Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1882-05-03
Southern Flora.
Correspondence Cincinnati Commerce

We have only time for a feeting
glance at this glory of roses in the
south. Then we4save another glance,
equally short and sweet, at the Towering
trees and climbers, and that was all.
The magnolia trees were just coming
into bloom. 1t is worth a Journey to
the south to see them. With us little
magnolia few feet high and having one
or two blossoms is treasure and rarity.
In New Orleans the great, shiny leaved
trees are everywhere. They are some
times planted in avenues, alternating
with the live-oaks. Only twice in my
life, before this southern trip, I had
seen magnolia blossoms. II was, there
fore, sight to be remembered to see
whole trees full of the splendid things,
pale, creamy, and glistening. In full
bloom some of the flowers are nearly a
foot in diameter.
In the north, too, we think we have
something worth seeing when we are
able to rear a Towering pomegranate
shrub few feet high. But we must
protect it carefully from the touch of
the chilling frost. One breath from the
ice king and it shrivels and turns black,
and that is the end of it. In winter it
must be put into the cellar or some
where. Think now how it would look to
see our small shrub expand into good
sized tree, fifteen to twenty feet high,
blooming and growing out doors the
year around. The flowers, too, are
much handsomer than with us. The
finest variety is of brilliant, burning
red color, and much larger than we COM
monty see them. The flowers sell in
bouquets in the French market, and are
as plentiful as balsams in the north in
midsummer.
You will remember, too, the little
coral plant, with it's quaint, dusky-red
poke-bonnet shaped flowers. This fa-
vorite little shrub likewise becomes a
tree In the south. 1t is found In nearly
all the yards and grounds as common as
hlacs around pretty, old-fashioned
northern homes. Here, too is that
marvellous showerer of perfumes, the
rare, sweet, fragrant olive, growing
large and luxurlant, like the pomegran-
ate and coral tree. Others might be
named, but we had not time to examine
them. The cluna tree is as large as an
elm tree at home, and bears flower ike
a lilac blossom. Another fine Towering
tree is the viburnun, and still another,
beauty, the Mexican url. Indeed, /
think, next after the roses, nothing about
New Orleans called out my admiration
so strongly as the magnificent Towering
trees and shrubs of the south. They
seem innumerable. The long strings of
gray moss attached to the forest trees
look like beggar's wash hung out to
dry. There are the same profusion and
- IL Il L
scented honey-suckles wander at will in
full bloom. At thousands of pretty
homes the columns and fronts of veran-
dahs are densely covered with the jassa-
mine vine, bearing thousands of flowers
This beautiful jassamine thriyes like
northern morning glory in June. It
covers fences and archways and every
thing else the human fancy may contrive
for it to grow on. There are several
varieties of it, both climbers and shrubs
the rarely perfumed cape jessamine
we know in the north, then the star, the
spiral, the yellow, and doubtless others
still
The snowy scarlet abJltilon grows to
size and In a profuslOn unknown with us.
| So do the hibiscus and the amaryllis.
In word nearly every rare plant we ad-
mire most and treasure and pot in our
/ greenhouses is found here outdoors and
| In size and abundance that looks like
luxuriance gone crazy. So far as could
! discover only few plants, such as the
heliotrope ever need protection from
frost. A florist showed me in green
house what he said was the largest
stephanotis vine In the United States.
1t was trained along just under the roof
of glass. It bears a small, star-ike
white blossom of enchanting fragrance
1t is the flower which the lovers in Oui-
da's novels are always giving each other
the people WHO are in love with each
other and have no business to be. In
the language of flowers the meaning LIS
dangerous love-" Here is properly
romantic hintt
These radiant southern flowers have
been telling you about are nearly all
fragrant. There is penetrating sweet
ness about them that fills the whole re-
gion with perfume. Rare, fine, family
aromatic odors from magnolia, jessamine,
rose and orange mingle all about you till
you fancy the airs of Araby the blesi are
enfolding you.