PILLAR AND PORCH 



peep through where once was window, or cluster round 

 disused door ! But how uninspiring when old-world wall 

 and century-old keep are hidden beneath a meaningless 

 monotony of green ! They cannot boast even the 

 charm that sometimes clings to chaos. So it is with the 

 house ; the wall that shows grey beneath clustering rose, 

 or red beneath leafy tresses, while disclosing its own 

 charm, adds also to that of the climbers that drape it. 



Let us see what the gardener may plant to save his 

 home from the reproach of the commonplace, and, while 

 adding to its outward beauty, still preserve that which 

 is indubitably its own. Among the Mountain Sweets or 

 Ceanothus are some beautiful blue-flowered climbers, 

 comparatively rarely grown yet worthy of every con- 

 sideration. One of the best is called Ceanothus veitchi- 

 anus, of which I am able to give an illustration showing, if 

 not its full beauty, at least its adaptability for training 

 against a house wall. Two other Mountain Sweets that 

 are admirable for wall planting are the deep blue rigidus 

 and the pale blue papillosus. All three need the shelter 

 of a wall facing south or west. 



Among the Clematises there is sufficient choice to suit 

 even the most fastidious, in size and colour of flower 

 and in vigour of growth. Perhaps these favourite 

 flowers are best suited by an arbour or arch ; but I have 

 seen prosaic house walls transfigured by some of them, 

 and they are admirable for verandah pillars. None is 

 more beautiful than the Mountain Clematis (montana), 



169 



