8 <A Little Maryland Garden 
during January and February it was covered 
with leaves, and frozen back, and now that 
the weather is settled it is rushing into life 
with the irrepressible vigour for which it is 
celebrated. And if it will grow there, grow 
it shall, and it shall be dedicated to St. 
Swithin, who prayed to be laid under the 
dripping eaves. 
I was ambitious at the start to cover the 
stone foundations of the front of the house 
with climbing roses. Too close a covering 
of vines on a porch harbours mosquitoes 
and cuts off the breeze which is the breath 
of life on hot summer evenings. But 
a vine like a rose, that would clothe the 
foundations and make a graceful tracery 
upon the pillars, was just what I wanted. 
I therefore invested in a Climbing Wooton, 
a Clothilde Soupert, and five Wichuriana 
hybrids. It was a venture doomed to 
failure from the start. The house fronts 
the north-west and is shaded by tall trees 
and has deep bays that make in some places 
unrelieved shade. The only Wichuriana 
