32 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



September, 1915 



rangea {Hydrangea petiolaris) and 

 Euonymus japonicus, short roots 

 are freely emitted everywhere on 

 the stem on the side away from 

 the light and these adhere tenac- 

 iously to the object affording sup- 

 port. In the Trumpet-flower 

 (Campsis) the shoots twine some- 

 what and also emit roots but only 

 from definite localized points. 

 Other plants like certain Roses 

 climb or cling by means of hooked 

 prickles. 



These facts are not merely 

 interesting in themselves but 

 are of direct practical impor- 

 tance to all who wish to en- 

 joy in their gardens climbing 

 plants since they indicate clearly 

 the nature of the support needed 

 by each group. 



It is the fashion now-a-days 

 to erect in the immediate vicin- 

 ity of the house a heavy, mas- 

 sive structure of masonry or 

 wood and style it euphemist- 

 ically a pergola. As an archi- 

 tectural feature I have no 

 criticism to offer. In lands of perennial 

 sunshine like southern California, Ari- 

 zona and other dry southern states, such 

 arbors clothed with climbing plants dow- 

 ered with ample foliage afford welcome re- 

 lief and serve as cool and delightful re- 

 treats from the hot sun's rays. But in 

 northern lands such structures, if intended 

 primarily for the accommodation of climb- 

 ing plants, would certainly look more attrac- 

 tive and be equally serviceable if con- 

 structed on a less massive scale. To my 

 mind the dominant features in any and 

 every garden should be the living plants 

 themselves, and structures erected for their 

 accommodation should be subordinate to 

 the requirements of the plants. As an 

 illustration, some friend invites us to view 

 his or her Rambler Roses. Now it is the 

 Roses we admire and it is intended that we 

 should admire them, and not the structure 

 on which they cling, no matter how costly 

 or architecturally beautiful this structure 

 may happen to be. Simplicity combined 

 with mechanical stability should be the 

 sine qua non of all structures intended for 

 the accommodation of climbing plants in 

 the garden or the immediate precincts of 

 the house. 



Neat posts made of reinforced concrete 

 and firmly inserted fifteen to eighteen feet 

 apart in the ground with stout copper or 

 galvanized wire run through make a last- 

 ing trellis which if ten feet high will serve 

 for all the perfectly hardy stem and tendril- 

 climbing plants. Climbers so planted dis- 

 play their beauty to the best advantage 

 and this arrangement will form an excel- 

 lent screen to the garden or it may be so 

 affixed as to form an avenue or arbor. 

 Note, however, that it is said those "per- 

 fectly hardy" for be it remembered 

 that on a trellis the plants are fully ex- 

 posed to the elements and especially to 

 the strong winds and draughts which are 



The Japanese Wisteria (W. floribunda var. multijuga) produces its floral 

 great length if given abundance of water. The flower buds are less frequen 

 by cold in the north than those of the Chinese Wisteria 



far more trying than low temperatures. 

 Under the lee of a stone fence is the 

 ideal site for planting climbers of all sorts 

 and a far greater number will thrive under 

 such conditions than on a trellis. Hook- 

 climbers and many stem-climbers do well 

 and look most effective if planted among 

 or on top of large boulders where they can 

 develop into a dense tangle. On such 

 rocks if planted at the base root-climbers 

 and those which have discs at the ends of 

 their tendrils do well. Root-climbers also 

 thrive on the north and west sides of 

 buildings and likewise on trees. If climbers 

 be planted with the intention of their 

 ascending and wandering over trees it 

 should be borne in mind that sooner or 

 later it means the death of the tree by 

 strangulation and suffocation. 



Climbing plants are found nearly all over 

 the world. They are especially abundant 

 in the tropics where they form a most 

 striking feature in the forests. They are 

 also plentiful in moist forests of the tem- 

 perate regions of both Hemispheres but 

 they are absent from alpine and arctic 

 regions. Broadly speaking it may be said 

 that they occur everywhere where trees 

 and large shrubs grow and the more moist 

 the climate the more exuberant their 

 growth. Always they grow in association 

 with other woody plants which afford them 

 not only means of support but protection 

 from cold, chilling draughts. In eastern 

 North America there are many native 

 climbers of great beauty and ornamental 

 value and the variety available for the 

 embellishment of gardens situated in cold 

 northern districts is much greater than 

 many suppose. A selection of these I now 

 propose to pass in brief review. 



Unquestionably the most beautiful of 

 all climbers hardy in cool temperate regions 

 is Wisteria, everywhere so deservedly popu- 

 lar and widely cultivated. Now the name 



racemes in 

 tly injured 



Wisteria was given in 1818, by 

 the American botanist, Nuttall, to 

 an American plant (W . frutescens) , 

 which had been in cultivation 

 in England since 1724, as Glycine 

 frutescens, in honor of an Ameri- 

 can physician Dr. Caspar Wistar, 

 Professor of Anatomy in the Uni- 

 versity of Pennsylvania. In 1 8 1 8 , 

 John Reeves, an officer of the 

 English East - India Company, 

 sent from Canton, China to Eng- 

 land, a climber which received 

 the name Glycine sinensis. In 

 1825, De Candolle, a Frenchman, 

 correctly referred this plant to 

 Nuttall's genus Wisteria. To- 

 day, and for many decades past, 

 Wisteria and Wisteria sinensis 

 have been synonymous in the 

 popular mind. Indeed, compara- 

 tively few people know that here 

 in eastern North America there 

 are native species of Wisteria, so 

 completely has their oriental 

 relative surpassed them in popu- 

 lar appreciation. 



The Chinese Wisteria is native 

 of the eastern part of China and is not com- 

 pletely hardy as far north as Boston, Mass. 

 It requires some protection and this is 

 usually afforded by planting it against 

 houses. Even then in severe winters the 

 flower buds get killed. 



In scenes of Japanese gardens and temple 

 grounds and in Japanese paintings and 

 embroideries most people are familiar 

 with a Wisteria having very long racemes 

 of flowers. This plant is known generally 

 as Wisteria multijuga but is really only a 

 garden form of the common wild Wisteria 

 of Japan which correctly should be called 

 W. floribunda. This climber is abundant 

 on the margins of moist woods and thickets 

 and especially by the side of streams, ponds 

 and ditches virtually all over Japan and 

 has racemes of pale purple flowers i-i§ 

 ft. long. In Japanese gardens forms with 

 white and pinkish flowers with racemes 

 2-2! ft. long are cultivated, and also a pur- 

 ple flowered form with racemes which I 

 myself have measured 64! inches long! 

 These plants are always grown by the side 

 of ponds and streams and the stems trained 

 to form an arbor, and it is unlimited water 

 supply during the time of flowering that 

 accounts for the phenomenally long racemes. 

 Did we around Boston attempt to culti- 

 vate this plant in the Japanese manner I 

 fear King Frost would play sad havoc 

 and the results would be less satisfactory 

 than those we at present achieve. But 

 further south the plan would doubtless 

 succeed, and even in the north some simple 

 means of providing the plants with an 

 abundant water-supply as the flower buds 

 expand could be found. 



The Japanese Wisteria was introduced 

 to Europe about 1870-2, but seeds were 

 received in this country by Samuel Par- 

 sons of Flushing, Long Island, in March 

 1862, from Dr. Hall. It is hardier than 

 its more widely known Chinese relative 



