92 IN A GLOUCESTERSHIRE GARDEN 



claws seize upon any irregularities and fix themselves 

 there most firmly, and then, as soon as the attachment 

 is complete, the long tendril begins to contract itself 

 into a corkscrew, or rather a double corkscrew (for the 

 twists are always double and in different directions), 

 until in a very few days the branch, which may have 

 been several inches from the support, is drawn close 

 up to it, and secured to it so firmly that I never 

 knew a plant blown down by the strongest wind. 

 Altogether it is a very pretty lesson in plant-life, 

 and one that can be learned and followed with very 

 little trouble. 



In a good season the garden is full of flowers in 

 August, many of which may have appeared before, but 

 that does not make them less welcome now. Roses, 

 for instance, seem not to tire in their production of 

 flowers ; and among the shrubs there are many that in 

 this month are showing a wonderful wealth of bloom, 

 such as the Japanese privets, the hibiscus, and the 

 hardy fuchsias. A few years ago it was considered 

 bad taste to admire a fuchsia; but I always valued 

 them as very bright objects in the autumn garden, and 

 I am told that they are again becoming fashionable. 

 They are all American plants, except three which are 

 found in New Zealand ; they belong botanically to the 

 same family as the evening primroses, and in the south 



