Other topiary designs can be fashioned by tying small-leaved vines or creepers to wire frames. Make these by bending 12-gauge wire or a wire coat hanger into a rectangle, a loop, a wreath, a bow, or the outline of a bird. Center the wire frame firmly in a pot of small-leaved ivy or creeping fig (Ficus pumila) that has grown several long branches. Or make one by setting three or four plants in one pot. Tie the branches to the frame with green thread. Keep the thread handy to tie all subsequent growth in place until the frame is entirely covered. Rotate the plant a little every day so that the design will not become lopsided. Remove all faded leaves and straggly offshoots which might ruin the artistic effect of this living ornament.

   English ivy and creeping fig can be used for another, similar artistic garden project. This consists of training them to cover entirely a pyramid, ball, or cone made of inch-mesh poultry netting. I use the green-painted kind which florists stock. After molding the wire to the shape desired, fill it with moist, unmilled sphagnum moss. Secure the base in a container of good soil and plant English ivy or creeping fig all around. If the moss is kept nicely moist, the ivy or fig will quickly cover it. Hairpins can be used to secure the stems into the moss until their aerial roots take hold.

   Bonsai is a Japanese expression used to denote an artificially dwarfed potted plant, or plants, which has been painstakingly trained to suggest a natural scene. A bonsai twelve inches tall with an outcropping of thickened roots may appear to be an ancient tree clinging to the edge of a cliff. Conversely, a symmetrical miniature atop a straight trunk might evoke the vision of a stately old shade tree. There are miniature trees in Japan which are centuries old. These living heirlooms are passed on from one generation to the next.

   It is virtually impossible for Americans to purchase ready-grown bonsai of old age. However, many gardeners who are devoted to the art of bonsai grow their own miniature trees. Information about helpful books and sources for supplies is listed in Part III. Hardy trees and shrubs whose foliage changes with the seasons make up traditional Japanese bonsai. Such plants often weaken and die in the arid winter climate of an artificially heated window garden. Summertime care requires constant vigilance in keeping the soil moist, and protecting them from drying winds.