CHAPTER V 



A THING of beauty is not a joy for ever in a garden. I 

 like shrubs to rest and come in their seasons, for any 

 flower that persisted all the year round would bore us to 

 death and lose its welcome. But shrubs die as well as rest ; and 

 then their seasons return, and they do not, and we miss them. 

 Fabiana imbricata y the queen of the potato family, too often perishes 

 before reaching her prime. When successful, the unskilled mis- 

 take her for a heath, since this South American has heathery foliage 

 and a profusion of small white tubular blossoms peeping from it. 

 Out of Chili she comes, but I think enjoys more sunshine than 

 most of her countrymen. I have seen this shrub, but not grown 

 it, eight feet high. The excellent Francisco Fabiano of Valencia 

 stood Fabiana 's godfather. 



Young beeches make beautiful frutescents during infancy, and 

 Fagus purpurea tricolor should be in your garden with F. asplenifolia y 

 the fern-leaved beech. F. pendula, too, is beautiful as a small 

 plant. There are good evergreen species of this genus in cultiva- 

 tion, but I do not possess them. 



Fallugia paradoxa, from New Mexico, is tender and not very 

 exciting. The flowers are white, the habit sprawly. It succeeded 

 here, but a frosty night and forgetfulness on my part finished 

 Fallugia and I have not repaired the loss. 



Feijoa sellowiana is a superb Brazilian evergreen quite hardy 

 here upon a wall. The wonderful flowers appear in pairs ; but 



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