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.”
[Illustration: 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 The chestnut-tree has been replaced by a _Magnolia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.
If a few plants of a new rose are imported, the stock can be easily
and quickly increased, as the budding of roses, or even grafting,
seems an easy matter in this country. The buds take quickly, and the
stock may be either that of _Rosa Benghalensis_, which has become
naturalized in the island, or any rose which has been proved to have
a good constitution may be utilized as a parent. As I have remarked
elsewhere, the branch which has been budded is as often as not layered
in its turn, and in a few weeks will have rooted, and can be detached
from the parent plant; there seems no reason that, once a new variety
has been proved to have taken kindly to the climate and soil, a good
stock should not be procured and a large group of the same kind planted
together, whereby a much better effect is always obtained.
A creeper-clad corridor leads to the group of trees which have given
their name to the quinta.
Just above, on the Levada da Santa Luzia, is the gate of the Quinta
Palmiera, which takes its name from the large palm-tree which rears its
head proudly and stands alone in the grounds. The path leading to the
house winds up the side of the hill, through grounds which for many
years had been out of cultivation, until the property changed hands a
short time ago; but as the ground had always been left in more or less
its wild and natural state, it suffered less than if it had been a
cultivated garden.
It is a beautiful piece of rocky ground, and on one side a group
of _Pinus pinea_, stone, or parasol pines, stand towering over a
grand cliff which rises abruptly from the river-bed. In November the
rocks are covered with the red spikes of the blossoms of the _Aloe
arborescens_, and the effect with the great pines and cypresses beyond
is one of indescribable beauty. This is the only villa which can boast
of the possession of fine cypresses, and here one realizes the ornament
they would be to the island if they were more lavishly planted. The
ground near the house is admirably suited for broad terracing, and a
splendid effect could be obtained by leaving the cypresses standing out
against the distant sea. But the rock being so very near the surface,
and the absence of soil, combined with the lack of any means of
carting, would make terracing a very serious undertaking.
The grounds contain many very fine trees--among others, a very good
specimen of the deciduous cypress, _Taxodium distichum_, which is
also called the swamp, or Mississippi cypress, as the whole valley of
the Mississippi is clothed with these trees. In summer they are of a
splendid deep emerald-green, which gradually turns to a bronze-red
colour in autumn, and by December the trees are bare.
At the back of the house there is one of the largest coral-trees in
Funchal, and a very large til-tree stands immediately in front of the
house.
Among other villas with good gardens, the Deanery, which has long been
noted for its fine collection of trees, and the Achada, cannot be
omitted. The Deanery, standing in a very sheltered situation at the
foot of the Santa Luzia ravine, has proved an admirable trial-ground
for trees, shrubs, and plants which have been collected by its present
owner. From all parts of the world rare and interesting plants have
been brought, and some have been raised from seed on the spot. The
following description of the place was written in the early part of
the year 1826 by a traveller in Madeira and Portugal, and shows that
even in its early days the garden was well cared for:
“To-day we have removed to Deanery, our country-house. The house is
a very pretty one. It has not long been built, and, in fact, only a
portion of the apartments has as yet been used for residence, but
there are more than enough for our accommodation. The situation is
delightful--scarcely a quarter of an hour’s walk from Funchal, and
enjoying, from its comparative elevation, a beautiful view down the
valley to the city (which, though so near, is scarcely visible from the
orange-trees and cypresses that embower us), and to the bay and coast
and the blue Desertas beyond. Close on the west is the Santa Luzia
ravine, the farther side of which rises to a considerable height, its
cliffs terraced, in the way I previously described, into little gardens
and vine-grounds, and crowned by the trees and trellises of the Achada
Quinta.
“Our great luxury, however, is the garden. It is one of the largest
and most beautiful in the island. A spacious vine corridor runs round
nearly its whole extent, under the green arches of which in summer, you
may either ride or walk in coolness, while the interior space forms
a ‘leafy labyrinth,’ in which trees and shrubs, flowers and fruits of
every clime are here crowded into a wilderness of shade and beauty. The
higher part of the ground, upon which stands the house, is elevated
considerably above the rest, and is divided from it by a terrace of
considerable height. This circumstance is of very happy effect for the
beauty of the garden: it in a manner doubles its extent, and multiplies
its variety; while the wall of the terrace, in some parts nearly twenty
feet high, affords an admirable field for every species of tropical
creeper, to luxuriate, as it were, at full length, and to put forth its
leaves and blossoms to the sun, in all the fearlessness which such a
climate and aspect justify.
“Above the house the ground rises another step, and the boundary of the
garden here is a wall of native rock, which is already half veiled with
the trees and trailing plants interposed to relieve its ruggedness.
The freshness of the scene is completed by the tanks, always copiously
supplied with running water, and which a little trouble might, I think,
bring into play as fountains.”
Across the ravine, but at a very much higher altitude, stands the
Achada, in a commanding position on, as its name implies, a stretch
of level ground. The road leading to it from the town, known as the
Caminho da Sao Roque, as it eventually leads to the village of that
name, is almost as steep as the Mount Road, and a very pretty view
of the town is visible between its creeper-clad walls, with the
picturesque church and tower of Santa Clara in the distance. The Achada
has also long been famous for its garden and grounds. It formerly
belonged to an English family, who probably planted most of the rare
trees, palms, and Dracænas, and the large magnolia-trees for which it
has become famous. The property then changed hands, and for some years
belonged to a Portuguese family, but is now again in English hands. The
following is by the same unknown author of the above description of the
Deanery in 1826: “The English merchants all have mansions in the city,
but they commonly live with their families in the country-houses in
the neighbourhood of it. To-day we have been returning visits, which
has taken us to some of the finest of these quintas. One of them is
the Achada. The situation is delightful: it stands on a level, the
only one in the environs, just above the city, and thus enjoys an
advantage in respect to surface possessed by no other. The grounds are
extensive, rich in fruits and in flowers, and surrounded by alleys of
vine trellises. These vine corridors, as they are called, are common
to all the gardens, and in summer, when the plant is in leaf, must be
peculiarly grateful.”
[Illustration: ON THE TORRINHAS ROAD]