Island Idyll . . . 
(Continued from front page) 
man); Plumeria in profusion from the dark 
red of acutifolia hybrids through rose, pink, 
and pale yellow, to the finest of all the whites, 
the Singapore Plumeria; Ylang-Ylang (Canan- 
ga odorata) with the unbelievable perfume of 
its pale green and cream blossoms; the flame 
of Royal Poinciana (Delonix regia); the pink, 
yellow, cream, apricot and rose of the various 
Shower Trees (Cassia species and hybrids) ; 
the gargantuan banyan (Ficus benghalensis, 
F. benjamina, and F. retusa), and so on for 
pages, some winter-flowering or fruiting, some 
summer, fall and spring. Always the skyline 
and shrubbery border are gay with color. But 
as in subtropical climates it is easy to become 
surfeited with color —— particularly with the 
gaudy Ti (Cordyline rubra), the endless 
mottled and spotted Crotons (Codiaeum), and 
the long stretches of beefsteak hedge (Acaly- 
pha wilkesiana) . 
There are many beautiful gardens, and as 
everywhere some horrid ones. It takes more 
knowledge and finesse to use large-scaled pat- 
terns and great hanks of strong-colored blos- 
soms in small gardens than it does to use less 
bold subject material. In the Islands as on the 
mainland the most beautiful homes are land- 
scaped by professional designers who have 
created and followed a plan. And there even 
more than -here does one appreciate the mas- 
terpiece of understatement — say ONE well- 
branched multicolored Croton in a simple un- 
glazed pot off center in a patio of green-leaved 
tropicals, gray and red gravel and Mondo 
grass (Ophiopogon Jaburan). 
A new hotel in Waikiki, the Breakers, on 
Beachwalk, possesses such a garden. This is an 
all-green planting mostly Monstera deliciosa, 
dwarf clumping palms, a couple of well-placed 
Dracaena marginata, Mondo grass and lava 
flag. And of course the towering coconut 
palms (Cocos nucifera). All are adaptable to 
Los Angeles except unfortunately the coconuts, 
for which we would have to substitute Wash- 
ingtonia robusta for the tall verticals. The 
building is taupe in color with the slightest de- 
tail of lacquer red, all in the simplest contem- 
porary Chinese. And in the rather small shad- 
ow-spattered patio around which the hostelry 
is situated there is ONE flowering plant, a 
great twisted Singapore plumeria with its per- 
fumed clusters of dazzling white. 
Another masterpiece is the garden of Mrs. 
Lester Marx in upper Honolulu. This is a great 
garden—15: acres, with a great house and be- 
hind it a 1500 foot green and black lava cliff 
for a backdrop. Weathered brick walls support 
a golden canopy of the large-flowered Alla- 
manda hendersoni as one approaches from the 
motor court. Wide-roofed verandas protect the 
ever-open I|iving quarters from frequent 
showers. A commodious all-brick courtyard dis- 
plays walls of mounted orchids, especially Pha- 
laenopsis hybrids, massed in a sheltered niche 
opposite a picture window. The rear of the 
house is flanked with an ample terrace which 
commands a scene which defies description— 
over a rushing stream to a steep kelly-green 
Its Time For... 
Cleaning up expended beds and _ borders, 
taking advantage of the cleared ground to do 
some good deep spading and generally im- 
proving the soil in preparation for fall plant- 
ing which should be made now for winter 
and spring blooms. 
Chrysanthemums will be putting on their 
show soon. Continue to water freely and use 
liquid fertilizers once a week. When the buds 
show color stop fertilizing but continue to water 
freely. 
Roses call for special attention. The hot 
spells have in most cases caused the bushes 
to look somewhat tired. A light pruning now 
is indicated for such plants followed up by 
generous watering and feeding. 
Watch your large specimen trees. Here and 
there one can pick out trees which obviously 
are suffering from insufficient water. The 
leaves take on a wilted appearance and there 
will perhaps be untimely leaf drop. In such 
cases there is need of deep watering, and one 
of the best ways to insure this is lay a hose 
around the tree and let the water just dribble 
for hours at a time in one spot, moving it as 
required by the tree’s dimensions. 
The old standbys for present planting are 
again available in flats—Pansies, Violas, win- 
ter Stock, Snapdragons, Iceland Poppies, Cal- 
endula and Nemesia for sunny locations, and 
for shade there will be Cinerarias and Primulas 
in variety. While these are old favorites which 
we have offered for many years, they are being 
improved continually —— better colors, longer 
blooming qualities and better performance 
generally. 
Our bulb catalog has already been mailed 
meadow studded with natural outcroppings of 
blackest lava to virgin rain forest at the foot 
of the black rock cliffs streaked with lushest 
lichens and hugged with green lianas. On 
either side of this tropical meadow are assem- 
bled in natural groves one of the most re- 
markable collections of ornamental plants in 
America, all so naturally grouped and obvious- 
ly at peace with their surroundings that they 
might all have been born there. There is a 
crooked path through a small forest of orange- 
caned 50-foot Bamboo where one strolls in 
reverence, alone with awe! and scented silence. 
As far as one can see stretch the vertical 
orange-gold boles broken by green horizontals 
of bright green leaves; the path is a sound- 
less tan mat of spent foliage, the sky higher 
than sight beyond the vaulting arches. Beyond 
the Bamboo grove one drifts into new wonders 
of color and form -- tree Medinilla magnifica 
dripping foot-long panicles of glowing pink 
bracts into a bank cover of electric blue 
Dichorisandra and white Crinum hybrids. One 
terrace features plants with wine-colored ac- 
cent -- Allamanda violacea, a scented bower of 
Quisqualis indica, seedpods of Bauhinia corym- 
bosa, a giant lipstick plant (Ochrosia ellip- 
tica). Yet for all the assemblage of botanicals, 
the exquisite collector’s items, the garden has 
great simplicity with emphasis on the drama of 
the natural setting, and it is thereby one of 
the really great gardens of the world. 
One other among numerous masterpieces of 
