Vines 323 



effective edging. Used as a carpet under trees where no grass would 

 grow, it thrives in dense shade like that other charming evergreen 

 trailer, the little purple-flowered periwinkle seen in every old garden. 

 Fallen leaves and snow afford sufficient protection to the ivy where 

 it grows prostrate on the ground. Special emphasis is laid on our 

 only evergreen vine, except the creeping spindle, because, for people 

 who live in the country the year around, the ivy's value is greater by 

 far than any other's. And it is equally important for city dwellers, 

 redeeming the sordid ugliness of many buildings; yet London prob- 

 ably contains more ivy than the whole North American continent. 

 So nearly evergreen that it might be almost counted as such 

 is Hall's honeysuckle, well worth growing if only for its deliciously 

 fragrant flowers and, on their account, it is one of the most popular 

 climbers in cultivation. It needs wire netting or a lattice to twine 

 about, which makes it a practical vine for piazza posts and painted 

 houses, as the woven wire or other support may have its staples 

 loosened at the top and be laid back on the ground when the biennial 

 coat of paint goes on the house. Honeysuckle is cheap enough to 

 plant at every post in the chicken yard and afford shelter and shade 

 for the fowls as well as a screen for their not always sightly runs. It 

 is one of the few vines that will thrive at the seashore, and it blooms 

 all summer there because of the moisture in the cool air. Cold and 

 want it can endure like a good soldier, but it well rewards a little 

 care, especially thinning out of its old wood when the exuberant 

 vine begins to smother itself with foliage. It is one of the best 

 carpets we have for raw banks, and rooting as it runs along over the 

 earth, as honeysuckle always does when growing wild, it is an 

 excellent soil binder on steep slopes. Whenever it finds a support- 

 ing stem to twine around, up it goes into a bush or tree and tosses 

 into the air long sprays of slender, tubular flowers set in pairs along 



