FLOWERS FOR RICH AND POOR ALIKE—THE EXTRAORDINARY GROWTHS 
IN A SHORT SEASON—WHAT THE CLIMATE REALLY IS AND DOES 
I N going through Southern California 
one cannot but be impressed by the 
novelty and beauty of the gardens which 
surround the homes of rich and poor 
alike. Indeed, so responsive is the land 
that it is difficult to find plants in the 
gardens of the rich which are not dupli¬ 
cated in the humble cottages of the work¬ 
ing man, many a poorly constructed shack 
being glorified by roses or other flowers 
covering its crudities from sight and 
making it a bower of loveliness. 
Another striking feature is the ex¬ 
traordinary growth attained there and the 
rapidity with which plants grow. To 
Californians who go East the fields of 
summer wild flowers there are extremely 
grateful, though it is well to remember 
that the prototype of the Eastern sum¬ 
mer is the California winter, when the 
land runs riot with verdure and bloom. 
I remember well my delight at seeing a 
field of golden rod near Boston after 
many years in California, and the com¬ 
mon clover, a flower which as a boy I 
pulled to secure the sweets in each crim- 
son-hued petal. The field of golden rod 
near Arlington was perhaps two feet 
high, possibly a little higher. Last year 
golden rod was planted in a garden near 
my house, and this year I have seen it 
eleven feet tall. Everything seems to 
grow tall and big here, hence it is possible 
Charles Frederick Holder 
Author of ‘‘Life in the Open” 
A February sweet pea hedge, two hundred feet long 
and in some places eleven feet high 
to take a spot covered with unsightly 
weeds, burrowed with owl and gopher 
holes, and, by the application of water, 
produce in two or three years a place 
which the average Eastern gardener would 
pronounce the growth of a decade or two. 
Probably no country in the world makes 
a more lavish display of gardens than do 
Los Angeles, Pasadena, Santa Barbara 
and other Southern California towns in 
the winter. The latitude is similar to that 
of the Riviera, but lacks the cold and 
piercing winds which sweep over the 
Maritime Alps with blighting effect; also 
the extreme hot simoons which come occa¬ 
sionally from the Desert of Sahara. 
The gardens of Southern California 
have few, if any, menacing dangers. As 
an illustration, the heliotrope growing in 
front of my house, beneath the eaves, has 
not been frostbitten in eight years. The 
result of these conditions is shown in the 
wealth of flowers all through the winter. 
A feature particularly noticeable in this 
section is the open garden, in contrast,-as 
an example, to the gardens of England. 
The people of Southern California seem 
disposed to share their good things with 
their less fortunate neighbors, and often 
the most valuable and pretentious places 
are open to the street without sign or sug¬ 
gestion of a fence. This feature is well 
illustrated in the residence of F. T. 
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