HOW ABOUT HER 



Vines are Fine. 



We've talked about perennial 

 vines and how invasive they 

 can be — a good thing to warn cus- 

 tomers about. An annual vine is a 

 different story. If you grow one that 

 you don't like, rip it out and don't 

 plant it again. However, I think I've 

 found some that your customers will 

 appreciate. I'm telling you now so 

 you can track them down and take a 

 look and start them early for next 

 year I planted mine indoors in April 

 and they could have used another 

 month with careful staking to get 

 them off to a good start. We'll create 

 herbal interest with these. ..remem- 

 ber: fragrance counts — and one of 

 them is edible 



Cathedral bells {Cobaea scandens) is 

 a new one for me We're growing it 

 on a trellis in the Kids' Garden at 

 the Urban Forestry Center. It's a 

 dense twining vine with glossy ob- 

 late leaves — and I detect a touch of 

 purple. The flowers are "spectacular 

 two-inch-deep bells shaped like el- 

 egant tea cups with softly curving 

 rims. Each blossom begins as a 

 creamy pale green, develops into a 

 striking rose-violet, and seems to be 

 seated on the dainty saucer-like ca- 

 lyxes." I've read of it in descriptions 

 of Victorian gardens and finally 

 found the seed in Shepherd's Seed 

 catalog. The fragrance is light — simi- 

 lar to that of sweet peas. 



So we should think of sweet peas 

 when discussing annual vines. Their 

 fragrance is what sets them apart 

 and their flowers are lovely. Lathyrus 

 odoratus is an old-fashioned favorite 

 popular with gardeners fifty years 

 ago. My mother used to grow it on 

 an old fence at the edge of the veg- 

 etable garden along with her zinnias 

 and nasturtiums (which sometimes 

 climbed as well) The fragrance is 

 delightfully sweet and colors range 

 from deep red to the lightest pink 1 

 find they dampen off very easily, 

 but those that survive climb on a 

 fence near my sunroom door 



Moonflowers {\pomoea alba) — 

 they're related to morning glories — 

 are worth a try And I have seen 



them occasionally at nurseries. The 

 large, fragrant, white flowers are sup- 

 posed to open only at night, but the 

 ones I grew last year opened during 

 less intense times of daylight in full 

 light, they do close and are hidden 

 among the heart-shaped leaves it 

 must be started early to get much of 

 a show and it also seems to be a 

 heavy feeder. This year I've planted 

 them — and given them strings to 

 guide their climb — along a handrail 

 beside a public walkway. I hope 

 passers-by will enjoy the fragrance 

 as they take their evening strolls. 



The purple hyacinth bean, once it 

 gets started, will quickly cover a trel- 

 lis. It's not a true bean: although the 

 deep violet pea-like flowers are ed- 

 ible, the super-shiny purple pods 

 seem to be made of plastic! Dolkhos 

 lablab has large purple-veined leaves 

 that are very tropical-looking and 

 the stems are purple as well. It flow- 

 ers in mid-summer and can take full 

 sun and lots of heat. We have it 

 growing on the Bean Tepee (at the 

 Kids' Garden again) and last year it 

 was much appreciated by kids of all 

 ages. 



"Exotic love," native to Mexico, is 

 another new one for me this year 

 It's described as a good climber with 

 dark green three-pointed leaves. Its 

 Latin name is Mima lobata and the 

 catalog says that it is a "visual feast" 

 that "will bloom from midsummer for 

 weeks on end with graceful sprays of 

 showy tubular blossoms that gradu- 

 ate from crimson scarlet to creamy 

 yellow." We'll see. We have one 

 growing beside the door on Rose- 

 mary's Cottage at the Urban Forestry 

 Center 



This last one is a sweetheart! Last 

 year, mine grew to about six feet, 

 but its finely cut leaves and tiny 

 white flowers give it a very delicate 

 appearance. The main interest is the 

 papery balloon-like seed pods that 

 look like green bubbles (about the 

 size of ping pong balls) floating out 

 from each node around the edge of 

 the vine. From this comes its name, 

 "Balloon Vine." Better yet is the 



seed inside: black, the size of a pea, 

 with a distinct heart-shaped spot 

 where it attaches. This gives it its 

 other common name: "Love-in-a-Puff." 

 Scientifically, the vine is known as 

 Cardiospenmim halkacabuni and — although 

 a little tricky to grow — it's a plant that 

 I treasure. I think it could also be suc- 

 cessfully grown in a hanging basket 

 and I'm giving this a try as well 



Vines, annual or perennial, are 

 wonderful accents for a garden. They 

 make the most of space and can 

 cool an arbor or provide a living 

 screen. They're fairly undemanding 

 once established: I think it's most 

 efficient to get them started early 

 and not have to fuss with them as 

 they struggle to get going from di- 

 rect seeding in the ground, so — start 

 them and promote them and pro- 

 vide your customers with something 

 new next year. 



Tanya Jackson, a well-known area herb- 

 alist, can be reached at 603-431-7664. 



Diagnostic Lab continued 



Finally, for those of you growing toma- 

 toes or potatoes, be watchful for late 

 blight. Late blight caused major losses 

 in the potato crops in PA, NY, and ME 

 last year and also caused significant 

 damage to some tomato crops. The first 

 symptoms are usually a dark green, wa- 

 ter-soaked lesion on the foliage. The 

 fungal disease is favored by rainy peri- 

 ods or overhead irrigation. 



As a final note, the Plant Diagnostic 

 Lab will be closed from August 10 

 through August 18 I will be attending a 

 needlecast workshop at Penn State and 

 the annual plant pathology meetings in 

 Pittsburgh. Samples should be submit- 

 ted no later than August 4 to allow for 

 diagnosis by the 9th 



If you wish to submit plant material to 

 the PDL lor diagnosis, send samples [with a 

 check for $12) to. The UNH Plant Diag- 

 nostic Lab. C/O Dr. Cheryl Smith, Plant 

 Biology Department, Nesmith Hall, UNH, 

 Durham, NH 03824 Samples should be 

 accompanied by an identification form [avail- 

 able from your county Cooperative Exten- 

 sion). Cheryl Smith is the UNH Cooperative 

 Extension Specialist in Plant Health, and 

 can be reached at (603) 862-3841 



August & September 1995 



27 



