1( d Iiil'Ii. sur- 

 mounted by a splendid head of leaves. 

 The silvery Brahea Roezli was seen in 

 fine specimens, while the massed plant- 

 ings of phoenix and washingtonias were 

 truly of tropical luxuriance. 



As a substitute for grass beneath and 

 around the palms, Ophiopogon Jaburan 



