10TH DECEMBER. 



MY BOLUSANTHUS tree is in flower. Perhaps it is hardly 

 a tree rather an elegant bush about 7 feet high. It is rather 

 like those beautifully-grown wistarias raised in big pots in 

 England, trained over supports, and when on show a mass of 

 bloom. I expect this is just another relic of Chelsea in a dustv 

 corner of my mind. But Bolusanthus is more delicate both in 

 flower and foliage than any wistaria, and needs no supports. 

 The leaves are a pale yellow-green, and the flowers are lovely 

 racemes of navy-blue blossoms. Usually the weather is very 

 hot at this time of year, and then the blooms are short-lived ; 

 but this year has been cool, with rain at intervals, and the 

 bush has been perfect for a fortnight and shows no signs of 

 fading. Unfortunately it has never made any seed here : it 

 belongs to the much warmer regions of the low veld up to 

 Rhodesia. It likes plenty of water in summer. I have it on a 

 steep slope so that our winter rains do not distress it, and irri- 

 gation water runs there in the summer. 



Gerbera Burmannii is in bloom. I am beginning to realize 

 that this is just as much worth cultivating as G. Jamesonii. It 

 may not prove as amenable. It is very slow, but in this locality 

 with its hot dry summers it is hardier. It only asks to be left 

 alone. It is found on the hardest and driest slopes, and on the 

 poorest of soils. If chopped out and planted, it will struggle 

 through and bloom in time. The beautiful soft pink blooms 

 with their shining black centres are as good as any of the hybrids 

 from Gerbera Jamesonii, and the blooms have the same lasting 

 qualities and artistic display so dear to the hearts of those who 

 compete in the decorative classes at the flower shows. The 

 seeds germinate well ; but I think it will be three years before 

 they arrive at flowering size. 



I have yet another Gerbera, seed of which was sent me from 

 the Transvaal. The blossoms are said to be pink, but I have 

 not yet seen it bloom. 



Last winter I found a plant of Lobostemon in flower in the veld, 

 I took home cuttings, and plants from these are now making 

 a good show. The flowers have the true " borage " colouring, 



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