The Eastern Gardener at the 

 Panama-Pacific Exposition 



By Charles H. Totty, ,J 



New 

 irsey 



[Editors' Note. — Many floral and horticultural conventions will be held at San 

 Francisco during August and September. Mr. Totty needs no introduction to the 

 hortictdturists of America. He is well known for his introductions of novelties of 

 Chrysanthemums, Roses, etc., and was selected to act on the Board of Jurors as a representative of eastern gardening interests. He went 

 also commissioned to represent The Garden Magazine, to ajford its readers at first hand some appraisal of what they may see in the 

 gardens of the Exposition.] 



IT IS as an Easterner for other Eastern- 

 ers that I review the striking features 

 of the great exposition now in progress 

 on the other side of our great continent. 

 Other visitors have told elsewhere of the 

 scenic beauties and general appeal of the 

 fair. It was my mission to look into the 

 garden features critically and it may be said 

 as a prelude that I was first startled, then 

 absorbed in interest, and finally intensely 

 gratified. Bewilderment is the first over- 

 whelming feeling. Things are so very 

 different that at first there comes a sense of 

 unreality — the plants that we know at 

 home as small pot specimens, and tender, 

 are seen as hardy subjects of tall stature — 

 geraniums used as hedges, for instance. 



When first one stands at the Tower of 

 Jewels, in the Exposition grounds, and looks 

 over the scene, it seems impossible to realize 

 that three years ago this location was a salt 

 marsh ; yet to-day we have lordly buildings 

 surrounded with beautiful trees up to forty 

 and fifty feet in height. The wizard that 

 accomplished this transformation was 

 money, and then more money, coupled with 

 wonderful climatic conditions, which render 

 possible so many things, horticulturally, 

 that could not be attempted in another 

 state. 



The thought that struck me as I wandered 

 through the grounds was the exceeding 

 beauty and repose and fitness of the whole 

 picture; no glaring note of color obtruded 

 on the senses; no inharmonious planting 

 meets the eye, the whole scene is a beauti- 

 ful picture that lulls the senses and gives 

 one a feeling of restfulness and peace. 



Down the principal thoroughfare, there 

 is a double row of Canary Palms {Phoenix 

 canariensis) , some of them very large speci- 

 mens. The trunks of these Palms are 

 hidden by Nasturtiums, whose yellow and 

 scarlet flowers give a pleasing touch of 

 color. No one looking at these Palms 

 would dream that the roots of each and 

 every one are enclosed in tubs or boxes; 

 yet such is the case, and not alone with 

 these but with all the shrubs and trees in 

 the Exhibition grounds. This was nec- 

 essary because the original soil contains 

 so much salt that plants would not thrive 

 in it. 



All along the sides of the taller buildings, 

 plantings of Eucalpytus, Bamboos, Cy- 

 press, and many other magnificent trees 

 are growing, and give a wonderful color 

 note against the yellow shade of the build- 

 ings. 



There is an exquisite bed of plants in 

 front of the Fine Arts Buildings, where a 



lagoon has been created and where the 

 landscape has been blended into the build- 

 ings by the use of walls of Ice Plant {Me- 

 sembryanthemum spectabile). These walls, 

 by the way, are one of the principal attrac- 

 tions since the whole street side is fenced 

 in with walls of the same character. First, 

 boxes are made four feet long, two feet 

 wide and some two feet deep, then after 

 being filled with soil wire netting is 

 tightly nailed on top of the boxes. The 

 plants are set in and after they have 

 made a good start the boxes are placed 

 on edge in a frame provided, so that 

 a wall is built up, which will vary from 

 twenty to thirty feet in height in (lif- 

 erent places. This wall gives the ap- 

 pearance of a solid bank of foliage on dark 

 days; but when the sun shines, the pinkish 

 flowers expand and make the wall wonder- 

 fully attractive. These walls are some 

 fifteen hundred feet long and are watered 

 from above by means of pipes along the 

 top of the wall. The picture shows the 

 street wall and a good idea of its height can 

 be surmised by the figure in the foreground 

 and the Tower of Jewels, which shows up in 

 the background. This idea of building up 

 artificial walls of foliage, may have been 

 noted in some of the Parks throughout the 

 country, but the wall at the Exposition is 

 the most ambitious and successful of any 

 that I have ever seen. 



The picture showing the Palace of Horti- 

 culture, gives one but a vague idea of the 

 tremendous quantities of Pansies that have 

 been used. These vistas were first made 

 gay with yellow Tulips and when these 

 were gone the Pansies, which had been 

 planted between the Tulips, carried along 

 the same color note of yellow and the Tulips 

 that had served their usefulness were re- 

 moved without impairing the beauty of the 

 picture. In the neighborhood of San 

 Francisco, I am informed that Pansies will 

 carry perfectly through the season, though 

 the landscape men with a thought to the 

 future have provided many thousands of 

 Begonia Erfordi to take the place of the 

 Pansies should they show any signs of 

 "giving out." The Tulips, by the way, 

 have been wonderfully fine at the Exposi- 

 tion. The Holland Government, which 

 has some ten acres of land in the Horticul- 

 tural Garden, alone planted more than 

 seventy thousand bulbs, mostly of the 

 Darwin type. In late May many of the 

 Tulips had gone, though in the Court of the 

 Four Seasons, there were still two wonder- 

 ful beds. 



To the north of the Tower of Jewels will 



15 



be seen a bed of Rhododendrons. At the 

 time of my visit, they were a magnificent 

 sight; one of the most notable and beauti- 

 ful varieties being the new large flowered 

 Pink Pearl. All of the beautiful and won- 

 derful hybrids that grow so luxuriantly in 

 France and Holland, but are not hardy in 

 the east, were here blooming profusely. 



The trees on the left of the picture are 

 not (as may be supposed) Bay Trees, but an 

 Australian shrub called Eugenia myrtifolia, 

 which is being used considerably on the 

 Pacific coast in place of the Box and Bay 

 Trees, as it seems to stand the climatic 

 conditions better. I saw some magnificent 

 specimens of Eugenia in Southern Cali- 

 fornia, sixteen feet high, absolutely per- 

 fect pyramids, from the base to the tip. 



A beautiful view of the Palace of Horti- 

 culture is shown and this picture will also 

 give one an idea of the plantings that are 

 of such interest to the horticultural visitors 

 at the Show. The central planting is that 

 of Cypress, in the background Acacia, and 

 other flowering plants in front. In the 

 Palace of Horticulture, which has for its 

 roof the largest glass dome in the world, is 

 a large collection of Palms and other plants 

 from Cuba. Radiating from the centre of 

 the Palace of Horticulture, are buildings 

 devoted to exhibits of fruits, both fresh 

 and preserved, and many other articles of 

 interest to fruit and flower growers. 



Outside of this Palace, to the south, is 

 the Garden known as "The Exposition 

 Garden," where will be found the mam- 

 beautiful exhibits by different horticul- 

 tural firms from all over the United States, 

 Holland and England. The Holland ex- 

 hibits comprise, in addition to the bulbs, 

 mentioned before, a splendid collection 

 of evergreens which are in perfect con- 

 dition. California shows many of her 

 products in the section devoted to this 

 state in the Garden, among which at the 

 time of my visit, were some handsome 

 Roses. It is well known to any one who 

 has ever been on the Pacific Coast, that 

 Roses come very much larger and finer, 

 there, than the same varieties do in the 

 East. This is accounted for by the cooler 

 nights and climatic conditions, which give 

 the buds a longer season to mature. One 

 can ramble through this garden once a week 

 and always find something new and inter- 

 esting all the time, as different varieties 

 and species of plants are being brought to 

 perfection, constantly. For instance, one 

 day I saw a fine collection of Nemesia 

 strumosa Suttoni, in California, grown for 

 the introducers. Another day, it was a col- 



