VINES 



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taller year by year, until their stems are often, at the base, 

 bigger than a man's arm. Nine of them are worth any one's 

 growing. 



Most famous is the English ivy. This climbs by clinging 

 rootlets, and will cover almost any building in the course of 

 time. Its close, dark green foliage is beautiful and dignified. 



Fig. 118. — English ivy is the finest vine where the winters are mild. No- 

 tice the rootlets. 



But it has two disadvantages. It is slow to establish itself, 

 the shoots sometimes dying in the first year or two, unless 

 protected from the winter's sun. And it is not truly hardy 

 much north of New York City. 



Euonymus radicans, or spindle vine, cannot really pretend 

 to take the place of ivy except in one particular. It is ever- 

 green. Either of these two vines is green, and therefore 

 very beautiful, all winter. But the euonymus does not grow 



