Ornamentals 
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THE MOST BEAUTIFUL JAPANESE AND CHINESE EVERGREENS 
FOR OUR FLORIDA GARDENS. 
H. Nehrling. 
Mr. President , and Ladies and Gentlemen 
of the State Horticultural Society: 
There is no country in the world 
where flowers, trees, shrubs are so 
universally beloved as in Japan. 
They are inseparable from the 
life, art and literature of the people, 
and to deprive the Japanese of their flow¬ 
ers would be to take 'the sunshine out of 
their lives. Beautiful plants are enjoyed 
equally by the high and low. The charm¬ 
ing natural landscapes of the mountain 
sides, of glades and glens and along the 
lakes and rivers are a continual pleasure 
to one and all. The richer classes, in the 
seclusion of their well-kept gardens, can 
almost constantly feast their eyes on the 
beautiful, while the poor have the benefit 
of the public parks, gardens and flower 
shows, and even the poorest of the poor 
devote a few cents of their earnings to 
the gratification of their taste. Flowers 
in beautiful and tasteful china pots or 
vases are everywhere present, and the 
private grounds—but particularly the 
temple gardens—are replete with floral 
treasures. They were the delight of the 
first explorers. The pioneer botanists and 
horticultural collectors raved over the 
many new and extremely beautiful plants, 
which they discovered in the gardens and 
forests of this island empire. In fact 
Japan, and more recently also China, have 
been almost inexhaustible treasure 
grounds for the plant collector. Our gar¬ 
dens are at present replete with plants 
from these far-eastern countries. I shall 
mention here only a few. The Japanese 
Lilies are the most exquisite, the most 
beautiful in the world. The Chrysanthe¬ 
mum reigns supreme in our flower shows 
in November. The Japanese or Kaemp- 
fer’s Iris with its huge flowers in many 
fantastic colors is a glory in many of our 
moist gardens, while the Paeony is the 
undisputed queen of June at the north. 
Unfortunately only a few of these plants 
succeed well in Florida. But we have the 
gorgeous Camellia or Japonica, as it is 
universally called in the south. We have 
the deliciously scented Banana Shrub, the 
Cape Jasmine or Gardenia, the Pittos- 
porum and the Loquat, the Hortensia or 
Hydrangea, the evergreen Azaleas, the 
gorgeous Fortune’s double Yellow Rose, 
