HONGKONG.
No. 1908
23
REPORT ON THE BOTANICAL AND FORESTRY DEPARTMENT, FOR THE YEAR 1907,
Laid before the Legislative Council by Command of His Excellency the Governor, August 6th, 1908.
GARDENS AND GROUNDS.
Botanic Gardens.-The year has been marked by several noteworthy additions to the horticulture of the Colony. The search for a variety of Wallflower suitable for our climate has, at last, been rewarded and a successful batch of this favourite annual obtained for the first time. It will doubtless become one of the stock plants of Hongkong gardens. In this land of flowering shrubs it is not often that we find anything from outside that is worth introducing into our gardens; an exception has occurred recently, however, when shrubs of Dombeya Burgessic, seed of which had been received from Durban, flowered for the first time and proved a valuable addition to our winter-flowering shrubs. Among other plants with fine flowers added to our herbaceous list during the year may be mentioned Gladiolus yandavensis and the Gladiolus-like Watsonia Arderne. There was a magnificent show of Lycoris murea in the Old Garden in October from bulbs planted in the grass in 1904.
The Annual Flower Show was held by the Hongkong Horticultural Society in the Old Garden on the 26th and 27th of February. It was a better exhibition and was better attended
than in the previous year. The experiment of holding a Chrysanthemum Show on the 14th of November was not encouraging. The exhibits were good but the attendance most meagre. One of the features of our Flower Shows is always a collection of dwarf trees and as enquiries are often received as to the peculiar methods used in the production of these curious plants I am glad to have the opportunity of appending (Appendix A) part of the instructions issued by the Yokohama Nursery Company for their management. The weather throughout the year was exceptionally favourable for gardening. Table I shows the daily rainfall in Botanic Gardens.