14 FLOWERS AND GARDENS OF MADEIRA 



in England as the Bride and under various other 

 fancy names, open their pale pink-and- white spikes 

 of bloom early in May. A few plants of carna- 

 tions are treasured, as they are not easy to grow. 

 Rose-trees are given a place, many being such old- 

 fashioned varieties that I could not find a name for 

 them ; while the walls of the garden may be clad 

 with heliotrope, which seems to be in perpetual 

 bloom, or Plumbago capensis, whose clear blue 

 blossoms cover the plant in great profusion in 

 late autumn and spring. In summer the yellow 

 blossoms of the Allamanda Schottii appear, and 

 later in the year the waxy-white Stephanotis flori- 

 bunda and Mandevilleas will all in turn be an 

 ornament to the garden, though in the winter 

 months their glossy green foliage will have passed 

 unnoticed. 



I consider that Azalea indica is the plant which 

 is most valued by the Portuguese. In the cared- 

 for garden it is given a most conspicuous place, 

 either planted in the open ground in partial shade, 

 or more frequently kept in pots, and tended with 

 the greatest care. In February and March through 

 many an open doorway a glimpse may be caught 

 of a group of gay-coloured azaleas, even in little 

 humble gardens which at other seasons of the year 



