ORNAMENTAL CLIMBING PLANTS. 113 



their lovely flowers will show to the best advantage. This plant 

 should be in every collection ; its flowers are crimson, borne on- 

 thread-like stems, varying from nine to fifteen inches in length ; 

 and when it is said that they occ^r at nearly all the joints some 

 idea can be had of its great attractiveness. 



Bignonia venusta is a splendid old plant, well known to many 

 and deserving a place wherever the space can be spared ; if trained 

 to the rafters, the drooping racemes of its beautiful large tubular- 

 shaped amber colored flowers will form a display of floral beauty 

 more attractive than it is easy to conceive of. I remember one in 

 the greenhouse of an old friend in Philadelphia, trained to a post 

 and then along the ridge-pole of his greenhouse sixty feet or more. 

 He used the flowers for making designs, etc., and, in his own 

 words, it was " one of his stand-bys." It will grow in any good 

 soil. I think the best place is a good border inside the house ; 

 indeed I know of a plant in a greenhouse, not a dozen miles from 

 here, and I am sure the soil has not been renewed in as many 

 years ; still it does well. 



Mandevillea suaveolens is a grand climber, but it is susceptible 

 to the attacks of the red spider ; and the syringe must be used 

 freely. It is very ornamental ; if it grows too rapidly, the weak 

 shoots may be thinned out. The blossoms are pure white, not 

 unlike tliose of the Dipladenia in shape ; and are so fragrant that 

 it is sometimes called Chili Jasmine. If this were only hardy and 

 you could persuade it to grow with Clematis Jackmanni and flower 

 at the same time, could one imagine anything more grand? 



Let me ask your attention to the Passifloras. Their habit is 

 robust and free growing, and they are adapted for running over 

 the roofs of their respective habitations. Passijlora ccerulea, the 

 flowers of which are white and blue, is perhaps the best known 

 and the most generally cultivated species ; and deservedly so. 



The fruit of some species, such as eduUs, laurifoUa, and quad- 

 rarigularis, is eaten ; the fragrant, succulent pulp which surrounds 

 the seed is found to be cooling and pleasant, agreeably acid, and 

 admirably adapted for allaying thirst in hot climates. At the 

 'greenhouses of the late Edward S. Rand, Sr., in Dedham, the 

 writer well remembers seeing P. edulis and P. quadrangularis 

 grown in large pots ; and that they flowered and fruited quite 

 freely. I will not specify any more of the varieties. All are of 

 easy culture ; liable, I know, to the mealy bug, but with a bottle of 

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