of Rural Art and Taste. 



149 



The Clematis. 



EVERY homestead has some particular 

 location where vines would form an added 

 beauty to the surroundings, if such have not 

 been already planted, and in this direction we 

 desire to introduce to a more extended notice, 

 the cenus that heads this paper. It furnishes 

 us with a great diversity of habit — from the 

 delicate, slender-growing vine that is best 

 suited to a fine wire trellis, or perhaps trained 

 to a neat stake in our flower gardens — up to 

 the rampant " Travelers' Joy," that in one or 

 two seasons will completely cover a large 

 arbor or porch with its wonderful wealth of 

 foliage. And what a marvelous variety in 

 the size and color of their flowers. Such spe- 

 cies as our native C. Virginiana, with its 

 large clusters of pure white bloom, or its near 

 congener the C. citalba, of Europe, and the 

 well-known and deservedly popular C. flam- 

 }?inta, fragrant as the Jessamine, have all 

 small flowers. Then another class, of which 

 we will cite as an example, the C. virticellvk, 

 of Europe, has medium sized flowers, bell- 

 shaped in appearance, borne on long, grace- 

 fully curved stems. 



Still another, with small bell-shaped flowers, 

 is represented by our own C. viorna. And 

 then we arrive at the showy, although none 

 the more valuable species and varieties to the 

 florist. 



Japan with her multitude of novelties has 

 contributed her full quota of Clematis, along 

 with her other rare floral gifts. C patens 

 which we believe was the first one introduced, 

 was the forerunner of a long list whose name 

 is now already legion, with a cry of " still 

 they come." 



Lastly, the section having the largest sized 

 flowers of all, is represented by its type and 

 parent, C. lanv ginosa^ the woolly-leaved 

 Clematis. 



The prevailing colors in the family are white, 

 blue, pink, and purple, with all their inter- 

 mediate shades and tints, in some cases so 



charmingly mingled as to make it almost 

 impossible to describe them properly. Agam, 

 we notice in some varieties a series of vein- 

 ings and stripes, which imparts a beautiful 

 eflect to the flower, and in a few rare instances 

 as in " bicolor," we have two entirely distinct 

 colors. 



The clematis is an illustration of a rather 

 unusual character in botany, that is, a flower 

 without some flower leaves or petals ; and what 

 the ordinary observer usually believes to be 

 these organs, are in reality nothing more than 

 the floral covering or sepals, and which in 

 most other genera are usually of a green color. 

 But the flowers are none the less lovely for 

 this, as these sepals are capable of assuming 

 the most gorgeous tints imaginable, and in the 

 skillful hands of the gardener have assumed 

 such wonderful improvements and transforma- 

 tions as to now rank among the finest and 

 most costly of our modern plants. 



A few hints in regard to their culture may 

 not prove amiss. Their thick, fleshy roots, 

 which form a distinguishing feature in the 

 whole genus, are produced in abundance, and 

 enable them to luxuriate in a soil filled with 

 stimulating manures ; indeed, it is useless to 

 plant a Clematis where the soil is at all poor, 

 as in such it will never give satisfaction. In 

 addition to a liberal supply of rich compost 

 previous to planting, we would recommend an 

 annual surface dressing of short decayed 

 manure in the autumn, which may remain to 

 serve as a mulch during the succeeding sum- 

 mer. 



We want jdenty of bloom and as large 

 and showy flowers as we can possibly induce, 

 but to accomplish this, we must bear in mind, 

 requires strong stimulating fertilizers, when 

 the result will amply repay the cultivator. If 

 each Avash day the soap-suds should be poured 

 around these specimens a marked change will 

 soon become apparent. 



During the growing season care must be 

 taken to train and fasten every slender stem 

 to its support, for if for a time this should 

 be neglected, the habit of the leaf stems to 

 cling pertinatiously to the nearest support, 

 amounting almost to instinct, will soon create 



