64 



THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST 



March 1912 



chance of redeeming the mistakes of the 

 architect. Bare glaring house walls, 

 ugly terrace walls, barren harsh-looking 

 verandah?; and porticoes may be softened 

 and made pleasing by using suitable 

 vines of rich foliage or flowering effect. 

 Let us consider then, first, those vines 

 suitable for growing : 



ON AND ABOUT THE HOUSE 



For the walls of the house, where Eng- 

 lish ivy will grow, no vine can take pre- 

 cedence, but this climber is not hardy at 

 Ottawa, and we have to use another 

 vine instead. One which can be recom- 

 mended almost as highly, and in some 

 respects more so, is the Virginia 

 Creeper, not the more southern variety, 

 hut a particular strain known as Ampel- 

 opsis quinquefolia hirsuta, the self-fast- 



the tops of buildings some forty or more 

 feet high. The real hirsuta strain in ad- 

 dition to being the best climber is also 

 the healthiest of all. It is seldom troubl- 

 ed with the red spider or other insect and 

 fungous troubles. 



BOSTON IVY 

 Another good vine for covering the 

 house is the Boston Ivy or Japanese Ivy 

 (Ampelopsis Veitchii). This is one of the 

 best self-climbing vines. At present, 

 however, no strain of it has been found 

 hardy enough to withstand the Canadian 

 winter. Every year it is partly killed 

 back, and in severe winters it may be 

 killed outright. In the south of Ontario 

 if planted on the north or west side of 

 the house it will often pass through many 

 years without injury. It is a very sym- 



The Vine on the House is the English Ivy, 

 Virginia Creeper. Residence of 



ening variety. It may be mentioned that 

 this variety is not always sold by the 

 nurserymen as hirsuta. It appears to be 

 called by some Englemanni. But it is 

 important to obtain the self-fastening 

 kind, which is quite hardy in Ontario 

 and frequently seen. 



The ordinary Virginia Creeper is al- 

 most useless as a self-climber. As an 

 instance that it is not always easy to 

 obtain the right" kind, it may be men- 

 tioned that several years ago a large 

 public institution ordered about a hun- 

 dred plants. Those which were sent 

 under the name of hirsuta turned out to 

 be no good as climbers, while those sent 

 as Englemanni proved to be self-fasten- 

 ing, and in two years had reached to 



a Rapid Grower, and on (he Verandah the 

 Mrs. P. L. Taylor, St. Catharines 



metrical and beautiful vine and colors 

 well in the autumn. It is readily dis- 

 tinguished from the Virginia Creeper on 

 account of its simple leaves. The Vir- 

 ginia Creeper has five parted leaves on 

 long petioles. 



Two excellent vines for the house are 

 the Trumpet Vine (Tecoma radicans) and 

 the Kudzu Vine (Pucraria Thunbergi- 

 ana). Neither of them are hardy in this 

 vicinity. The former is hardy in the lake 

 district, but needs partial support. The 

 Kudzu Vine is not hardy, but is a vine 

 of remarkable vigor, and gives great 

 satisfaction where it can be grown. 



ON THE VERANDAH OR PORCH 



The best vines for growing on the ver- 

 andah or porch in this vicinity are the 



Dutchman's Pipe Vine {.Aristolochia 

 sipho), generally quite hardy at Ottawa 

 rmd Montreal ; the climbing Bitter-sweet 

 or Waxwork (Celastrus scandens), a 

 native vine of distinct merit, which has 

 good foliage and in autumn and winter 

 its bright berries make it especially at- 

 tractive : and as a third good porch or 

 verandah vine, the Clematis claims a 

 prominent place. Clematis' are to be 

 had in great variety. Clematis Jack- 

 manii is the large flowered variety pro- 

 ducing an abundance of beautiful flowers 

 throughout several weeks in the summer. 

 Many colors are now obtainable. Of 

 the smaller flowered clematis' there are 

 several good varieties which will answer 

 the same purpose. The Virgin's Bower 

 is the common name often applied to any 

 of the smaller flowered kinds. .As a rule 

 all but the Jackmanii type are best suited 

 to cover terrace or fences. 



Other good vines for porch or veran- 

 dah are the Honeysuckles, several varie- 

 ties of which are hardy at Ottawa as 

 Lonicera periclymenum, L. sempervir- 

 ens, and L. hirsuta ; also the Chinese 

 and .American Wistarias, the Japanese 

 Bitter-sweet, and a very graceful and 

 highly attractive vine called Akebia 

 quinata, a Japanese climber with many 

 points in its favor, including that of 

 hardiness. 



AROUND THE GARDEN 



Half the charm and beauty of our gar- 

 dens is created by the judicious planting 

 of climbers. Nothing can be more de- 

 lightful to the sense of sight and smell 

 than that which is produced by climbing 

 roses, honeysuckles, and other vines, 

 climbing over arches, pergolas, and ar- 

 bours, or rainbling over terraces and 

 rocks. They are the most satisfactory 

 of all garden shrubs. Producers of ever 

 increasing pleasure and seldom giving 

 disappointment, it is surprising that 

 'their triumphs in creating so many ideal 

 features in our gardens are not more 

 readily appreciated by us. 



ON ARCHES 



Perhaps nothing can be nicer on 

 irches than the climbing roses. Of these 

 there are several which are fairly hardy 

 even at Ottawa. Winter protection is, 

 however, generally needed, not so much 

 on account of the cold, but rather to in- 

 hibit a too early start in the spring. It 

 is to be hoped that before long many 

 varieties will be produced which can be 

 recommended without any hesitation. At 

 present several of the ramblers, namely, 

 the well-known Crimson Rambler, and 

 Dorothy Perkins, together with Lady 

 Gay, climbing La France and Gruss an 

 Teplitz, have proved themselves to be 

 fairly hardy at Ottawa and vicinity. 



But roses are not the only satisfactory 

 vines for growing on arches. A very 

 delightful vine for this purpose is that 

 Japanese vine Akebia quinata, which has 



