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