I04 JVotcs and Glcaniiigs. 



Vines for Oiixai.ient. — The American Builder contains tlie following 

 suggestions with regard to the use of ornamental climbers : — 



" The expression which, of all others, it is most desirable to secure in the 

 aspect of residences in the suburbs and country especially, is that of repose and 

 settled domestic comfort. However imposing may be the architectural design, 

 or however elaborate the artistic decorations of a building which is to be occu- 

 pied as a dwelling, its appearance is of necessity cheerless, if not actually for- 

 bidding, until it is mellowed, softened, and subdued by the genial touch and 

 presence of nature. The edifice can in no way be made to receive this effect so 

 easily and fully as by wreathing it with vines, and suffering its outlines and 

 ornaments to be seen through the delicate foliage and brilliant flowers which 

 serve to soften down the angular formality of mere stone or brick. Their effect 

 in heightening the charms of the humblest and plainest abodes is equally 

 striking. 



" Of the vines adapted to such use, the wistaria, the trumpet creeper, and the 

 American ivy, are the best three that can be named. Unfortunately, we have no 

 evergreen vine which will bear our climate, and give to our buildings in winter 

 the warm and cheerful look which, farther south, is available by the use of the 

 English ivy ; but as an offset, we have more gorgeous beauty of flower and 

 foliage than that vine ever displays. 



" The wistaria is a perfectly hardy vine, and grows with rapidity, after getting 

 well started in rich soil. Its foliage is delicate and beautiful, and the fiowers 

 hang in rich purple clusters, like grapes. It blossoms twice in a season, and in 

 great profusion. When in bloom, it is such an object of attractive beauty as to 

 excite the wonder and admiration of every passer. This vine, like others named, 

 may be had at any good nursery, and, once planted in a good soil, requires no 

 more care than the most common tree. 



" The trumpet creeper is much like it in its general character, but has trumpet- 

 shaped flowers, three or four inches in length, which give it a gorgeous look, and 

 if mingled with those of the wistaria, by planting the two vines so that they may 

 twist and twine together, the effect is very fine. 



" The American ivy, known also as the Virginia creeper, has a very beautiful 

 foliage, the leaves growing five together from a single stem. It is a very rapid 

 climber, running ten or twelve feet in a season, if planted in rich soil, and send- 

 ing offlong branches which sway gracefully in the breeze, or attach themselves 

 to adjacent points, and form rich festoons. The appearance of the vine through- 

 out the summer is beautiful, and in the autumn its foliage assumes the most 

 brilliant hues, as if to make its exit in a blaze of glory." 



Referring to this subject, the Working Farmer recommends also the Japan 

 honeysuckle as being a pleasing vine for the embellishment of rural seats, and 

 says, — 



"It is deliciously fragrant, and retains its dark, lustrous foliage until mid- 

 winter. Unlike many climbers, this honeysuckle and the trumpet vine are not 

 liable to be infested with insects. 



" The feathery clematis is a pretty creeper for walls and fences, and the com- 

 mon hop vine may be made to add beauty to the dove cote and martin boxes, 

 when these are placed, after the old English manner, upon poles. 



" There is a slender vine very common in the Eastern States, that is seldom 

 used for ornamental purposes, to which we would especially invite the attention 

 of the florist. It is called the ground-nut (^Apios tubcrosa). Its foliage is 

 dark, thick, and very graceful. The flowers are remarkable. They are dark 

 purple in color, and present a peculiar waxy appearance in dense, i)edunculate, 

 axillary racemes. Their odor is wonderfully sweet, and it is so powerful and 

 inexhaustible as to fill perpetually the air. The vine entwines itself among low 

 bushes in its native state. A florist of our acquaintance supplemented the charms 



