CLIMBING PLANTS AND CREEPERS 103 



Name Colour of Flowers 



Duchess of Edinburgh White double flowers 



Belle of Woking Silver-grey 



Lucie Lemoine White 



John Gould Veitch Lavender 



The successful culture of the clematis consists in careful atten- 

 tion to three important operations : planting in good strong 

 loamy soil ; feeding, for the clematis will absorb a great deal of 

 nourishment ; and pruning at the right time. It should be re- 

 membered that clematis plants are grafted on the roots of the wild 

 variety, and this fact affords a hint as to the method of planting 

 of which it is well to take note. In most cases the plants will 

 arrive from the nurseryman in pots. The clematis should be 

 carefully removed from the pots, and the roots be uncoiled and 

 spread out to their fullest limits. An examination of the base 

 of the stem will indicate the poin' of union between stock and 

 scion. The roots should be buried deeply enough to admit of the 

 joint being buried at least three inches below the surface, so that 

 the scion may be able to form new roots of its own. The feeding 

 should consist in the frequent application of weak doses of liquid 

 manure in early summer. With regard to pruning it may be said 

 that as a general rule clematises of the Jackmani section may be 

 treated with almost ruthless severity. Indeed they may be cut 

 right down to the ground in early spring, and yet will start again 

 and bloom profusely the same year, or, If this drastic treatment 

 cause misgivings, may be allowed to grow on with a little thinning 

 out of dead and superfluous wood. The other sections thrive 

 best if the pruning knife be used sparingly. It will be sufficient 

 to cut out straggling growths after flowering so as to keep the 

 plants within bounds. 



Not less on account of its delightful fragrance than because of 

 its pretty slender foliage and graceful flowers do honeysuckles 

 (loniceras) take high rank among popular climbers. L. pericly- 

 menum is the common familiar variety of the hedgerows ; L. 

 caprifolium bears yellow flowers; L. tormentella, small pink 

 blossoms ; L. etrusca, yellow and purple ; and L. japonica, red. 



