SHRUB GARDENING ON THE WEST COAST OF ROSS-SHIRE. 185 



of being young and sanguine, I must say I often felt doubtful myself as 

 to the result, and had I dreamed that I should live to cut down trees fifty 

 feet high, and to be tying up home-grown Eucalypti to home-grown 

 Bamboo stakes (which we have been actually doing of late), I should on 

 awaking have exclaimed, " What an absurd dream ! It cannot come 

 true." But it has. 



The climate here is decidedly favourable to many exotics, and they only 

 require shelter to be given them, and good soil provided for them, to 

 make them a success. In May I had five specially striking plants in 

 bloom : viz. a grand clump of Trillium grandiflontm, on which we 

 counted over fifty blooms ; several plants of Bryanthus, nice healthy 

 things, smothered with crimson and rose-coloured blossoms ; big patches 

 of Anemone nemorosa var. Bobinsoniana with their mauve-grey flowers, 

 just, as a lady friend remarked, made to match the ribbon on a Quaker 

 lady's bonnet ; and a fine old plant of Podophyllum peltatum, with its 

 curiously cut bronzy-green leaves and cup- shaped flowers of a lovely pink 

 and white, like big apple blossoms ; and last but not least Pyrus 

 1 Columbia,' which no scarlet Geranium can beat for colour. June pro- 

 duced all kinds of floral wonders. Ehododendron ' Pink Pearl ' was one 

 of them, and it is certainly the Queen of Rhododendrons. My vine-leaved 

 Abutilons were better than ever, and so were my Buddleias, especially 

 B. Colvilei. Calceolaria violacea was distinct and interesting with its 

 small blue slippers, but it is not very hardy, though it stood out safely here. 

 Kalmia angustifolia var. rubra was nice, and never fails like some of the 

 other Kalmias. July was rich in white flowers. The very best was 

 Escallonia pterocladon ; also E. Phillipia?ia, Leptospermum scoparium, 

 and Zenobia speciosa pulverulenta were lovely ; and for size of bush and 

 for being literally smothered with blossom, Olearia macrodonta was 

 marvellous. August, though it is a month when the blooming of shrubs 

 is nearly over, gave us more colour. The Desfontainias w T ere brilliant, 

 with their scarlet and orange tubes, and Mitraria coccinea never did so 

 well, having scores of its vermilion mitres on it. Next in beauty came 

 Veronica salicifolia, which seeds itself as if it were a native, coming up 

 in masses, and is a great acquisition in our shrubberies. I had two other 

 bright shrubs in August, viz. a Crinodendron which blossomed then, 

 whereas its big parent did so in May, and against a wall I bloomed 

 Metrosideros lophantha with its crimson bottle-brushes. 



But have I not told a long enough story ? I think I have, but I shaJl 

 be pleased to start afresh another year if my horticultural experiences 

 prove of any interest or use to any of the Fellows of our old Society. 



