The Punta Gorda herald. [volume] (Punta Gorda, Fla.) 1893-1958, 1916-10-19
&c. A COPY; $50 A YEAR
Suggestions About Setting
Out Trees on the Streets

edge that / have of plant nurser-
les all over the world | do not
know of place where you can
buy a white Jacaranda and in this
nursery are about 100 fine young
plants just about ready to put in
the open ground. The blue Jac-
aranda in my own garden is one
of the most magnificent trees in
creation; not only is it beautiful
when in bloom but its fern-like
foliage is quite unlike the habit
of any other tree which makes it
unique and striking even if it
bore no flowers. The white Jaca-
aranda has somewhat coarser
leaves which will give a pleasing
variation when planted with the
blue one and when both are in
flower in close proximity, the con-
trast serves to enhance the beauty
of the blue.
This fac%should always be re-
membered when planting blue
flowers; be sure to have some
clear, snowy white ones near the
blue. Suppose you have blue
pansies, or torenias or ageratum
planted, in close proximity plant
some pure white phlox or white
pinks. All these ANNALS do well
in Florida if the seeds are planted
in the fall.
] To go back to the contents of
our local tropical nursery, in it
may be found one of the rarest of
palms Macrozamia spiralis which
is not listed in any plant catalog
in this country that ] know of.
Another rare and lovely plant is
Latania Loddigessii, fan palm
with tint of red in the edges OF
the leaves. The only catalog |
have that quotes this palm asks
from $5. to $40. for il. 1t won't
take long for one of the small
plants of this variety in our own
nursery to reach the $5. sixe. An
other rare shrub of most beauty
which this nursery contains is the
Brownea. 1t is not listed in this
country and so far as my knowl- {
edge goes it has only recently been
introduced to Florida.
When j. ii. Veitch, of the fa-
nous English nurseries, visited
India some years back he wrote
of the Brownea in these terms:
Opposite is the Brcgnea ave-
nue. before referred to; the trees
are not yet considered to be in full
fiower--it is too cold Though as l
write the thermometer is 72 de-
grees in my cool room) but | saw
many hundred, heads of blooms Of
of Brownea coccinea chiefly and
other species. They were, however,
not large ald evidently not full
ly developed. This avenue. or rath-
er tunnel about . hundred yards
long must be a magnificent sight
III the Towering season. There is
but little perceptible cessation of
growth in these plants all the year
round. "
Again he says: Opposite to
this is a thick bush of Brownea
grandiceps in flower, thirty-three
feet in diameter. 1t is curious
how much of its foliage is hidden,
where no light can possibly reach
it, and that many of its gorgeous
flowers are in similar position"
The temperatures in the winter
In India go quite as low as they
do here in southern Florida some
times, so that it is reasonable to
expects this grand shrub to grow
in the State where no lower than
2o degrees is registered in winter,
for short periods of time.
These are only few of the rare
things that this nursery contains.
There are flats filed with palms
of the most beautiful character
which we may hope to some
day see growing in Florida. Many
OF them are quite new and un-
known to the trade in this coun-
try. If Punta Gorda takes ad-
vantage of the privileges which
this nursery affords it, as Fort
Myers has patronized her two
home nurseries, wen soon be at
tracing as much attention to our
unexampled tropical vegetation as
India and Ceylon present to the
rest of the world. This town could
and ought to use everything that
this nursery contains, thereby
keeping these rare plants right at
home, for it's certain that when
other. towns learn of the uncom-
mon plants it contains they'll be
snapped up and carried off before
we realize what we have losS.-
MARIAN A. MEADOW.