NOVEMBER 243 



Chilian plants, it simply revels in the moist climate 

 of western Britain. It is evergreen, and has the 

 delightful faculty of putting forth a second bloom in 

 late autumn. There is a plant of this species within 

 view of the window as I write which has endured the 

 rigours of five-and-twenty Scottish winters, and carries 

 at this moment over one hundred expanded blossoms. 



One other shrub let me warmly commend to amateurs 

 with sheltered gardens near the sea. It is a variety of 

 the common Hydrangea hortensia, 1 known as Mariesii, 

 and outlasts all other species or varieties in duration of 

 bloom. It is loaded now, as it has been since August, 

 with great corymbs of bright rose. Gardening books 

 will tell you not to attempt to grow Hydrangeas out 

 of doors north of the Thames valley. Pay no attention 

 whatever to the warning if you live within influence of 

 the sea. A milestone near here on the old coach road 

 marks 397 miles to London, and this hydrangea is now 

 as I describe. 



Among plants of humbler growth the Kaffir lily 

 (Schizostylus coccinea) sends up its vermilion spikes 

 till the first hard frost lays it low. It is particularly 

 fine this autumn (1908). A spring flower in its native 

 South Africa, it has never accommodated itself, as 

 most plants from the southern hemisphere do, to our 

 northern seasons, and persists in flowering in exile 



1 I note that this name is now authoritatively written hortensis, as 

 if signifying that it is ' the garden ' hydrangea ; but this is not the 

 true meaning, for the plant was named after Hortense, Queen of 

 Holland, memorable, among other merits, for having composed the 

 song Partant pour la Syrie, which served awhile as the French national 

 anthem. 



