The Flowers and Gardens of Madeira

by Florence Du Cane

VILLA GARDENS TO THE EAST OF FUNCHAL (continued)

The Quinta do Til is one of the oldest villas in Funchal, and a description of it is to be found in “Rambles in Madeira and Portugal,” published anonymously in the early part of 1826, in which the writer says: “The Til is a villa in the Italian style, and possesses much more architectural pretensions than any I have seen here; but it has never been finished, and what has, bears evident symptoms of neglect. The name comes from a remarkably fine til, one of the indigenous forest trees of the island, which stands in the garden, ingens arbos faciemque simillima lauro: it is, I believe, of the laurel tribe. In the court, too, is an enormous old chestnut, the second largest in the island.”

QUINTA DO TIL

The effect of the garden never having been finished is due to the fact that the balustrade of the lower terrace still remains carried out in wood instead of stone, or at least cement and plaster, as was no doubt intended originally. Possibly the death of the original owner caused the property to change hands, and fall into the possession of one who had no sympathy with costly garden architecture. The garden has lost much of its Italian characteristics, as, though not mentioned in the above description, the lower garden was formerly planted entirely with orange-trees, and four large cypresses stood like sentinels near the fountain. Disease killed the orange-trees, as, indeed, it has killed almost all the orange-trees in the island, and the cypresses are also gone, so the garden is now entirely a flower-garden. On the upper terrace the trunk still remains of the chestnut-tree mentioned in the above description; it must have been of gigantic proportions, as the trunk measures many yards in girth. It now supports a single Banksia rose-tree, which is wreathed with its little white starry blossoms in early spring. The chestnut-tree has been replaced by a Magnolia grandiflora, which has grown into an immense tree, and is now probably one of the largest in the island. In June, when its large leathery white blossoms expand, it fills the air, especially near sundown, with its almost overpowering fragrance.

The upper terrace is laid out with beds, surrounded by box hedges a foot or more in height, which are filled with an infinite variety of well-grown plants. The garden is very sheltered, and never seems to suffer from the strong, rough winds which those in a more exposed and open situation feel so keenly. Here there comes no rude blast from the east to strip the leaves off the great begonia plants, and their brittle foliage and heavy flower-heads remain unbruised and untorn, while many a neighbouring garden has suffered severely at the hands of a winter storm. Each plant is a perfect specimen in itself, and is the result of many years’ care and attention. New-comers to the island are apt to think that in this glorious climate plants are very quickly established, that cuttings will make large plants in at most a few weeks, seeds will spring up in a night—in fact, that gardening is so easy that it is small wonder that gardens filled with plants such as we find here are to be found. Personal experience has taught me that as a rule plants are rather slow to establish, cuttings strike slowly and take a long time to make their roots, especially in the winter months, and the same applies to seeds unless they are sown in early autumn. Once established—say the second year—plants, especially creepers, will make astonishingly rapid growth, but patience is required at first, though well rewarded in the end.

It is evident that this garden is tended with loving hands, and all the necessary alterations and pruning are done under the close supervision of its owners. Their collection of begonias is a large one, and they seem to thrive better in this garden than anywhere else in Funchal, and appear to be in perpetual flower. Pelargoniums of the varieties known in England as Show Pelargoniums, and not of late years much cultivated, new favourites having ousted them from the greenhouse, are here grown into large bushes, many of them five and six feet in height. It is only growing freely in this way that one has any idea of the beauty of many plants which we only know cramped in the narrow area of a six-inch pot. In Southern Italy I remember these same varieties of pelargoniums were grown hanging over terrace walls, and possibly were even more beautiful than when receiving artificial support.

It would again be impossible to enumerate all the plants in this little garden, but it brings to my mind’s eye a vision of fuchsias, bouvardias, a beautiful deep mauve lantana, the clear yellow Linum trigynum, and hosts of sweet-scented plants, such as verbenas, sweet olives, sweet-scented geraniums, diosmas, and many others.

The lower terrace is almost entirely a rose-garden, the Til garden having always been famous for its roses.