50 ORNAMENTAL GARDENING 



them of rough rock and cement, simply building them on the 

 mud with only a slight enlargement of the base, and they have 

 never cracked or settled in the least. The outside should be 

 made as rough and irregular as possible, while the seat itself is 

 made smooth and easy in which to sit. Below the seat the space 

 is to be filled in with broken rock, pounded in so that it will not 

 settle and two or three one-inch pins should be set up vertically 

 in this. The cement in the seat bottom is to be smoothed around 

 these and when it has set the pins are to be pulled out. This 

 will allow the rainwater to drain Out so that the seat will always 

 be dry. If one has no rock, wooden seats can be made; the 

 posts being driven deep into the mud. All seats should have a 

 good rake back, rocking chair fashion. 



Open spaces may be left in low grounds which if mowed oc- 

 casionally would have something the effect of a lawn. I do 

 not as yet know of any grass that would answer for lawn in such 

 locations but there is a succulent, half creeping plant (Monniera 

 monniera) that grows in brackish and fresh water swamps from 

 Maryland to Texas which, without any attention whatever, makes 

 a lovely carpet in low, open places. This charming little plant 

 bears its pale blue flowers in abundance throughout the greater 

 part of the year and flourishes in much trodden places. 



I have made some experiments in planting my low grounds, 

 some of which are very wet. The entire area is subject to oc- 

 casional overflow from Biscayne Bay during hurricane tides, and 

 I am surprised at the large number of things which do well or 

 promise to do so. Undoubtedly this list might be greatly ex- 

 tended but very good effects can be produced with the plants 

 here mentioned. 



Among the palms all the species of Phoenix which I cultivate 

 do excellently in brackish mud ; a number of them being planted 

 where they are surrounded with water during every unusually 

 high tide. Here they grow with the greatest vigor, their leaves 

 being of a rich, intense green and that without any fertilizer. 

 The list includes P. reclinata, P. tennis, P.farinifera, P. rupicola, 

 P. cycadifolia, P. tomentosa, P. paradenia, P. paludosa, P. canari- 

 ensis, P. pumila, P. humilis, P. senegalensis and P. melanocarpa. 

 I have not tried P. sylvestris and P. dactylifera on low ground but 

 believe they would succeed. All the Inodes (better known under 



