26 THE BOOK OF GARDEN FURNITURE 



time, and may be had in immense variety. The bright- 

 leaved Banksian will also succeed in sheltered spots, and 

 form garlands and festoons of exquisite beauty over bark 

 and thatch. Even the common Dog Rose is not to be 

 despised ; in fact, any good florist will be able to recom- 

 mend dozens of free-growing varieties which are well 

 suited for rambling over the summer-house or arbour. 

 The Clematis, or Virgin's Bower, is another beautiful 

 plant for the purpose, and the purple forms look 

 especially well when associated with the soft grey of 

 unpainted oak. C. montana, with its myriad white 

 blossoms, is useful, and in the wild garden the Traveller's 

 Joy (Fitalba) will speedily clothe the building with its 

 graceful foliage. Vines, Hops, Jasmine, Honeysuckle, and 

 Wistaria all look well, the latter especially so, though of 

 course it is not so good for immediate effect as many 

 others. Arbours are sometimes constructed out of living 

 trees, which, by judicious pruning, in time become really 

 serviceable shelters for use during the hottest parts of the 

 day. Skeleton erections of larch poles, with a shingle 

 roof, also serve in situations where a properly built 

 summer-house would neither be convenient nor suitable. 

 They may be covered with creepers and furnished with 

 seats, and soon become picturesque, if somewhat un- 

 substantial structures. Simplicity is of all things to 

 be desired in connection with isolated buildings, in 

 the garden which is planned on merely normal lines, 

 and does not present any architectural features of im- 

 portance. The main point to be avoided is the intro- 

 duction of ready-made summer-houses of meretricious 

 design, which have been made to a stock pattern, and 

 are not in the least calculated to suit one garden out 

 of a hundred. A handy carpenter, with such assistance 

 as the owner could give, would have no difficulty in 

 making any but the more elaborate forms, and the 

 advantage of purchasing sound materials first-hand has 



