CLIMBERS AND THEIR ARTISTIC USE. 131 



home for 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 variety of shrubs from all countries is grown. 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, Berb'eridopsis and Rhyncho- 

 spermum 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 Shrub- 

 land, some years ago, as if in a garden death- -were better than 

 life. 



FRAGILE CLIMBERS ON SHRUBS. Apart from the vigorous 

 climbers that we may trust in shrubberies, woods, and on rough 

 banks, and which, when fairly started, take care of themselves, there 

 are fragile things which deserve to be used in rather a new way as far 

 as most gardens are concerned, namely, for throwing a delicate lace- 

 work 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 N. America, Europe, and N. Africa, such as the Hairbell 

 and others of the less vigorous Clematis. These are so fragile in 

 growth that many of them may be trusted among groups of shrubs, 

 and throwing veils over the bushes here and there. 



K 2 



