CLIMBING PLANTS AND CREEPERS 97 



string or twiggy branches to twine about, and if it be allowed free 

 play will speedily clamber over a bush in the shrubbery and 

 mantle an arbour or summer-house. A slightly less hardy variety, 

 which needs to be raised in heat in May, is ipomaea rubro-caerulea, 

 introduced from Mexico. The flowers, which are large in some 

 instances as much as four inches across are of a pretty pale blue 

 colour. They open early in the morning, and fade about noon, 

 but are produced in such abundance that from the middle of July 

 onwards until autumn approaches they provide a rich display of 

 colour. Another species, tropseolum hedersefolium, the ivy-leaved 

 morning glory, produces much smaller flowers, but is none the 

 less desirable or welcome on that account. It may be sown in 

 the open at the end of April. All convolvuli thrive best in rather 

 rich open soil. 



Eccremocarpus scaber, a native of Chili, bears delicate orange- 

 coloured flowers against dark green foliage, and though one does 

 not often find it in the amateur's garden it deserves to be ex- 

 tensively cultivated. It should be treated as a half-hardy annual, 

 though in the warmer regions of Devon and Cornwall it has 

 established itself as a perennial and grows luxuriantly. The most 

 suitable position for it is one with ajsouth^oi ; south-west _ asp^ct 

 and it may be trained either on a wall or against trellis or rustic 

 work. ' *> w-*-** 



Cobaea scandens, sometimes called cups and saucers from the 

 shape of the flowers, is often treated as a greenhouse annual ; but 

 if its planting out be delayed until June it makes a splendid 

 display as decoration for a rustic arch, an arbour or over trellis- 

 work. Another delightful climber for a south wall or other fairly 

 warm situation is passiflora caerulea the passion flower. It has 

 light delicate foliage and large elegant flowers which appear to be 

 blue, but are really white with a mass of blue filaments lying on 

 the petals. P. gracilis and P. Constance Elliott both bear white 

 flowers, while those of P. lutea are yellow. In very favourable 

 positions passion flower plants produce fruit mostly large yellow 

 berries but this does not often occur out of doors unless in an 

 unusually hot summer. 



