26 
THE HOME GA REEK 
carry off the palm. The green leaves of the althea are 
noticeably handsome. 
A very charming shrub is the dwarf horse-chestnut, or 
dwarf buckeye, which forms a dense mass much broader 
than high, and bears numerous masses of long slender 
spikes of white flowers, to which the long stamens give a 
fine feathery appearance. 
Many other shrubs might be mentioned, but these are 
sufficient to show the wealth of material from which the 
shrub planter can make a selection. Those mentioned, with 
a few low hem¬ 
locks, will produce 
charming contrasts 
of yellow, purple, 
and scarlet, mixed 
with dark green. 
Among vines, 
roses stand preem¬ 
inent in point of 
beauty, as they do 
among the flowers 
everywhere ; but 
all roses are not 
desirable as vines, 
while the flowers 
are worthy of a 
chapter by them¬ 
selves. The beautiful wistaria is almost per¬ 
fect as a climber, its graceful foliage retaining 
a light, cheerful green to the last, and its rich, 
grape-like clusters of light-purple flowers ap¬ 
pearing profusely in the spring, and at inter¬ 
vals, sometimes, during the summer and autumn. It grows 
very rapidly, the glycine Sinensis , or Chinese wistaria, at¬ 
taining a great height and spreading out over a large surface. 
