IN CALIFORNIA 49 



Luxuriant as is the average palm in our gardens, 

 none of them find ideal conditions for proper de- 

 velopment, so that all fall short of the beauty of 

 the same species when seen under strictly tropical 

 skies. All palms need an abundance of water and 

 unless it is given them a wealth of growth should 

 not be expected. During the winter months palms 

 need but little water other than that from the sea- 

 sonal rainfall, for they are at this time practically 

 dormant. It is during the hottest weather that 

 copious and frequent irrigations should be given, 

 for under the stimulus of our extremes of heat 

 coupled with a wealth of water the development of 

 palms and their associates nearest approaches the 

 ideal. 



Few plants lend such a delicate tropical grace to 

 the house surroundings as bamboo, nor are such 

 plantations at all out of place in more remote sit- 

 uations. The richest and most tropical vegetation 

 should always be nearest the dwelling, especially 

 plants of dignified and formal growth like the palms, 

 but as we wander through extensive grounds one 

 occasionally is charmed by finding a tropical nook 

 filled with rank, graceful, yet careless growth of 

 bamboo, banana, and similar plants. 



Palms and dracenas suitable for both street and 

 garden are : Trachycarpus excelsus, windmill palm ; 

 Washingtonia robusta, Mexican fan palm ; Washing- 

 tonia filifera, California fan palm; Livistona aus- 

 tralis, Australian fan palm; Erythea edulis, Guada- 

 lupe palm; Cordyline indivisa, dracena, or palm 

 lily; Cordyline australis, dracena, or palm lily; 

 Cocos plumosa, queen palm. 



Some of the best bamboos are: Arundinaria Fal- 

 coneri, a most graceful kind, not much over fifteen 

 feet high, with very thin stems and a mass of 



