EVERY WOMAN HER OWN FLOWER GARDENER. 63 



good enough to be of use. Hops are like vines, yet who thinks of 

 adorning his house with them ? No, they also are vulgar ! Thus writes 

 Leigh Hunt in his flowery " Essays." There are many despised things 

 that are, if properly cultivated, capable of great beauty; but I should 

 prefer the Scarlet Bean as a covering to my pantry windows, and the 

 Hop and Grape Vine to trail over the kitchen garden wall, while the 

 Morning Glory,, with all its wealth of entangled vines and flowers, 

 should throw its radiance around the dining-room piazza, and shield its 

 windows from the scorching sun at noonday. These same Morning 

 Glories are glories indeed, and are not half appreciated^ The delicate 

 Japonica receives far more attention than its coarser parent, but it is 

 infested with bugs, which make it a nuisance, while none dare as yet to 

 molest my " Glories." 



We pay high prices for exotic vines and climbing roses, and let the 

 lovely vines of our own woods remain uncultivated in their wildness. 

 There is no country that does not possess rarely beautiful vines, which 

 well reward the cultivator with their luxuriant beauty. They are 

 scattered from the White Mountains to the Gulf of Mexico, and all 

 through the Western States on to the Pacific Slope. 



Climbing roses are bowers of beauty for a few weeks, but after that 

 are only briars, wormy and miserable. There is little beauty in 

 their foliage ; it is all compressed in their flowers ; yet the Prairie Eose 

 is more commonly used to twine over a verandah, while the Wistaria, 

 Jasmine, Woodbine, Honeysuckle, etc., are planted in less conspicuous 

 places, or not at all. 



I delight in Climbing Koses — do not think I would disparage them — 

 but they are far prettier the greater part of the year, if trained to pillars 

 rather than to piazzas. Ampelopsis quinquefolia (Virginia Creeper or 

 Pive-Mngered Ivy), is a very hardy vine that will withstand the coldest 

 New England winter. It grows most rapidly, and its dark green foliage, 

 which changes to scarlet and brown in the Autumn, makes it very 

 desirable for piazzas, rustic arbors, or trellis work. It will cling to 

 brick walls as readily as the English Ivy; it is perfectly free from 

 insects, and so flexible that it can be trained to any position. 



Akebia quinata is an imported vine from Japan, with gracefully cut 

 foliage, and large clusters of very fragrant, chocolate colored flowers. 

 It is perfectly hardy. 



Aristolochia Sipho (or Dutchman's Pipe), is a handsome climber for 



