IN FLORIDA 35 



and I am theirs, and we seem, in some measure, to understand 

 each other. It is a rest and comfort to me to go among them and 

 visit with them. 



And it seems to me that if landscape architects and those who 

 create gardens had more of this feeling we would hear less about 

 matching colors and being shocked over dreadful discords in 

 vegetation. Nature violates the rules on every hand. What 

 are you going to do with a tree or shrub that bears green leaves 

 and masses of purple flowers, the very worst of discord? This is 

 just what one of our finest Bauhinias does; so does the well- 

 known Bougainvillea, yet these are both generally admired. 



We are told that a certain class of plants is taboo, that we 

 must not under any circumstances use the Crotons, Acalyphas, 

 Pandanus or anything that has showy, variegated foliage. I 

 want to lift my voice against this. In the cold and dreary north, 

 where winter prevails for half the year, where fogs and cloudy 

 skies are the regular thing during much of the rest of it, such 

 plants may be out of place, and somber conifers and orderly 

 greens may be the proper thing. 



But Florida is a land of illimitable light and glory, where the 

 sun shines in splendor nearly every day throughout the livelong 

 year, where there is no winter and the forces of nature are always 

 active. Everything shows the effect of this splendid light and 

 heat power; the atmosphere is soft and brilliant; all animate life 

 puts on brighter colors than it does in a cold climate ; all nature 

 is simply bubbling over with life. These gorgeously colored 

 plants were developed in the tropics; they are as much a part of 

 the general scheme as are the bright feathers of parrots and pea- 

 cocks or the noble leaves of palms. In my judgment they may 

 to a reasonable extent, be mingled with other vegetation. 



The following quotation which bears directly on this subject 

 is taken from "How to Lay Out a Garden" by Edward Kemp, 

 an English gardener of the highest standing. " By a due admix- 

 ture of different sorts of plants, variety may be additionally 

 realized. The habit and character of trees and shrubs exhibit 

 a wonderful amount of variation. Some of them, indeed, possess 

 unusually striking characteristics, and assume a most peculiar 

 garb. But there is something of difference; and little peculiari- 

 ties show themselves to advantage in a small place. The selec- 



