DECORATIVE PLANTING. 
73 
our heads, their rough branches projected in bold defiance of 
gravitation, swaying listlessly in quiet air, toying with gentle 
breezes, or lashing the air in proud defiance of its ruder gales. 
Shrubs. —These are to small places the lowly representatives 
of what trees are to the park; and more: for there are few trees 
which we value for their flowers, while most ornamental shrubs are 
covered at some season with a bloom of glowing colors, and 
adorned with the same luxuriance of leafage that clothes the best 
trees. They are the main-stay after grass for the adornment of 
pleasure grounds of small extent. The variety to choose from is 
large, and a study of the peculiar beauty of each, and the position 
for which it is best adapted, is one to which we ask the marked at¬ 
tention of the reader. Their appropriate or improper placement 
will make or mar the beauty of the grounds. 
Vines, though in some respects classed with shrubs, have so 
distinct a beauty of their own that they constitute a separate ele¬ 
ment of embellishment. Their proper places are so evident, and 
generally so well understood, that fewer mistakes are made in 
placing them than any other class of plants. Housekeepers differ 
widely whether to have or not to have their interlacing foliage on 
porch and verandas, or embowering their windows. Of their loveli¬ 
ness to the eye in those situations there is no question. Whether 
their beauty compensates for the occasional inconvenience of the 
insects they harbor, is to be decided by each lady housekeeper for 
herself. It is a clear case for toleration and Christian forbearance, 
if we would retain these most winsome features of cottage decora¬ 
tion. Of vines on ornamental frames we will treat further on, here 
remarking, that, as usually placed, on garish white frames, in the 
most conspicuous positions, they are much like graceful and beauti¬ 
ful girls—less lovely when thus thrust forward to attract attention, 
than when, in more modest positions, their grace and beauty draw 
one to them. 
Flowers.— So beautiful and varied are they, that a thousand 
life-times of study could not learn all their infinite varieties. Henry 
Coleman, the distinguished agriculturist of Massachusetts, once 
naively wrote : “ When I hear a man ask, ‘ What’s the use of flow¬ 
ers ? ’ I am always tempted to lift his hat and see the length of his 
