CHAPTER X 



CREEPERS 



THE year opens in Madeira with a wealth of 

 blossom, as in the month of January the bougain- 

 villeas, for which Madeira is so justly famous, will 

 be in all their flaunting beauty. It is true that the 

 lilac-coloured Bougainvillea glabra will have already 

 shed most of its blossoms, as it is a summer-flower- 

 ing creeper, but it is replaced by so many other 

 varieties that its pale beauty is forgotten. The 

 brick-red coloured Bougainvillea spectabilis which 

 must have the full force of the sun upon it in order 

 to bring out its colour to the best advantage, being 

 apt otherwise to look a false colour when grown 

 over pergolas, or corridors as they are called in 

 Madeira, or allowed to wander at will over a wall 

 or bank, provides a gorgeous mass of colour. I 

 had seen bougainvilleas in other countries, but only 

 grown against walls, and closely cropped by shears, 

 in order that the wood might be sufficiently ripened 

 by the heat of the summer to insure its wealth of 



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