12 
THE FLORAL WORLD AND GARDEN GUIDE. 
In an area no flowers would do so well as the common Wall- 
flower. Seeds of it should be sown, and plants planted, in every 
spare piece of ground, and at the bottom of the walls. An excellent 
fern case could be built in an area. It has just the amount of 
shade and coolness required by ferns. There in a neat glass case, 
to protect them from dust, they would thrive well. 
The Virginian creeper and the Grape vine should be planted and 
trained over the area walls in conjunction with the Ivy and Wisteria 
sinensis. The last is an excellent town plant, and though it may 
not produce its lovely clusters of mauve pea-shaped flowers, still, its 
elegant drooping branches and pinnatifid pea-green foliage has a 
very pleasing effect. 
The Virginian creeper is the best of all climbing plants for town 
gardens. It drapes the walls and balcony railings with a dense 
living green all through the summer, changing after August into 
different shades of rich brown and fiery crimson. It should be 
planted and trained over every unsightly gable and bare wall. The 
common Grape vine also makes a capital town plant, contrasting well 
with the Virginian creeper. They should both be planted in the 
area below, and a barrowful or two of good rich soil given them to 
make a fair start. As they grow they can be trained up the walls, 
anywhere you wish them to grow. They may also be grown in 
wooden tubs and placed upon the balcony, where they can be draped 
along the railings, or trained over the walls, or round the windows. 
The common Ivy is an excellent town climber, ready to adapt itself 
to all circumstances, covering walls, draping railings, hanging in 
graceful festoons from baskets, or making trained specimens in pots. 
Its evergreen leathery-textured foliage has ever a warm cheerful 
look, and should always be grown in conjunction with the Grape 
vine and Virginian creeper , which are deciduous, that is, they lose 
their foliage in autumn. These are the balcony and area climbing 
plants u par excellence." No other climbers succeed so well as they 
do, although the Honeysuckle, Ayrshire Boses, Crimson Boursault 
Bose, Gloire de Dijon, Charles Lawson, and several other climbing 
roses, do very well in towns where the situation is open and airy. 
The several varieties of hardy Clematis can also be had to flower 
nicely in the same position ; as also the Jasminum officinalis or 
common Jasmiue, and the Cotoneaster microphylla, having a profusion 
of reddish berries. 
Of annual flowering creepers the best are the gaudy Nasturtiums, 
the pretty canary creeper, Tropceolum canariensis, the Scarlet Bun- 
ners, and purple and white Convolvulus ; to which we may add, 
though not an annual, the Lophospermum scandens, a very good 
greenhouse trailing plant, suitable for balconies and basket-work. 
The other are grand for draping railings, embowering windows, and 
twining round baskets with wreaths of blossoms and foliage. They 
require the aid of twine or wire trellis to cling to, and should be 
sown in boxes of rich soil and have a liberal supply of water. 
For large specimen plants for the furnishing of balconies and 
areas, nothing can surpass the Bhododendron when in flower. Its 
magnificent heads of bloom, produced in luxuriant abundance, give 
