The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1902-06-27

THE MODERN vERANDA.
Becoming More and More the Summer
Living Room.
| The veranda has become the summer
| living room. More and more are Ameri-
cans approaching the benefits Of living
outdoors, and especially does the up-to-
date home-maker see to it that. both her
children and herself pass as much Of the
summer in the open air as possible. For
this reason the veranda has become an
important part Of the house.
10 make it favorite with all mem-
bers of the family, the first care of the
housewife is to make it as attractive
as possible. This can be done in many
ways, and little careful planning and
taste will go almost as far as money.
1t goes without saying that the larger
the veranda the better, and in building
a house it is true economy to deny some
interior decoration, if necessary. and
house is already built or rented, one
must take the veranda as it comes.
First and foremost one needs vines.
Graceful, fragrant vines clambering up
pillars and sweeping across the top from
post to post, gives beautiful back
should be no stiff arrangement of vines.
As soon as they are trained into prim,
formal lines they lose half their beauty.
But they should not be allowed to grow
into perfect swamp. The most Dopu-
lar arrangement and the most pic
| turcsnue is where they run up the posts
and across top and bottom. leaving an
opening in the center, the edges Of which
are graceful curves and swaying ten
drills.
The Virginia creeper. ivy: honeysuckle,
wisteria, clematis, Dutchman's pipe,
trumpet vine, akebia. hibbertia. kenney-
da. lapargeria, climbing nasturtium, and
tropaeolum are excellent climbing porch
| plants. One of the best vines for the
pillars of verandas is the Virginia creep
er. The gorgeous foliage of the creeper
and it's easy culture, make it favoritc
climber. The trumpet honeysuckles are
the favorite climbers Of that species;
terra is an elegant plant. Chinese wis
terra is a spring blooming vine with tas-
seled flowers. The American variety is
known as the Wisteria frutescens. :.
Dutchman's pipe has dropping vel.
low brown flower with heart shaped
leaves: It may be grown from seed, and
will afford a good curtain of foliage.
The trumpet flower is a native of
China and Japan, and will not stand
extreme cold. Its flowers are of rich
orange red and appear in terminal clus-
ters.
The akehia tits full name is Akebia
quinata) is an evergreen plant Of Chi
er and glossy green leaves. 1t requires
4 moist soil and, like the trumpet flower,
must be protected from extreme cold.
The Hibbertia dentata is not we'll
known plan; which has yellow flowers:
The kcnnecda is a climber with small
slender red blooms. There are two
apargcrias-a white Towering variety
and pink onc. They have bell-shaped,
waxlil;r flowers. very dainty and fragile.
They thrive best in a rather sandy soil,
and are not easy to cultivate success
fully.
The crimson rambler is one of the
most luNur,cnt Of the climbing roses.
The yellow, pink and white ramblers
are also satisfactory as porch decorators.
In addition to the vines many flower
lovers place boxes either along the rail
of the porch. if there is one, or on the
floor if not, and fill these with bright
plants. The effect is lovely, for one not
only has the cool drapery of the green
vines, but the beauty and fragrance Of
the blooming plants.
The framework OF the summer living
room thus being provided, the furnish
ings are the next question. If one can
afford it, some of the fiber rugs for the
floor are nice, and give a cozy, homelike
air. Porch furniture that can stand the
weather and sofa cushions that will not
soil easily are necessities. A table for
magazines and for the afternoon tea
| service is also useful. A hammock of
| course, must be included. and if one is
handy with tools and can build seat
| which is really a box in which these
| movables can be stored at night, it will
tighten the work of keeping the piazza in
order.
Where the veranda is large enough,
ping pong table WILL of course, appear
| this summer. During the warm weather
| few devotees of the game will care to
play indoors. and the shrewd mother
who has family Of daughters will find
| that a merry group will gather about
| the ping-pong board when other less at
tractiye verandas are deserted.
| Where Master Baby rules the house
the wise mother turns the veranda into
an outdoor nursery. In the hammock he
takes his maps, for the modern nursery
teaching is that children cannot have too
much fresh air.
Porch parties are, Of course, the favor
lite form of entertaining for summer
evenings, and for these it is we'll to sup
ply the roof Of the veranda with Japan
csc lanterns. They are pretty during the
day, and they make a nice light even on
evenings when only the family is at
home. They give soft, pretty radiance
and make the porch dainty picture to
passersby. Only, if one is going to have
much light, it will be wise to enclose
it at the very beginning of the season
| with wire NETTING