THE USE AND ABUSE OF THE PERGOLA 



rarely beautiful overhead, is the wistaria; it is lovely in May, 

 when in full bloom, lovely when the petals are falling; it has 

 a gracefulness and a poetry that the Crimson Rambler never 

 thought of. There are other pergola vines — Virginia creeper, 

 bittersweet, clematis, trumpet-vine — ^but none for overhead 

 effect compare with these two, the wistaria and the wild 

 grapes; that is, for northern gardens. In the South there 

 is a wider range; here roses as pergola vines are perfectly 

 possible, even admirable. Especially is it true that if the 

 pergola have any beauty of structure and grace of line, this 

 ought not to be obliterated by a rank growth of vines as if 

 it were a back-yard fence, for which reason again the overhead 

 vines are desirable. 



Undoubtedly the present enthusiasm for a so-called Italian 

 garden is responsible for the frequency with which this long- 

 suffering pergola is haled into gardens with which it has noth- 

 ing in common. There is a prevalent impression that if one 

 has a pergola, one has an Italian garden. But a pergola does 

 not make an ItaHan garden any more than the single foreign 

 garment that a heathen proudly assumes, arrays him com- 

 pletely in the garb of civilization — though in either case the 

 one may be a part of the whole. But if, instead of haling into 

 our garden by the head and hair, as it were, pergolas and 

 marble exedrae, we should bring from the gardens of Italy 

 a sense of their beauty of proportion, their balance and sym- 

 metry, a touch of the skill and exquisite perfectness with which 

 the Italian garden is fitted to the landscape and the character 

 of the country — ^it would be a blessed thing for American gar- 

 dening. For these are things that, like the Kingdom of Heaven, 

 should be sought first, and then pergolas like the other good 

 things may safely be added unto them. 



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