226 



THE GARDEN MAGAZINE 



May, 1907 



The nasturtium is one of the best of annual vines to 

 plant in the chinks of a wall 



for future use those that you like best. I 

 advise against the use of a mixture of sweet 

 peas, for by sowing each variety separately, 

 the different colors can easily be picked as 

 you desire to use them, and it is an easy 

 matter to mix them after they are cut. 



If proper care be taken, sweet peas may 

 be made to flower well into August, but 

 then the foliage turns yellow and the row 

 gets to look unsightly. On account of the 

 great freedom with which they produce their 

 flowers during early summer, they are usually 

 given a prominent position in the garden, and 

 it is a hard matter to find something to re- 

 place them or to fill the big gap made by 

 their death. Mr. Darlington in the March 

 Garden Magazine advocates sowing tall 

 nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus), along with 

 sweet peas, so that after the sweet peas are 

 through flowering, the nasturtiums will con- 

 tinue right on till frost. In that same number 



the cultivation of the sweet pea is discussed 

 in full. 



GORGEOUS RED FLOWERS 



The most gorgeous of all red or scarlet 

 flowering vines is the scarlet runner or fire 

 bean (Phaseolus mulliflorus). The blooms 

 are produced in racemes bearing from ten 

 to thirty flowers each, and are a bright 

 scarlet. One great point in favor of this 

 vine is its adaptability to almost any situation. 

 Just put the seed in the ground, give the 

 plants something on which to climb, and you 

 will have a blaze of color the entire summer. 

 They will accomplish wonders in redeeming 

 a dingy back fence. 



The scarlet runner likes the sunshine, but 

 it will do well almost anywhere, so long as 

 it does not suffer for want of water during 

 dry weather. Although drought will not 

 stop the flowering, it will cause the foliage 

 to turn yellow. The seeds may be sown out 

 of doors about May ist, and the vine will start 

 to flower about the middle of July and con- 

 tinue till frost. Sow when the ground is 

 dry, and in case of excessive rainfall, cover 

 the ground over the seeds with a small piece 

 of glass or wood. The seeds will rot if they 

 get too wet before germination. 



The scarlet runner is a twiner but requires 

 a little tying to its support until established; 

 after that, the vines will take care of them- 

 selves. Under good cultivation, the plant 

 attains a height of ten to twelve feet. 



There is a white form of the scarlet runner, 

 which is called the Dutch caseknife bean, 

 identical with the type in every respect 

 except in the color of the flowers, which are 

 pure white, and by many people is preferable 

 as a garden plant for that very reason. 



A newer ornamental bean is the butterfly 

 runner bean (Phaseolus multiflorus, var. 

 papilio), just as floriferous as the other two 

 varieties, with larger individual flowers and 

 the wings, which are pure white, expand 



The Heavenly Blue morning glory. Its beautiful blue flowers are good for cutting 



The climbing nasturtium flowers are large (3 inches 

 across) and in shades of yellow, orange, and red 



better. The standards in this variety are a 

 salmony brown. 



The most effective red-flowered annual 

 vine is the Cypress vine (Ipomcea Quanwclit). 

 This plant with its delicate fern-like, featherv 

 foliage and its little, tubular, scarlet flowers, 

 (about an inch long) which are abundantly 

 produced and which stand out prominently 

 against the dark green foliage, is most 

 fascinating, especially in the early morn- 

 ing before the flowers close up, or in the 

 evening just after sun-down when the blooms 

 expand once more. The flowers are not 

 expanded to the full sun. 



This vine is a good strong grower and will 

 attain a height of fifteen feet, or even 

 twenty feet, under favorable conditions, 

 which are about the same as the morning 

 glories require. But the cypress vine will 

 do well in a partial shade. There is 

 also a white flowered variety, but it is not 

 so popular as the scarlet form. An effective 

 use can be made of the two grown together 

 on a post or pillar. 



A very good vine of easy cultivation is the 

 popular hyacinth bean (Dolichos Labbab). 

 The flowers are a delicate shade of blue and 

 are produced on a raceme. The flowers, borne 

 well away from the foliage on a rigid stem six 

 to eight inches long, are a trifle stiff in ap- 

 pearance. The seeds can be sown out of 

 doors, but as is the case with most annual 

 vines, a gain of about four weeks results 

 from sowing in the greenhouse during March. 

 It is a dwarf twiner growing six to eight feet. 

 There is also a white-flowered form in which 

 the seed pod is also creamy white, instead of 

 violet-green. 



Another vine treated as an annual and 

 grown chiefly for the culinary value of its 

 fruit, is the lima bean (Phaseolus lunatus, 

 var. macrocarpus). This vine is too well 

 known to need describing here, but it is 

 referred to as a possible vine for ornament on 

 trellises, where the sole object is a screen of 

 green foliage. 



For the lover of something very frail and 

 delicate (but still not at the expense of 

 beauty), I recommend the Allegheny vine 

 (Adlumia cirrhosa). It is a great fa\orite 

 of mine, especially for planting beside a dead 



