GARDENS AND GARDENING . 
13 
plants is by no means an easy matter. The patterns usu¬ 
ally given in works on horticulture are often more suitable 
for embroidery or Mosaic-work, and are tolerable only in 
masses of color. A garden made on these principles has a 
bare, dreary look to the lover of nature, who longs for the 
old-fashioned arbors and arches covered with roses, or cle¬ 
matis, honeysuckle, and Virginia-creeper. 
A very pretty framework, not out of place in one of 
these geometrical beds, is made of wire, and shaped like 
an umbrella with a very thick handle, and the leaves and 
blossoms of the sweet-pea, maurandia, cypress-vine, nas¬ 
turtium, Coboea scandens, and all the family of climbers, 
twist in and out of the open-work in graceful profusion. 
The dismantled frame of a real umbrella or parasol, skele¬ 
tons that are sure to be found in the happiest household, 
may be used for the purpose. 
One of the most effective beds for the lawn is the bas¬ 
ket bed, which seems particularly suitable where there are 
lofty trees. These baskets, to show to advantage, must 
be prominently raised above the surrounding level. The 
framework is made of three-foot stakes driven well into the 
ground and crossed diagonally, like basket-work. This bor¬ 
dering, or fence, surrounds the entire space to be occupied 
by the basket, and is sometimes made of thick wire painted 
green. Brown paint may be used to advantage on the 
wood-work. The entire outside of the basket, including 
the handle, which gives it its distinctive character, is to be 
covered with ivy, which should be prepared beforehand 
from cuttings, and planted under the turf of the lawn. 
The inside should then be filled with good soil, and left in 
a convex shape at the top. With a tasteful arrangement of 
plants in regard to color, a garden basket is a happy com¬ 
bination of nature and art, and, if carefully trimmed and 
kept in order, it will be found one of the most attractive of 
floral ornaments. 
