THE DRAPERY OF VINES 305 



speaking, represent the general class at the coming 

 of Spring. 



Of the woody, or, in fact, of all our vines, Vir- 

 ginia Creeper stands easily the peer. Clean of 

 limb, with leaves of five gracefully -poised parts, 

 disc -tipped tendrils, and flower -stems which look 

 like leaf framework adapted for the plant's service, 

 as in truth they are, it has clusters of small green 

 flowers that make its haunts hum like a beehive all 

 through July, followed in Autumn by deep blue 

 berries with a frosty bloom, set on red stalks which 

 often remain in coral -like spikes after the fruit has 

 gone to make a meal for hungry birds. As a 

 climber its ambition is boundless, for without turn- 

 ing from its course this Creeper will often ascend 

 fifty feet, at the same time sending out branches at 

 right angles, that swing and droop with the most 

 perfect grace. In color scheme it rivals the Poison 

 Ivy, that handsome but evil plant which for its sins 

 is set apart. In Summer even, Virginia Creeper 

 often shows pinkish ribs and leaf-veinings, while 

 from middle August until frost scatters the leaflets 

 all the scintillations of flame belong to it. 



A little way from home there is a crossroad that 

 I call the Vine Way, where the rocky bank has 

 been allowed to keep its wealth of hedging, and 



