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If home-makers look
after no other portion of the gardening, they are quite sure to
take an interest, in the vines, which cluster so closely around
the door and windows, that they seem a part of the house rather
than of the garden. Here is a common ground on which all can
meet - the decoration of the house, for there is no work of the
architect, however costly, but seems to need the final finish of
vines, and no house, however poor in its exterior, but may be
made to look home-like by the use of climbers. In our climate
every house should have a veranda of some sort, even if but a
mere porch, to shelter the door, and whether it be an extended
veranda or narrow "stoop," there is a place for vines.
The utility of vines, whether on the score of shade, or that of
mere ornament, needs no showing, as all will admit it, and it
becomes merely a question of ways and means - what to plant, and
how to get it. Let us also say that if there is neither veranda
or porch, and most log houses, and some houses of more
pretensions have neither, one need not be without vines. A
trellis of poles of some kind can be arranged to support the
vines, and if it can be made of cedar and permanent, all the
better, but if this can not be commanded, draw upon the stock of
bean-poles, or get poles by some means that will answer for a
season. No matter if it looks rude at first, the vines will
charitably cover any sins of construction.
The American
Agriculturist, 1877
Beautiful effects
can be produced by the judicious planting and training of hardy
climbing plants about the house, and with especial reference to
the ornamentation of entrance porches and verandas, and this
feature of ornamental gardening should receive more general
attention than is given to it. It can be done without the aid of
the professional gardener, though we should, by all means, have
his assistance, if possible, for the trained mind and the
skilled hand are as capable of exhibiting their superiority in
garden work as in any other art. But, even without such
assistance, one who appreciates beauty and loves nature cannot
fail with such materials as thrifty-growing and gracefully
climbing and trailing plants, to produce effects that are
pleasing to the eye.
Vick’s
Monthly Magazine, 1886
Beautiful
are the ways of the Vine, whether it be the bold and vigorous
Virginia Creeper, that finds foothold on the most forbidding
wall, and grows the stronger and greater for the winds and
storms that beat upon it, or the light and delicate Smilax,
weaving its emerald-green tracery across the window panes, or
around the portraits of beloved friends.
The
forests are full of beautiful vines. Convolvulus, Bitter Sweet,
Scarlet, and Yellow Honeysuckle, Virgin’s Bower, Grape, and
other graceful wild climbers, are within the reach of almost
every country house, and should be sought after and wooed to
grow around porches, and over gateways, and up on the roofs of
unlovely sheds.
The
Hop is a wholesome, thrifty vine, and if none other could be
had, I would gladly and gratefully train it over verandas, and
across kitchen and pantry windows, and rejoice in its cool shade
and clean fragrance. But whoever has the good luck to live near
a bit of wild woodland, can be generally sure of finding many
things that will add grace and beauty to the plainest little
home.
E.H. Leland, Farm
Houses, 1882 |
