PORTUGUESE GARDENS 11 



of a separate flower, as would be the case in an 

 English garden, but single well-grown specimens of 

 different kinds of plants fill the beds. Begonias, in 

 great variety, tall and short, with blossoms large 

 and small, shading from white through every 

 gradation of pink to deep scarlet, form a most 

 important foundation for every Portuguese garden ; 

 as, from their prolonged season of blooming, some 

 varieties seeming to be in perpetual bloom, they 

 always provide a note of colour. Pelargoniums, 

 allowed to grow into tall bushes, in due season 

 make bright masses of colour, the velvety texture 

 of their petals seeming to enhance the brilliancy 

 of their colouring. Fuchsias in endless variety, 

 salvias red and blue, mauve lantanas, scarlet 

 bouvardias, and Linum trigynum, with its clear 

 yellow blossoms, help to keep the little gardens 

 gay through the winter months. The latter, 

 though commonly called Linum, is a synonym 

 of Reinwardtia trigynum and a native of the 

 mountains of the East Indies. 



Last, but by no means least in importance, come 

 the sweet-smelling plants, essential to these little 

 miniature gardens. Olea fragrans, or sweet olive, 

 also called Osmanthus fragrans, must be given the 

 palm, as surely its insignificant little greenish- 



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