72 THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



A home for these is often found on walls, and in our country 

 some variety of wall surface is a great gain to botanic gardens and 



private gardens like Offington, in which a great 



Climbers of classic variety of shrubs from all countries is grown. 



beauty. In the milder districts of the country and in 



favoured spots round the coast some of the 

 finest exotics, such as Lapageria, and some greenhouse plants of 

 great beauty, like Clianthus, which about London can only be 

 enjoyed in a greenhouse, may be grown on walls in the open air. 

 Some of the fine plants of Chili also may be grown on walls of 

 various aspects. Abelia, Lardizabala, Berberidopsis and Rhyn- 

 chospermum are among the plants sometimes so grown, but 

 there is no limit as to selection. Many who have visited our 

 best gardens will probably have stored away in their memories 

 some of the pictures they have seen given by noble wall plants 

 well grown in this way as, for example, the New Zealand Edwardsia 

 at Linton, so fine in form and colour, and the handsome Fremontia. 

 Hard winters settle the fate of many beautiful things among these, 

 but, happily, some of the loveliest things are hardy, like the 

 Winter Sweet, Bignonia, Magnolia, and sometimes the splendid 

 colour of the Pomegranate buds is seen among them. 



It may be noted here that among the unfortunate attempts of 

 certain architects who designed gardens to get rid of the gardener 

 and his troublesome plants were instructions that no climbers were 

 to be allowed on walls. There was not a single spray of any 

 climber allowed to grow on the house or extensive terrace walls 

 at Shrubland, some years ago, as if in a garden death were better 

 than life. 



Apart from the vigorous climbers that we may trust in shrub- 

 beries, woods, and on rough banks, and which, when fairly started, 



take care of themselves, there are fragile things 



Fragile climbers which deserve to be us.ed in rather a new way 



on shrubs. as f ar as mos t gardens are concerned, namely, 



for throwing a delicate lacework of flowers over 

 the evergreen and other choice shrubs grown in our gardens 

 Rhododendron, Kalmia, Andromeda, Azalea, and even taller shrubs. 

 A group of Hollies will not look any the worse for wreaths of 

 fragrant Clematis in autumn. Often stiff, unbroken masses of 

 Rhododendrons and evergreen flowering shrubs will be more varied 

 if delicate flakes of Clematis (white, lavender, or claret-red) or 

 the bright arrows of the Flame Nasturtium come among them 

 here and there in autumn. The great showy hybrid Clematises 

 of our gardens are not so good for this use as the more 

 elegant wild Clematises of North America, Europe, and North 



