56 FLOWERS AND GARDENS OF MADEIRA 



The upper terrace is laid out with beds, sur- 

 rounded by box hedges a foot or more in height, 

 which are filled with an infinite variety of well- 

 grown plants. The garden is very sheltered, and 

 never seems to suffer from the strong, rough winds 

 which those in a more exposed and open situation 

 feel so keenly. Here there comes no rude blast 

 from the east to strip the leaves off the great 

 begonia plants, and their brittle foliage and heavy 

 flower-heads remain unbruised and untorn, while 

 many a neighbouring garden has suffered severely 

 at the hands of a winter storm. Each plant is a 

 perfect specimen in itself, and is the result of many 

 years' care and attention. New-comers to the 

 island are apt to think that in this glorious climate 

 plants are very quickly established, that cuttings 

 will make large plants in at most a few weeks, seeds 

 will spring up in a night in fact, that gardening is 

 so easy that it is small wonder that gardens filled 

 with plants such as we find here are to be found. 

 Personal experience has taught me that as a rule 

 plants are rather slow to establish, cuttings strike 

 slowly and take a long time to make their roots, 

 especially in the winter months, and the same 

 applies to seeds unless they are sown in early 

 autumn. Once established say the second year 



