Fatsia Papyrifera

Fatsia Papyrifera is a native of Formosa, with large cordate, somewhat lobed leaves, a most striking plant. The pith in the main stem is an inch in diameter and by a sharp instrument is cut into sheets as it is unrolled, forming the beautiful rice paper. Reasoner reports that this does splendidly with him but it fails with me; perhaps it dislikes the lime in the soil.

Fuchsia

These well-known and charming plants fail with me, and several others in various parts of the state report a like experience. Sometimes they do well in pots but they are short lived. Whenever I see beautiful pictures of them in the catalogues I get soft and send for some of them and then go through the same experience again. It only shows that we can't have everything in Florida, though we can come pretty near it.

Gardenia Florida

Gardenia Florida and its variety fortuniana are natives of China, too well known to need comment. They are hardy all through this state and do well generally except perhaps in the extreme southern portion. Here they fail, probably because of lime in the soil.

Graptophyllum Hortense

Graptophyllum Hortense is a handsome shrub from the hotter parts of the Old World. It has bright green elliptical leaves having a sort of oak leaf pattern of white laid on over the middle part with most striking effect. I think it prefers partial shade and it should be planted in a place protected from frost.

Grevillea Thelemanniana

Grevillea Thelemanniana is a most charming shrub, having handsome red flowers. I have repeatedly had this sent from California but it seems to suffer greatly in transportation, for although it has sometimes arrived in apparently good condition it has invariably turned yellow and died in a short time. Possibly if it was defoliated before being shipped it might survive. It ought to be tried thoroughly here.

Hamelia Sphaerocarpa

Hamelia Sphaerocarpa is much like our H. patens but the flowers have more of an orange tint. It is excessively tender.

Hibiscus Rosa-Sinensis, Chinese Hibiscus

There is hardly a home, either of white or black, so poor and lowly in South Florida that it does not have one or more of these "Hibiscus" as they are simply called. This shrub, the scarlet bush Poinciana, the Acalyphas and the towering coconut are the poor man's plants in the warmer part of the state, the first pioneers of home decoration, the harbingers of other beautiful things to come. The Hibiscus succeed to a certain extent to the northern limits of the peninsula; for, if frozen down in this area, they spring up with renewed vigor and are soon covered with their gaudy blossoms. One of the finest is the old dazzling scarlet; the purple crimson is very fine, so is the pink, and the salmon with a dark eye. I bought a plant some years ago advertised as a white which comes out a pale pink and turns to an almost pure white. Kirk Munroe tells me of seeing three hundred varieties of Chinese Hibiscus flowers in India. H. mutabilis has lovely large flowers that are pale pink in the morning and turn almost to red in the evening, but it is a straggling grower. H. schizopetalus has fuchsia-shaped flowers with remarkably incised petals. H. syriacus is hardy in the northern part of the state and has flowers of several colors.

Ipomoea Fistulosa

Ipomoea Fistulosa is an upright, somewhat shrubby plant bearing large purple flowers, very common in the West Indies. I have seen it in cultivation at Fort Myers where it was doing well.

Hydrangea

These well-known plants evidently dislike lime in the soil as repeated efforts made in this vicinity to grow them have failed. They do well in places throughout the state, being perfectly hardy. They prefer a rich, somewhat moist soil and partial shade. According to Schnabel they are subject to root knot at Gainesville.

Ixora

A large genus of shrubs and small trees from the Torrid Zone. The leaves are opposite and generally shining and leathery; the flowers are borne in corymbs and are often superb. Many of them are hybrids and all can easily be grown from cuttings during the warm part of the year. J. coccinea is a glorious large shrub, bearing almost continually clusters of rich scarlet flowers of great endurance; I. williamsi, reddish salmon; I. dixiana, deep orange; I. colei, pure white; J. flore lutea, light yellow; I. rosea splendens, bright rose. They are all a little tender.

Kopsia

I have a species of this which may be K. arborea. It has beautiful, obovate, thick, glossy leaves, small white flowers and handsome red fruits. It does well in pine land but is very tender.

Lagerstroemia Indica, Crape Myrtle

There are several varieties of this, the commonest being a purplish pink; there is a white and a red form, also a sort of lilac tint. They are most completely at home in the north half of the state where almost every yard is gay with their blossoms in summer and fall. They may be propagated by cuttings of the ripe wood.

Laurus Nobilis, Common Or English Laurel

It was with branches of this that the Greeks and Romans crowned the heads of their heroes. It does fairly well in Florida and is generally hardy. Cuttings planted in a moist, shady place will grow.

Lawsonia Inermis, Henna

Lawsonia Inermis, Henna, bears clusters of small white flowers which have almost exactly the odor of tea roses. It is a straggling shrub and is somewhat tender.

Ligustrum, Privet

L. lucidum and L. amurense are hardy shrubs used for hedges in the northern part of the state.

Makaviscus Arboreus