Drapery of Cottages and Gardens 171 



their lovely, graceful shapes, and rich foliage and flowers, 

 give a new character to the whole exterior. However ugly 

 the wall, however bald the architecture, only give it this 

 fair drapery of leaf and blossom, and nature will touch it at 

 once with something of grace and beauty. 



"What are our favorite vines?" This is what you would 

 ask of us, and this is what we are most anxious to tell you; 

 as we see, already, that no sooner will the spring open, than 

 you will immediately set about the good work. 



Our two favorite vines, then, for the adornment of cot- 

 tages in the northern states, are the double Prairie Rose, 

 and the Chinese Wistaria. Why we like these best, is 

 because they have the greatest number of good qualities 

 to recommend them. In the first place, they are hardy, 

 thriving in all soils and exposures; in the second place, they 

 are luxuriant in their growth, and produce an effect in a 

 very short time - - after which, they may be kept to the 

 limits of a single pillar on the piazza, or trained over the 

 whole side of a cottage; in the last place, they are rich in 

 the foliage, and beautiful in the blossom. 



Now there are many vines more beautiful than these in 

 some respects, but not for this purpose, and taken alto- 

 gether. For cottage drapery, a popular vine must be one 

 that will grow anywhere, with little care, and must need 

 no shelter, and the least possible attention, beyond seeing 

 that it has something to run on, and a looking over, pruning, 

 and tying up once a year - - say in early spring. This is 

 precisely the character of these two vines; and hence we 

 think they deserve to be planted from one end of the Union 

 to the other. They will give the greatest amount of beauty, 

 with the least care, and in the greatest number of places. 



The Prairie roses are, no doubt, known to most of you. 

 They have been raised from seeds of the wild rose of Michi- 

 gan, which clambers over high trees in the forests, and are 

 remarkable for the profusion of their very double flowers 

 (so double, that they always look like large pouting buds, 

 rather than full-blown roses), and their extreme hardiness 

 and luxuriance of growth, - - shoots of twenty feet, in a 



