GARDEN HOUSES 183 



have very simple pretty ones. The framework is of 

 blue-green painted wood, and over the top are fixed half- 

 hoops of iron, painted the same colour. Straight hori- 

 zontal wooden battens join the sides and secure the arches 

 on the top, and a gilt knob at the summit gives great 

 finish to this rose-planted bower. If more shadow is 

 required straw mats are put to line the sides. It is so 

 easily erected that any handy man could manage it, and 

 save expense in buying a ready-made and often ugly 

 structure. A plentiful supply of straw mats is in every 

 Italian garden, for they are useful for shading the arbours 

 and also for protecting tender plants from the sun. 

 They are made by laying straw neatly across upon a 

 framework of bamboo sticks. All the ties are made with 

 willow-bands, and to strengthen the whole a stout bean- 

 stick is secured at each end. 



Sometimes in nursery gardens where ferns are made a 

 speciality of, a skeleton greenhouse is erected without 

 glass. Any covering can at any time be put over this 

 wooden framework if required. A rather charming 

 fernery and shadow-house can be combined in this way. 

 Creepers of every sort, sweet-smelling jasmines, roses, 

 and honeysuckles, are planted outside to climb over the 

 wooden structure ; and ferns in pots or planted in beds 

 could be artistically arranged within. Space can be left 

 for tables and chairs, and this would form a very refresh- 

 ing green resting-place. The design need not be ugly, 

 for patterns could be taken from good old-fashioned 

 treillage-work. Of course, if ferns were to be the chief 

 feature of the house, it should be placed where the 

 strongest rays of the sun could not penetrate. 



Since the introduction of the Japanese blinds, made of 

 varying sizes of bamboo-canes strung together, we have 

 no difficulty in protecting the sides of shadow-houses from 

 heat. They are not as thick as the Italian straw mat, 



