Garrya elliptica is without doubt the most maligned shrub in my garden. With serene good nature it presents a well-clothed aspect of grey- green to hide the nakedness of a very exposed west wall. In February come the silver catkins 5 in. long to delight everyone who sees it, except me. Despite every effort on my part the garrya and I have not yet reached a rapprochement. Cuttings taken of young wood in July-August root readily. One I took 16 years ago is now 8 ft. high by about 6 ft. across.

There is an old elm nearby clothed in ivy which confirms my regard for this climber. It makes a perfect sanctuary for nesting birds in summer, a column of polished green to lighten the dark days of winter. Some older buildings would be stark ruins without a softening mantle of ivy. No matter that the soil is dry to the point of aridity, or dark with the shade of forest trees, the ivy grows to mask the nakedness of inhospitable earth with quiet efficiency.

I remember a vicarage, centre of a lovely Yorkshire Dales’ village which in October each year became a picture when covered by the scarlet leaves of P. tricuspidata. In good soil or poor sand the only variable feature is the size of the leaves. Trimming is usually carried out in early May, clearing windows, gutters, and chimneys.

Discolor has leaves which change colour I discovered last year, dark green most of the year but in May-June cream and pink tinted. I cherish marginata on the east wall of my house, beautiful triangular leaves edged with cream, and in winter flushed with red. The Arrow Head Ivy, H. h. sagittaefolia, went into the garden because it outgrew the greenhouse and will I hope transform a Doric column from dark masonry to warm green.

Lonicera x americana is a vigorous climber which will spread 30 ft. The flowers appear earlier than those of the native woodbine in June to July, white at first, then yellow tinged with plum purple. L. henryi is another climber which needs room to spread and is almost worth the space for the beauty of the dark evergreen leaves. The red and yellow flowers are rather small and the blue-black berries soon disappear down some bird gourmet’s rapacious throat.

Lonicera japonica is tender, or possibly intolerant of the heavy clay here, but flourishes in better-favoured gardens. It is partially evergreen and when grown in a cold greenhouse the pale, rather inconspicuous flowers are possessed of a delicate, attractive fragrance. It should be given a sheltered corner possibly on a summer house wall so that all the redolence of the flowers can be enjoyed.