34 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



September, 191. 



well on walls with a north or west exposure, 

 on buildings and on trees, and bears at the 

 ends of short lateral branches flat clusters 

 8-10 inches across of white flowers. The 

 leaves are of good size, deep green in color 

 and the plant is not subject to insect at- 

 tacks or disease. This climber is abundant 

 in the moist forests of Japan and was intro- 

 duced to the Arnold Arboretum in 1876. 

 I have seen in the forests of northern 

 Japan and the Hokkaido trees 70-80 ft. 

 tall covered with masses of flowers of this 

 Hydrangea and a most fascinating picture 

 they presented. 



A smaller growing Japanese climber and 

 even more beautiful than the preceding 

 but unfortunately less easy to establish, 

 is Schizophragma hydrangeoides. It is very 

 like the Climbing Hydrangea in foliage 

 and habit but the inflorescence on the out- 

 side has pure white ovate bracts instead of 

 4- partite sterile flowers. This plant does 

 well at Newport, R. I., but is difficult to 

 procure. The name appears in most cata- 

 logues of nursery stock but the plant sup- 

 plied under this name is almost invariably 

 the Climbing Hydrangea. 



Clematis has more variously colored 

 flowers than any other genus of hardy 

 climbers. There are species with white, 

 blue, pink, scarlet, claret-red, and yellow 

 flowers and their flowering season is from 

 the early summer until autumn. They 

 are excellent subjects for trellises, low 

 walls and arbors but it should be remem- 

 bered that these plants are fond of lime. 

 The large star-shaped flowers of the Japa- 

 nese C. patens, and C. florida which also 

 grows in China, and the Chinese C. lanu- 

 ginosa; the European C. Viticella, their 

 various colored garden forms; and the 

 Jackmani hybrids which are mixtures of 

 all three, captivate the attention wherever 

 seen and all garden lovers desire to possess 

 them. The white flowered C. montana 

 from eastern Asia is an old favorite. A 

 variety of this (C. montana var. rubens) 

 with rose-colored flowers 2I-3 inches across 

 and dark foliage, which I had the pleasure 

 of introducing to cultivation in 1900, is 

 acclaimed by garden-lovers to be one of 

 the most beautiful of all the Clematis. 

 Around Boston it has not proved completely 

 hardy but at Newport, R. I., some good 

 examples may be seen. That this plant 

 is very floriferous is shown by the photo- 

 graph here reproduced which was taken in 

 Kew Gardens in May, 1909. The white-flow- 

 ered C. Fargesii and the summer-bloom- 

 ing C. montana var. Wilsonii with large 

 fascicles of flowers are also desirable plants. 

 In June blossoms C. tangntica with pale 

 green leaves and lovely clear yellow top- 

 shaped flowers, and which hails from north- 

 western China; also the scarlet-flowered C. 

 coccinea from Texas. Another hardy spe- 

 cies from northern China is C. glauca. This 

 and its variety akebioides have bronzy 

 yellow obconical flowers which are pro- 

 duced in August. In early September the 

 Japanese C. apiifolia is a billowy mass 

 of small white flowers and its well-known 

 fellow countryman C. paniculata is quite 



indispensable. This list could easily be 

 extended but it includes the best and most 

 easily grown kinds which supply a succes- 

 sion of flowers over the full period of sum- 

 mer. 



Of climbing plants with handsome leaves 

 no class exceeds in vigor and beauty the 

 Grapevines (Vitis). Many beautiful spe- 

 cies are native of this country, but the 

 noblest of all is V. Coignetiae from 

 northern Japan. This Vine has broad heart- 

 shaped leaves of enormous size and much 

 substance, dark green and netted above 

 with a felt of brown hairs of the underside 

 and in autumn they change to scarlet and 

 crimson. It is the most vigorous of Hardy 

 Vines and in the moist forests of northern 

 Japan scales to the tops of trees 60 ft. 

 and more tall, and in the thickets, glades 

 and on the margins of woods and swamps 

 makes an impenetrable jungle. The fruit 

 is jet black, globose and edible and the 

 plant is one to which breeders of new fruits 

 might well turn their attention. This 

 climber is very common in the colder parts 

 of Japan and I shall long remember its 

 exuberant growth and vivid autumn color- 

 ing as I saw it around Lake Towada in 

 early October of last year. 



Another equally hardy species but less 

 vigorous and with smaller leaves is V. amu- 

 rensis from eastern Siberia. From China, 

 western gardens have recently received a 

 number of new and ornamental species 

 of Vitis and in England they have become 

 very popular. Unfortunately they have 

 not proved quite hardy in this country 

 as far north as Boston, Mass., but there is 

 ample room to the south on this Atlantic 

 seaboard not to mention the Pacific slope. 

 Perhap the most beautiful of these new- 

 comers is V. Davidii (more usually called 

 V. armata) and its variety cyanocarpa, 

 (better known as Veitchii) ,whichhaveprickly 

 shoots and large glossy metallic green, 

 heart-shaped pointed leaves pale on the 

 under-side and changing in the autumn 

 to scarlet and crimson. Other good sorts 

 are V. reticulata, V. betulifolia, V. Wilsonae, 

 V. Piasezkii with variously incised and 

 lobed leaves, V. flexuosa var. parvifolia 

 (commonly known as var. Wilsonii) with 

 small lustrous metallic green leaves and 

 V. Romanetii with bristly shoots. 



Temperate North America is remarkably 

 rich in species of Vitis and in the Arnold 

 Arboretum no fewer than fourteen are 

 perfectly hardy on the trellises. All are 

 good and it is not easy to make a selection. 

 Among the handsomest are V. cinerea, 

 V. bicolor, and V. Doaniana. The first- 

 named grows wild on the river banks of the 

 Mississippi Valley from Illinois to Kansas 

 and Texas. It is a most vigorous plant 

 with leaves dark green above, ashy gray 

 below and like the young shoots are clothed 

 when they unfold with a felt of gray hairs. 

 The second species is native of the northern 

 and middle states and is equally vigorous 

 and has large deeply lobed leaves which 

 are dark green above and bluish green be- 

 low. The third is a comparatively new 

 plant, native of the Texas Panhandle but 



is quite hardy and fast growing with large 

 rather pale bluish-green leaves of very firm 

 texture. Other beautiful Vines are the 

 Summer Grape (V. aestivalis) with the 

 leaves rusty-brown on the under-side; the 

 Frost Grape (V. cordifolia) with thin light 

 green leaves; the Sugar Grape (V. rupestris) 

 with small, shining metallic green leaves 

 and reddish shoots and V. labrusca, the 

 common Fox Grape of New England. For 

 covering trellises and walls the native 

 Grapevines are invaluable and their merit 

 deserve the widest recognition. 



Three most widely grown climbers are 

 the native Virginia Creepers (Partheno- 

 cissus vitacea, P. quinquefolia) and the 

 Boston Ivy (P. tricuspidata better known 

 as Ampelopsis Veitchii) native of China 

 and Japan, and all three are remarkable 

 for the brilliant autumn colors of their 

 leaves. The hardiest of the trio is P. 

 quinquefolia, which in nurseries is usually 

 sold under the name of Ampelopsis Engle- 

 mannii. This is hardy as far north as 

 Ottawa, Canada, and clings to walls and 

 buildings by means of discs at the ends of 

 the tendrils. There are several varieties, 

 the best, known as San Paulii, is common 

 in Illinois and Missouri. In Europe P. 

 quinquefolia is little known and there P. 

 vitacea passes for it. This, however, is a 

 very different plant and will not cling to 

 walls but with its shining green leaves and 

 rich autumn tints it is a splendid plant for 

 trellis-work. Two other beautiful but less 

 hardy species from China are P. Henryana 

 which has a white stripe down the centre 

 of each lobe of the leaf and P. Thomsonii 

 with reddish leaves claret-purple on the 

 underside. 



In foliage the most delicate and attrac- 

 tive and in fruit among the most beautiful 

 of all climbers is Ampelopsis aconitifolia 

 and its variety dissecta. The leaves in the 

 variety especially are finely dissected and 

 the fruit which is freely produced changes 

 as it ripens from yellow to blue and pale 

 purple. The closely allied A. humulifolia, 

 A. heterophylla and A. brevipedunculata, 

 all from China have clear turquoise blue 

 fruits. A remarkable species is A. mega- 

 lophylla, a new-comer also from China with 

 much divided leaves a yard across. 



Among the Birthworts (Aristolochia) are 

 several hardy climbers well worth growing 

 for the sake of their foliage, and mention 

 may be made of A. tomentosa and A. du- 

 rior (better known as A. sipho whose curi- 

 ous flowers gave origin to its vernacular 

 name of Dutchman's Pipe) native of eastern 

 North America, and their relatives A. mou- 

 pinensis from western China and A . Kaemp- 

 ferii from Japan. The flowers of these 

 plants though not conspicuous are very 

 interesting and their fertilization is effected 

 by flies. 



The Moonseeds too have fine foliage, 

 and their curiously ridged and curved seeds 

 are enclosed in fleshy blue-black fruits. 

 Three species are hardy, viz: the Canadian 

 Moonseed (Menispermum canadense), east- 

 ern Siberian {M. dauricum) and the Chi- 

 nese {Sinomenium acutum). A closely al- 



