FLORIDA .STATE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY. 
119 
and the dense Cherokee, Banksia and Mc¬ 
Cartney Roses, all hailing from Japan and 
China. For our subtropical gardens most 
of these, including the Bamboos, are ideal 
plants in every respect. They are ex¬ 
tremely beautiful, but not more beautiful 
than our own natives. It should always 
be kept in mind that the native plants 
must form the foundation of every gar¬ 
den. Among palms the Cabbage Palmet¬ 
to, and in extreme southern Florida, the 
Royal Palm should always occupy the 
first place. There is no more beautiful 
flowering evergreen tree in the world 
than our native Magnolia grandiflora. 
The charming Loblolly Bay, the Dahoon 
and the Holly, the American Olive, have 
all characters of their own, and when 
well-grown, are not outrivalled by exotic 
forms. The Live Oak is as beautiful as 
it is picturesque, and the Laurel Cherry, 
very dense and bushy, is a tree always 
graceful and conspicuous. Our native 
Juniper, commonly known as the Flori¬ 
da Red Cedar, can rival in beauty with 
many exotic conifers. The Wax Myrtle 
cannot be missed in landscape gardening, 
its broad bushy growth, and the faint 
brownish cast in the green of its aromatic 
foliage makes it particularly effective. In¬ 
deed we could make beautiful gardens in 
using only our native plants were we de¬ 
prived of exotic material. But variety is 
the spice of life, and in horticulture we 
look constantly for variety. The larger 
the number of species we grow, the more 
different their forms and flowers, the 
greater and the more lasting will be our 
pleasure. There cannot be the least 
doubt that the beautiful Japanese and 
Chinese plants supplement happily our 
own native species. 
I have experimented largely during the 
last twenty-five years with Japanese and 
Chinese plants, particularly with broad- 
leafed evergreens, having imported di¬ 
rectly from Yokohoma and Tokio large 
consignments. Many were the losses and 
few the results at first. But the blame 
was on my part, not on that of the plants. 
All these plants arrive with rootballs of 
heavy soil. If set out with the ball this 
dries out in our dry season, the roots can¬ 
not penetrate into the surrounding soil, 
and the plant is invariably lost after 
struggling hard for life. Every particle 
of soil must be shaken or washed off, 
and the plant cut back and re-set. If 
transplanted in good rich soil, it will 
usually grow. The right time for plant¬ 
ing is November and December. Out of 
a number of about 150 distinct species, I 
have found that the following are a per¬ 
fect success in my high pineland garden 
of western Orange county. 
Michelia fuscata —Banana Shrub or 
Banana Magnolia, is the jewel among all 
these plants. Flowers here at the begin¬ 
ning of April. Blossoms creamy white, 
each petal faintly edged violet. Strongly 
and deliciously fragrant, the fragrance 
reminding of ripe bananas. The form of 
the shrub, which eventually attains a 
height of 15 feet with a crown diameter 
of 10 to 12 feet, is extremely graceful. 
A native of China but largely cultivated 
in Japan, 
Michelia compressa —A native of 
southern Japan. The flowers, which are 
very fragrant, are pale yellow and over 
