IN CALIFORNIA 69 



yet some of our California species grow in heavy 

 adobe. 



The cactus family is one of the largest and most 

 varied of any in the vegetable kingdom and has 

 in combination more grotesque and curious forms 

 with beautiful flowers than any other group of culti- 

 vated plants. In size they vary from little gems 

 less than an inch in height and diameter to giants 

 of sixty feet, three feet through the trunk, with so 

 many curious forms as to completely baffle descrip- 

 tion. In size the flowers have no such range, but 

 several are more than a foot long and, when in full 

 bloom, of the same diameter across the mouth. No 

 family of plants can surpass the exquisite shades 

 of color to be found in cacti, ranging from white to 

 crimson, all with a beautiful satiny finish. 



WALL GARDENS 



This phase of gardening is a success in any cli- 

 mate, but is especially easy of finished luxuriance 

 in a humid atmosphere. Near the coast should prove 

 ideal, and a rough rock wall fronting the ocean 

 would serve splendidly to protect the garden, and 

 the stones could be covered on both sides. Muehlen- 

 beckia complexa, the wire vine from New Zealand, 

 could be grown on the ocean side, right next to the 

 wave-washed sands, and in a short while would so 

 cover and bind the rocks together as to make a 

 permanent protection. On the seawall in its native 

 country this vine flourishes right in the ocean spray. 



It would be preferable to have this wall widest at 

 bottom and batter or slope from each side to a nar- 

 rower top. If a core of good soil could be provided 

 and flat or broken rocks "rip-rapped" up the sides 

 success would be assured. On the inside of the wall 

 could be planted, with assurance of vigorous growth, 



