Ornamentals 
J. C. Bates. 
Mr. President , Ladies and Gentlemen of 
the State Horticultural Society : 
Having been placed upon your Com¬ 
mittee on Ornamentals, I have chosen 
vines as my branch of this important 
and interesting subject. Vines appear 
to me to be somewhat overlooked or 
neglected in our State; I presume be¬ 
cause we have so many beautiful native 
vines climbing everywhere they have a 
chance, or are allowed to, they are so 
common we fail to appreciate them as 
much as we should. Indeed, I some¬ 
times think this fact may, in a measure 
at least, account for the lack of proper 
appreciation of even our beautiful 
climbing roses. Of these there are so 
many varieties that thrive splendidly 
in almost everv section of our State, 
when well fertilized and given some¬ 
thing upon which to climb, if nothing 
more than an old fence. They will 
change any unsightly object into a 
thing of beauty. The following are 
some of the desirable varieties: Sol- 
ferteer, Reve-d’Or, LaMarque, Mrs. 
Robert Peary, Estella Pradelle, Mare- 
chal Neil, Riene Marie, Henrietta, De- 
voniences, James Sprunt, Bride’s 
Maid, Clothilde Soupert, Marie Guillot 
and others too numerous to mention 
here. 
We have many native and ex¬ 
otic vines, among them the yellow jas- 
samine, otherwise known as Gelsem- 
num Sempervirens, which stands with¬ 
out an equal. It is evergreen, bearing 
very fragrant yellow blossoms, appear¬ 
ing in great profusion in early spring, 
which makes it a thing of beauty. Like 
other vines, it can be used in covering 
arches, trellises, summer houses, old 
fences, etc., and should have a place in 
every Florida garden. 
There are many other native vines 
worthy of mention, but neither time 
nor space permit their discussion at 
this time, so I will dwell on a few only 
of the cultivated varieties in more gen¬ 
eral use. Rhyncospernum jasminoides 
is a beautiful evergreen vine producing 
from April till June fragrant white 
flowers, and when in full bloom is very 
conspicuous and makes a lovely shade 
for porches. 
Mexican Pink Vine, or Antigonon 
leptopus, a perennial bearing great 
sprays or racemes of beautiful rose pink 
flowers from June till frost; heart- 
shaped leaves. 
Wistarias are deciduous vines of 
great merit, bearing clusters of flowers 
in early spring before becoming fully 
leaved. Both purple and white are de¬ 
sirable and can be trained in handsome 
tree form or allowed to climb, which 
they will do a great deal if allowed full 
sway, often covering the tops of very 
large trees, reaching a height of sixty 
feet. 
