Notes on Planting: 265 



NOTES ON PLANTING. 



One of the most conspicuous vines of Honolulu is the Bougain- 

 villaea. It is seen growing all over a bam, a whole side of a house 

 or to the top of some tall tree. To keep it within bounds is a care, so 

 rank a grower is it in the tropics. 



This vine is a very interesting plant, brilliant with its profusion 

 of rich magenta flowers, that are really not flowers at all, but only 

 large bracts about the three small tubular cream colored flowers. 

 At San Diego the Bougainvilhea is more common than at any other 

 place in Southern California. At San Francisco and the east it is 

 only grown in the conservatory, and therefore is very attractive to 

 the visitors here. There are three varieties, all natives of Brazil and 

 in cultivation for about thirty years. 



The commonest and oldest variety in San Diego is the B. speci- 

 osa, having very wooly leaves, and blooming during the winter. 

 This sort is very hard to pro])agate and does not bloom freely until 

 three to four years old. B. glabra has a bright, glossy green foliage, 

 is as rank growing and blooms early and freely, and is virtually an 

 ever-bloomer, but the flowering is most profuse during the summer. 



Owing to the dazzling magenta color of the flower and the pro- 

 fusion of the bloom, this vine is a trying one for a small garden, as 

 every shade of red and pink in the vicinity is ruined. 



It should be planted apart from other vines and given a whole 

 veranda, trellis, bam or side of a house — even to the top — or an 

 arbor at the back of the lawn or among trees. Don't discard the 

 Bougainvilla-a, but i)ut it in the right jilace, and you will have a 

 plant of oriental splendor. If other vines are planted near by, select 

 the white flowering sorts. 



Palms are one of the most decorative and lasting of plants in 

 cultivation and should receive a great deal more attention than has 

 been given or thought of thus far by those planting in San Diego. 

 The order being pre-eminently tropical in its distribution, every sort 

 that can be grown here should be cultivated, for they give to our 

 gardens a feature never possible in the cooler climates. 



Palms are not difficult of cultivation, but they need good drain- 

 age and an abundant supply of water and considerable enriching 

 during the summer, their growing season. It is always best to 

 plant about .\])ril, rather than during the winter and they should 

 be established in boxes or pots if the l)est results are desired. Young 

 and thrifty i)alms are better than old and large ones, for the latter 

 suffer so much in transplanting that it often requires years to over- 

 come the effects. 



