DECORATIVE PLANTING. 73 



our heads, their rough branches projected in bold defiance of 

 gravitation, swaying listlessly in quiet air, toying with gentle 

 breezes, or lashing the air in proud defiance of its ruder gales. 



Shrubs.— These are to small places the lowly representatives 

 of what trees are to the park ; and more : for there are few trees 

 which we value for their flowers, while most ornamental shrubs are 

 covered at some season with a bloom of glowing colors, and 

 adorned with the same luxuriance of leafage that clothes the best 

 trees. They are the main-stay after grass for the adornment of 

 pleasure grounds of small extent. The variety to choose from is 

 large, and a study of the peculiar beauty of each, and the position 

 for which it is best adapted, is one to which we ask the marked at- 

 tention of the reader. Their appropriate or improper placement 

 will make or mar the beauty of the grounds. 



Vines, though in some respects classed with shrubs, have so 

 distinct a beauty of their own that they constitute a separate ele- 

 ment of embellishment. Their proper places are so evident, and 

 generally so well understood, that fewer mistakes are made in 

 placing them than any other class of plants. Housekeepers differ 

 widely whether to have or not to have their interlacing foliage on 

 porch and verandas, or embowering their windows. Of their loveli- 

 ness to the eye in those situations there is no question. Whether 

 their beauty compensates for the occasional inconvenience of the 

 insects they harbor, is to be decided by each lady housekeeper for 

 herself It is a clear case for toleration and Christian forbearance, 

 if we would retain these most winsome features of cottage decora- 

 tion. Of vines on ornamental frames we will treat further on, here 

 remarking, that, as usually placed, on garish white frames, in the 

 most conspicuous positions, they are much like graceful and beauti- 

 ful girls — less lovely when thus thrust forward to attract attention, 

 than when, in more modest positions, their grace and beauty draw 

 one to them. 



Flowers. — So beautiful and varied are they, that a thousand 

 life-times of study could not learn all their infinite varieties. Henry 

 Coleman, the distinguished agriculturist of Massachusetts, once 

 naively wrote : " When I hear a man ask, ' What's the use of flow- 

 ers ? ' I am always tempted to lift his hat and see the length of his 



