JUNE 73 



still more beautiful is the (E. caespitosa, from the Rocky 

 Mountains ; every evening in June it will open many 

 of its beautiful, pure white flowers, large and sweet- 

 scented, but soon fading away in the next day's sun ; 

 yet if they are picked and put in water they will 

 preserve their beauty for some days. The (E. speciosa, 

 a very hardy plant from North America, is taller than 

 the other two I have named, which are both prostrate 

 plants, but bears an abundance of white flowers, which 

 do not confine their beauty to the evening and night, 

 but keep themselves well open all the day ; in some 

 soils it is apt to become troublesome by spreading too 

 much. For the funkias a dry season is most favourable ; 

 their great enemies are the snails and slugs, but the 

 dry weather keeps these at bay. I admire the funkias 

 very much; they like my soil, and grow into large 

 plants ; but I seldom succeed in flowering the beautiful 

 F. grandiflora from Japan, and I believe the only way 

 of getting it in full beauty is to grow it under glass. 



A dry season is a favourable season for trees and 

 well-established shrubs. Trees are very full-foliaged, 

 and the flowering trees are laden with flowers. The 

 tulip-tree is quite a sight with its load of pretty, sweet- 

 scented flowers ; the ashes are weighed down with 

 their * keys,' and the limes are equally weighted with 

 their flowers. But, besides flowers, some of the trees 



