In selecting roses, it is important to get healthy plants. Stems should be green and un-shriveled, roots moist and partly fibrous. The most expensive rose is not always best rose; it may be only a newcomer, much discussed and, therefore, a favorite.

Decorative and functional, vines are often answer for older homes as well, ground-covering varieties serving as cover for foundations and banks, others spreading a carpet of flowering greenery over walls, making fences seem friendlier and stone buildings less harsh.

The methods by which vines climb will necessarily influence and determine your selection. Some vines, such as grape vine, have tendrils which reach out and grasp small objects to hold on to; these vines need a lattice or fence. Others, such as Boston ivy, have adhesive discs that fasten on to a brick or stone wall, and still others, such as climbing hydrangea, hold to a masonry wall with small, aerial rootlets.

Finally, there are those that climb by twining around other branches or poles, climbing from left to right, or right to left (like honeysuckle). This type can be parasitic in worst sense, climbing over small bushes and trees and completely strangling them.