FLORIDA STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
151 
sists in the art of the landscape gard¬ 
ener. Particularly the palms, so lav¬ 
ishly planted around the great hotels, 
in connection with other tropical 
plants, are the foundation of this 
fame. Earthly paradises have been 
made out of sandy tracts and mosquito 
infected marshes. If Mr. Flagler had 
done nothing else in his life but to cre¬ 
ate these enchanting gardens, he would 
deserve an everlasting monument. 
The palm is a formal tree. No other 
plant can be used so advantageously 
in connection with classic architecture. 
While the Giant Bamboo, formal, too, 
in outline, is more a plant to hide un¬ 
sightly places and to overshadow the 
cabin of the simple dweller, the proud 
and majestic palm always heightens 
the effect of refined and beautiful arch¬ 
itecture. But palms never must be 
grown to the exclusion of other fine 
evergreens. Avenue of palms, groups 
of palms and single specimens look 
most beautiful when bamboos, mag¬ 
nolias, royal poincianas, rubber trees 
or banyans form the background. Es¬ 
pecially the bamboos are excellent 
companion plants of all palms. 
I grow over 70 different palms in my 
garden, the most tender and the shade- 
loving species under a lath shelter. 
Though this number may perhaps be 
reduced considerably from a strictly 
botanical standpoint, they are all dif¬ 
ferent horticulturally. 
It may be well to state here that 
hardiness is frequently a question of 
size, the larger ones passing a cold 
spell unharmed, while the small ones 
perish if not protected. Many palms 
also need protection from sun more 
than from frost. This particularly holds 
true in the case of Livistonia sinensis 
and L. australis, two very beautiful 
and imposing Fan Palms. The dwarf 
Bamboo Palms (Rhapis flabelliformis 
and Rh. humilis) and all the Chamae- 
doreas and Geonomas will only grow 
in the shade. Most all species of Co¬ 
cos, Phoenix, Sabal, Acrocomia, Ore- 
odoxa, Caryota, etc., revel in bright 
sunshine. 
The preparation of the soil preced¬ 
ing the planting is the most important 
point in the cultivation of palms every¬ 
where, but particularly in Florida 
where the sandy soil is very deficient 
in plant food. Undoubtedly, many 
palms will grow in rather poorly pre¬ 
pared soil, but they have to keep up a 
constant struggle for existence, grow¬ 
ing either very slowly or being at a 
standstill for an indefinite period. Such 
specimens never will reveal their beau¬ 
ty and are always a pitiful sight. 
In setting out palms it must be our 
aim to grow them into fine specimens 
as rapidly as possible. Only as 
such do they reveal all their elegance 
and grace, their refined and unique 
beauty. For all large growing palms,, 
such as Sabals, Phoenix, Washingto- 
nias, Acrocomias, Fivistonias, Cocos,, 
etc., it is necessary to dig' large holes 
—six feet deep and six feet in diameter 
is not too much. These holes should 
be filled two-thirds with rotten wood, 
pine needles, leaves, bones and stable 
manure, preferably cow dung. Bones 
and old tin cans should be placed at 
the bottom. The entire mass must 
be well trodden down and left to the 
elements, rain and sunshine for at least 
