The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1939-12-27
KEY WEST WOMEN
Their Homes and Gardens
MISS MOLLY PARKER'S
GARDEN
By MYRTLE coSGRovE

Mark WILCOX SAID OF ner gar
den: IF everybody in the city
would do according to their cir
cumstances as Miss Parker has
done, Key West would be the
paradise of the nation. Be-
cause of e woman's vision, halt
an acre of rocky land, purchased
in 1880, has, in less than decade.
become the show place of the
island. Here, there is no for
mality. Nature, greatest of land
scape artists, holds sway. Nc
vases. statuary Or sundials; nc
grotesquely clipped plants OF
trees mar simplicity and SYM
metry. Northern visitors find
what imaginations have pic
tured-lavish growth of tropical
vegetation, fragrant flowers vivid
and colorful, slender stemmed
palms cutting the skyline, vel
vety butterflies idling in the sun
shine. A spot of perennial
bloom and verdure, of peace and
contentment. Only one who has
love for and deep understand
ing of nature could have con-
ceived and carried out this per-
feet Florida garden. Miss Park
er specializes in the tropic, the
exotic. Trees and plants from
the Orient mingle with the ma
tive. Dazzling in its glory is a
magnificent bougainvillaea over
hanging , trellis some seventy
feet in length. The gorgeous
Towering parts, breath-taking in
their loneliness, are of a rare
shade of American Beauty, deep
ening at twilight to a soft, vel
vety red. Spectacular is CEN
fury plant (agave Americana). Its
long, narrow leaves waving like
the tentacles of an octupus have
been frequently featured in news
papers throughout the country.
"A particularly fine specimen
Of plumbago (Plumbago auricu-
lata) 20 feet in height and said
to be the finest of its specie in
Florida, Chambers in wild aban-
don across the front of Miss
Parker's aeriolium. 1t is cover
ed with flowerettes of dainty
blue. To the side is splendid
monstera deliciosa, 40 of its edi-
BILE, cucumber like fruit was
plucked from this vine last sea-
son. "A crested cactus (Euphor-
bia Cristata) shares the place OF
honor in the cacti bed with a
night blooming cereus (Cereus
Peruvianus). This climbing cac-
tus tops by all of eight feet the
specimen pictured as the worlds
tallest in a recent issue of the
Geographical Magazine. .Typify-
ing the tropics are the many
Towering trees in which the gar
den abounds. The African whip
(Spathodia Campanulata), crown
ed with orange. red blossoms.
The Hawaiian pink shower (Cas-
STA Grandis)-its delicate coral
pink flowers massed in thick
clusters along the branches.
Erythrina indica, locally known
as the Lenten tree because of its
proclivity for blooming at this
season, has scarlet masses OF
blooms fully a foot in length.
The hibiscus tree (Thespesia
populnea) with trailing branches
is ablaze with blossoms of sun
set hue. AS an oddly, the linn
berger tree (Morinda Citrifolia)
heads the list. It's malodorous
fruit resembles limberger cheese
both in scent and looks, but has
the taste of its more ariStocratic
cousin, roquefort. Outstanding
among the trees is the breadfruit
(Autocarpus Incisa). This is the
tree that everyone reads about.
but few see, as Key West is the
only place in the country where
the true species grows. 1t is said
that the wild variety has been
successfully produced in other
parts of the state but these are
seedlings. The true specie of
breadfruit, having no seed, can
only be propagated by cuttings
/. In the city but not of it, is
Miss Parker's woodland della
bit of primitive Florida jungle.
Hidden in the depths of the gar
den, it is completely surrounded
by native palms. Water gushing
from the rocks, spills into pla-
cid pool where fishes swim and
lilies bloom. A bridge of native
limestone takes one deeper into
the shady glade where lacy ferns,
pandanus, sansevieria and def
fen bachia find a congenial home
/. :. Most astounding is the fact
that since the ground was first
prepared for cultivation scarcely
500 pounds of fertilizer have been
used. Water, declares Miss
Parker, good old Key West well
water" is largely responsible for
the amazing beauty and luxuriant
growth of this half acre of land
which artists acclaim the finest
piece of landscape gardening ir
the country.