68 



So much has been written of the 

 many beautiful places located in the 

 north, that it was a most pleasant ex- 

 perience in early March, to leave the 

 snow and ice behind, and in twenty- 

 lour hours being transported to a land 

 Of floweis. birds, and sunshine. 



About 200 miles west of Savannah, 

 lies Thomasville, Ga., and here it was 

 my pleasure to visit Greenwood 

 Plantation, a truly southern estate. 



The approach leads through the pine 

 woods and, while yet some distance 

 away, the several tall pines just inside 

 the beautiful iron entrance gates, can 

 be seen standing like sentinels against 

 the sky, I'm upon entering, the atten- 

 tion is rivetted upon the masses of 

 color along the drive, some two hun- 

 dred feet back, produced by massing 

 Indian azaleas, single varieties, n 

 large patches of one color. Here 

 several thousand plants have been 

 used from pure white to fiery red, 

 through all the intermediate shades of 

 color, and the magnificent result beg- 

 gars description. 



Large beds of cacti and the tall 

 Yucca aloifolia looked handsome along 

 the borders of the drive, while young 

 trees of the native Magnolia grandi- 

 flora recently planted, gave promise of 

 a future beautiful avenue of this state- 

 ly evergreen. 



Through trees laden with blossoms, 

 and grand specimens of live oak, with 

 English ivy hanging in festoons from 

 the trees, and across a formal rose 

 garden filled with the choicest roses, 

 could be seen the house, with its pil- 

 lars covered with Cherokee roses, and 

 set in a garden of the fairest flowers. 

 Blue single violets filled the air with 

 their delightful fragrance, and many 

 varieties of narcissus and hyacinths 

 filled the flower beds, while large 

 bushes of camellias fifteen to twenty 

 feet in height and as much in d ameter. 

 Gardenia florida nearly as large, Mag- 

 nolia Soulangeana and M. Alexandrina, 

 the double flowering Prunus persica 

 in white and pink, Exochorda grandi- 

 flora, Cercis canadense, and Wistarias 

 covering several large trees, whose 

 beauty no extravagant description 

 could possibly exaggerate, formed a 

 setting truly marvellous. Many beau- 

 tiful native palms formed grand 

 specimens on the intensely green 



H O RT 1 C U LT UR£ 



Greenwood Plantation 



July is, 190S 



Bed of Tucca aloifolia. 



lawns, while Cycas revoluta, several 

 planted together, made a unique bei. 

 Berberis japonica crowned with large 

 clusters of its metallic colored ber- 

 ries, Aucuba laurels, green and varie- 

 gated, extremely well berried and the 

 large leaved English laurel, were hap- 

 pily grouped, giving character and 

 beauty to the individual plants. Large 

 bushes of the sweet olive, Olea fra- 

 grans, filled the air with its sweet- 

 ness, and carried on the warm breezes, 

 the whole vicinity seemed filled with 

 its subtle enchanting fragrance. The 

 ligustrums here are evergreen and 

 make fine, natural specimens, and 

 when trimmed into shape take the 

 place of baytrees. 



A sunken terrace with fountains and 

 marble figures, mar to some extent 

 the natural features of this beautiful 

 place, but when tastefully planted it 

 will eventually become attractive. At 

 one end of this terrace still hangs the 

 old bell, which formerly called the 

 slave to labor, a relic of the past, but 

 a forcible reminder of the changed 

 conditions which exist today, where 

 kindness of heart prompts every ac- 

 tion, and the comfort of every employe 

 is an important factor in the quiet 

 contentment so apparent on every 



Greenwood, Front View. 



hand. Side by side with the old bell 

 floats the Stars and Stripes, and the 

 only one I saw in Georgia. 



A drive through the plantation with 

 its miles of neatly kept roads and 

 bridle paths was indeed a pleasure. The 

 yellow jasmine, Gelsemium semper- 

 virens, covered the tree tops and every 

 available support with its garlands of 

 golden yellow fragrant flowers, form- 

 ing the most graceful arches and bow- 

 ers such as nature only can produce, 

 and the floral effects were indeed sur- 

 passingly beautiful. 



The tall pines are a feature of this 

 place, as here are to be found some 

 of the finest specimens of the long 

 needle pine in southern Georgia; the 

 saw-mill has been kept away, and 

 every tree is considered almost a per- 

 sonal friend. Raising their bare trunks 

 ^eventy-five feet or more in the air, 

 with a diameter of three to four feet 

 at the base, stand these magnificent 

 monarchs, their beautiful green heads, 

 waving and shining in the sunlight, 

 and sighing in the breeze, are recol- 

 lections which cling to one's memory. 

 Underneath these tall pines the ground 

 is almost covered with palmettos, 

 which grows everywhere in abundance. 



The baby pines of a beautiful, re- 

 freshing green color, are found scat- 

 tered between trees of mature growth, 

 or assembled in colonies, the nurse- 

 ries of future giants. Here and there 

 in the more thickly wooded parts, the 

 vegetation becomes more varied. Here 

 we find a splendid example of the 

 evergreen Magnolia grandiflora fifty 

 lo seventy-five feet high, its bright 

 yieen leaves shining in the sun; these 

 are quite numerous, and when in bloom 

 must be a beautiful sight with their 

 large white fragrant blossoms. Cercis 

 canadensis is quite common through 

 the woods, betraying its presence with 

 its deep, pink blossoms, while bushes 

 of the white hawthorn flower in close 

 proximity, the contrast making a de- 

 lightful picture. Large clumps and 

 many beautiful isolated plants of the 

 wild azalea with its gloriously pink 

 sheets of dogwood in all its purity, by 

 its very abundance, was a sight one 

 blossoms, growing in all its natural 

 beauty amid surroundings calculated 

 to enhance its magnificence, and white 

 could never forget; its memory lingers 



