September, 19 15 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



33 



and therefore deserves to be more generally 

 cultivated in the north. The flowers are 

 slightly smaller and open rather later but 

 are fragrant and equally beautiful. The 

 white, purple and pinkish forms are equally 

 hardy and may be grown in the manner as 

 the Chinese species usually is or on a 

 trellis. There is also a form with ugly 

 double purple flowers. This was first 

 cultivated in this country in the garden of 

 Francis Parkman, the historian, at Jamaica 

 Plain, Mass., in 1862, having been received 

 from Japan through Mr. Gordon Dexter. 



The Japanese Wisteria is erratic in the 

 matter of flowering and if raised from seeds 

 decades may pass before any flowers appear. 

 Grafts from flowering plants should be used 

 in propagating and by this means plants 

 only 3-4 ft. tall will blossom. 



One of the most vigorous, hardy and 

 popular of all stem-climbers is Actinidia 

 arguta, a native of Japan, which has glossy 

 green leaves with red stalks and small, 

 saucer-shaped white flowers with numerous 

 stamens and black anthers. There are two 

 forms of this and all other species of Acti- 

 nidia, one with purely male flowers and an- 

 other with perfect flowers. The latter 

 bears fruits which are edible and which 

 may be made into a preserve. Two other 

 hardy Japanese species of Actinidia (A. 

 Kolomikta and A . polygama) are 

 in cultivation and in these a -~> 



varying number of the foliage r _- s " " 

 leaves are white passing to pink- rf 

 ish and increase the attractive- 

 ness of these plants. Unfortu- 

 nately cats have a strong partial- 

 ity for A . polygama, clawing and 

 tearing it into shreds and good 

 examples are rarely seen. Those ig^P - 

 desiring to grow this climber 

 must protect it from cats by 

 wire netting. The handsomest of all the 

 Actinidias and one of the most striking 

 of all climbers is A . chinensis and it is 

 much to be regretted that this valuable 

 new plant is not hardy so far north as 

 Boston, Mass. It is a vigorous grower 

 with large leaves varying in shape from 

 nearly round to ovate and pointed, and 

 large white changing to buff -yellow deli- 

 ciously fragrant flowers The shoots and 

 leaves when young are covered with 

 crimson hairs which add much to the 

 beauty of the plant. The fruits are 

 rounded to oval 1^-2 inches long russet-col- 

 ored and more or less hairy. The skin of the 

 fruit is very thin and the flesh is green, sweet 

 and pleasant to the palate and is excellent 

 for dessert or for making a preserve. In 

 the south and west there is a future for this 

 Actinidia not only as an ornamental but 

 also as a fruit bearing climber. Although 

 discovered in China by Robert Fortune 

 in 1846, it was not introduced until 1900 

 when I first sent seeds to England'. 



A comparatively new, hardy and very 

 beautiful plant is Tripterygium Regelii, 

 with brown, spotted stems, bright green 

 leaves and large clusters of small white 

 flowers which are followed by curious, 

 winged fruits. It is native of Japan and 



Korea and so also are Schisandra chinensis, 

 Akebia lobata and A. quinata. These are 

 hardy stem-climbers with good foliage, 

 rather inconspicuous flowers and orna- 

 mental fruits. Very free flowering climbers 

 in June are Periploca graeca from south- 

 eastern Europe and P. septum from northern 

 China which have glossy green leaves and 

 curious purplish flowers with recurved 

 petals with horn-like outgrowths at the 

 base. The Chinese plant is the hardier. 

 The Supple-jack (Berchemia scandens) from 

 the south-eastern states and its Japanese 

 relative B. racemosa are hardy and have 

 neat deep green prominently veined leaves, 

 small greenish flowers and bunches of red 

 changing to shining black fruits. 



The native Waxwork (Celastrus scan- 

 dens) and its relatives C. articulatus and 

 C. jlagellaris from north-east Asia and 

 Japan are good trellis plants but they are 

 seen to best advantage as a tangle on and 

 over large rocks. The first two have the 

 male and female flowers on different plants 

 but in C. Jlagellaris, which has little hooks 

 at the base of the leaf-stalk that assist it to 

 climb, the sexes are on the same individual. 

 In the autumn when laden with yellow 

 fruit which opens and exposes the seeds with 

 their brilliant orange-scar- 



let coverings, <■ ■ y there are few 

 plants of equal ^. ^ beauty. If 



The true Climbing Hydrangea 

 (H. petiolaris) is perfectly hardy 

 and clings to walls or trees 



branches be cut just as the fruits com- 

 mence to open and placed in vases 

 without water the ornamental value 

 is retained throughout the winter. The 

 best of the three species is C. articulatus. 



For planting against low walls and on 

 rocks the Matrimony Vines (Lycium chi- 

 nense and L. halimifolium) are very useful 

 and in late summer and autumn when 

 laden with their conspicuous scarlet fruits 

 they are very attractive. 



A very beautiful twining plant but one 

 not always easily established is Polygonum 

 baldschuanicum from central Asia. It grows 

 8-12 ft. tall and produces masses of white 

 flowers which change to pink with age. 



Its near relative P. multiflorum, from China 

 and Japan, is a much more vigorous grower 

 with larger clusters of flowers but it is not 

 nearly so hardy and cannot be grown out- 

 of-doors as far north as Boston, Mass. 



Among the American species of Honey- 

 suckle there are several good hardy climbers 

 but the best is Lonicera Heckrottii, a hybrid 

 of unknown origin. From the middle of 

 June until the early frosts appear this 

 plant is in blossom. The flowers which 

 are borne in clusters, are deep rose color 

 without and pale yellow within and though 

 not fragrant they are very beautiful. 

 Very vigorous growers are L. flava 

 and L. glaucescens, with yellow flowers; 

 L. prolifera (better known as L. Sullivantii) 

 with yellowish flowers; and L. sempervirens 

 with scarlet flowers; L. hirsuta has hairy 

 leaves and flowers with a yellow tube and 

 orange- red lip; and the hybrid L. Brownii 

 and its form fuchsioides have wine colored 

 flowers. The European Honeysuckles or 

 Woodbines, L. Periclymenum (of which 

 there are several varieties one of which 

 var. belgica, known as the Dutch Honey- 

 suckle, is continuous blooming) and L. 

 Caprijolium are or ought to be well-known 

 favorites. Hall's semi-evergreen Japan 

 Honeysuckle (L. japonica var. Halliana) 

 needs no comment and even more beauti- 

 ful is the Chinese variety (L. japonica var. 

 chinensis) with red-colored young shoots 

 and leaves. The Chinese name for this 

 plant Chin-yin-hwa, i. e., Gold and Silver 

 flower, is singularly appropriate. Many 

 of these Honeysuckles are very subject 

 to the attacks of a black aphis and they 

 can only be kept in good condition by care- 

 ful spraying with an antidote early in the 

 season as the leaves unfold. 



The Trumpet-flower (Camp- 

 sis radicans, better known 

 as Tecoma radicans) a native 

 of Missouri and Texas to 

 Virginia is a common and 

 much appreciated climber. 

 The variety praecox and the 

 hybrid C. hybrida are also 

 valuable plants, but these 

 are in size and beauty of 

 flowers surpassed by their 

 Chinese relative C. chinensis, though un- 

 fortunately it is much less hardy. In the 

 Chinese plant the flowers are orange-scarlet 

 and the shade is more pleasing than that 

 of the American kinds. All are vigorous 

 growers with shining green divided leaves 

 and they climb by means of tufts of roots 

 emitted from the stem opposite the base 

 of the leaf-stalks. Closely allied to this is 

 the Cross- vine (Anisostichus capreolatus, 

 better known as Bignonia capreolata) so 

 abundant in the south-eastern states, and 

 which has large trumpet-shaped flowers 

 orange-yellow within the tube, dark scarlet 

 without. This plant which climbs by 

 means of tendrils which have discs at the 

 ends, is not hardy around Boston though 

 with care it can be kept alive. 



A root-climber that should be in every 

 garden is the Climbing Hydrangea (H. 

 petiolaris). It is perfectly hardy and does 



