The weekly Floridian. [volume] (Tallahassee, Fla.) 1867-19??, 1889-04-16
THE LAND OF FLOWERS.
The Foliage and Birds Of Sunshiny
Florida.


g. E. +. Describes tue Beauties Of Spring in the
SouM-Interestin9 to LOoers Of Fyoaoers and
Bl'Hts-Descraption Of a Beautiful Country
St. Johns (N b. Progress
TALLAHASSEE, Fla, March Al had the
pleasure or attending an evening " AT Home " in
one OF FOridas fine mansions and there met
what we call at the North some of the elite of
Tallahassee society, consisting of ex-gOvernOrs
and judges and high officials, such as reside at
the capital OF the Slate-the counterpart of our
| provincial capital-aso medical and other pro-
lesslOnal gentlemen, besides CAPTAIN of II. NJ
Royal Engineers here for the present There
was also an authOress of stately presence, a
daughter OF Ex-Governor Call, deceased who
held office during the Jackson presidential term.
when Florida was yet a territory From this
lady L obtained considerable information upon
the early history OF this country and also a copy
of her work, known as Florida Breezes, by Ellen
Call Long-the composition of which displays
considerable literary ability and research, while
the book is especially ediyng to a stranger and
sojOurner like myself in quest of information up.
on the early history and Indian struggles of
Florida and interesting incidents connected there
with, somewhat blended with romance but pre-.
sented in highly picturesque and artistic man
ner 1t is altogether work not only of great
interest and value but we'll worthy of preserya-
ton in the university library of this pa ;e which
returned to our homes at an early hour, and shall
not soon forget the hOsptaties Of our host anG
hostess OF course, ii it were in New Bruns-
wick, Progress would not hesitate to parade all
our names before its readers, | am afraid were
| to do this " on the present OCCASION" il n ight
cause a mild shock to the tender susceptbli'l.s
OF our Florida friends, whose attentions dul 'ng
our short stay here have been very kind and
unexpt cied.
For 10. the winter is past the rain is over
and gone-the flowers appear on the earth-the
time Of the singing of birds has come"
We have just entered March, and are sur
rounded by all the Palestine loveiness Of nature
so beautifully described by the sweet singer of
Israel. According to my reading Il The map,
Jerusalem is situated in the same parallel OF
latitude as Tallahassee between 30 and 81
degrees north. | doubt if there ca be much, if
any difference in the temperate, pf the two
places, whatever way the lsotherr me trends,
if one may take the above quO;a-- as an evil
dence OF the springs advan ,emcnt in the
respective hemispheres-for her truly, as at
Jerusalem the time OF the singing 81 birds has
come, and the flowers in these ca - days OF
March appearing ION the earth" arc f"ally
delight to behold. Not only are inc in the
gardens, but even in the neighborin woods
which outrageous with trailing vines,
be,it cled with blossoms Of every hue and shape.
such as we in picture books, while the
atmosphere around is mpregnaed with the
itself, in its pristine state, not diluted like that
we obtain from our druggists bottled up, and
used at home to bedew ourselves on gala occa-
sions.
In former letter stated that in January and
February the gtrdens were alive with flowers,
such the camelia japonca, jessamine, roses
etc, ETC. This was the winter bloom; we are
in The spring b.Oom-( thermometer rising
into the 70s, with scarcely any chauge)-such
the yellow iessamine, growing wild in the
woods, perfume delicious, but like deceitful
folks, poisonous at the heart or stamen, and
dangerous at close quarters pretty much like
the northern monks hood" blue flower in
our gardens, which is death 10 children who put
ii in their mouths
Then there are the lrut-tree blossoms, nearly
all out-the lie Conte pear, the peach, the crab
apple, the prmcgranie and such lke-it is IA
sight to behold the pink, brown and white
bloom in the orchards and gardens, Just now.
The roses continue to develop increasing in
size and beauty with the advancing season.
The Cherokee rose, a small white floral beauty,
is bursting its buds and taking possession of
everything that stands in its way; not being
very particular as to the character OF its trelhs,
it twines its branches among the trees runs up
the spouts, takes possession of veranda sup
ports invades the roofs OF the houses, and
spreads its mantle of white, lik: snow upon our
Northern house tops.
The May-lhorn is also out which stands, l
think, for the English hawthorn !; the banana
is lifting its head from its winter quarters-he
use of this word winter in this climate seems to
me like solecism-and when in full leaf will
look majestic, running up ten or twelve feet,
with long, glossy leaves. The shrub, or small
tree called here the ''red bud" Judas tree, is
all aglow with its cups of bright red, the leaves
not having yet arrived, which is a freak OF na
ture applicable to other plants or trees, the
peach for example But the beauty OF this red
| bloom is indiscrbable. The dogwOO9 is also
out, as if determined not to be behind hand in
presenting its charms for the admiration OF your
| correspondent. The verbena is in full feather
in our little garden, the white and pink daisy is
creeping all about the borders, and the hy-
! drangia--a large bush here's getting ready to
bursl into bloom. The tulip tree. with its bell
| like flowers, very like the brogmanche lily-our
| friend Bebbington will understand me-divides
the palm with the other floral beauties visible
| on all sides. The aZaa, so systematically
! trained in the north, stands in the open garden
here, a blooming sugar cask (eXcuse the rough
| ness of the cOmparisOn-siZe is intended) and
! not a bit less sweet in whatever sense we view
Then there is the fig tree We also read in
the good book, " Whenever the fig tree puts
| forth its leaves, then we know that summer is
nigh ~ may not have it altogether correct, but
| such is the substance How true our climatic
idea holds good likewise in this respect. Tor as
| in Jerusalem in the early spring, this Indication
of summer holds good so here in the same lat
tudc The fig trees in all directions are putting
out their early leaves, and so with the grapes,
also OF scriplural reference. Inc viHes with
| the tender grape give good smell, take
us The foxes the little foxes, that spoil the vines;
for our vines have tender grapes. How true,
for what flower OF the field is more fragrant
than the grape blossom? The vineyards are in
bloom in the neighbOrhOOd-as In france upon