N 2
All ferns and foliage plants in the plant houses were repotted in February; Chrysalidocarpus and Nephrolepis in the Loan Plant Compound, and elsewhere in the Botanic Gardens were divided and repotted as usual.
Plants in beds on the lower terrace were renewed with summer or winter annuals as required.
In the second quarter, the following trees, which are being tried for the first time in the Colony, were planted in suitable places in the Old and New Botanic Gardens:- Bauhinia candicans, Thuya plicata, Cupressus lusitanica, Cupressus macrocarpa, Eugenia uniflora, Eugenia myrtifolia, Gleditschia tricanthos, and a number of new varieties of Hibiscus raised in Honolulu.
Two young plants of Rhodoleia Championi, two of the white-flowered variety of Bauhinia Variegata, one of Punica Granatum and one of Zizyphus vulgaris were also planted.
The trees of Paulownia Fortunei flowered very well, but, as during the last two years, a man had to be placed there each day during the early part of the year to drive birds away whilst the buds were opening.
The Renanthera coccinea-Spider Orchid-grown in pots about the fountain made a splendid show while in flower in May.
Earth worms in lawns were very troublesome, and dressings of Cha-chai were applied on wet days; this had the effect of bringing most of the large worms to the surface, where they were collected and destroyed.
At the lower entrance to the New Garden, the remaining part of the bamboo hedge, which always became untidy in the winter months, was rooted up and replaced with Chrysalidocarpus.
Throughout the whole year, teak labels of the trees, shrubs, &c., in both gardens were renewed as required.
In front of a garden seat on the upper part of the New Garden, a few steps composed of broken green pots and cement were made to give visitors easy access to the seat, and at the same time to prevent further damage to the turf near it.
About the middle of the year, a small and disused plant house near the Macdonnell Road entrance to the Old Garden was taken down and the ground on which it stood, as well as the grass bank behind it, was cleared and used for storing pot plants.
Twelve granite slabs obtained from this old house were used as seats in various parts of both gardens.
After heavy rains on June the 11th and 12th a bank at the west end of the palm plot in the New Garden gave way and buried a few Camellias of good varieties. The soil so washed down was packed against the bottom of the remaining portion of the bank to prevent further landslips.
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