THE PALHEIRO 69 



flowers will have developed ; and so profusely do 

 they flower that all through October in these 

 higher regions the land is transformed by their 

 rosy loveliness. Like the garden of Santa Luzia, 

 Palheiro has been made the trial-ground of many 

 an imported treasure, and many which did not 

 flourish in the warmer and drier regions have 

 succeeded admirably in the cooler and damper air 

 of the hills. 



The flower-gardens certainly show no signs of the 

 " fallen state of things " under their present owner- 

 ship, and a small enclosed garden a short distance 

 from the house is a perfect treasure-house ; though 

 naturally at its best in spring and summer, it is 

 never devoid of flowers. Here English daffo- 

 dils, pansies, and polyanthuses grow side by side 

 with many a bulb and plant which will just not 

 stand the rigours of our English winters. The 

 large-flowered violets, Princess of Wales and other 

 varieties, flower in their thousands from November 

 till April, with blooms so large that they suggest 

 violas more than violets. Freezias and ixias have 

 seeded themselves in the grass slopes of this little 

 favoured garden, where the beds are enclosed by 

 trim box hedges. At the corners or angles of the 

 beds the box is cut into all sorts of fancy shapes, 



