ON SOME ORNAMENTALS 



The ornamental value of palms for roadsides 

 and borders, and artistically placed here and there 

 on the lawn, is admirably supplemented by a back- 

 ground of vines growing on walls or over rustic 

 arbors or pergolas. 



And of course there are numerous vines, as 

 everyone is aware, that flourish abundantly in 

 regions where the palm cannot be grown. So the 

 picturesqueness of effect that can be gained by the 

 use of vines sometimes better than in any other 

 way is available for the residents of northern cli- 

 mates, even far toward the arctic circle, almost as 

 fully as in the sub-tropical regions. 



Among the vines that are so thrifty that they 

 will grow in almost any soil, and so hardy as to 

 resist the coldest winters, the so-called ivies of the 

 genus Ampelopsis take foremost rank. Of these 

 the Japanese Ivy, sometimes known as Boston Ivy 

 (A. vitchi) and its varieties, is probably the best 

 known and the most extensively grown. For the 

 purpose of covering brick and stone walls it is 

 perhaps the most beautiful of all vines. 



This vine has a close rival, however, and in the 

 opinion of some even a superior, in the native 

 species familiar everywhere in the middle and 

 eastern states as the Five-Leafed Ivy or Virginia 

 Creeper. This vine, however, does not cling to 

 flat, smooth surfaces as does the Asiatic species. 



[215] 



