A combination of foliage and flowers. Dutchman's pipe and honeysuckle 



The annual Japanese hop has much more beauty than a plain board fence 



Vines With Ornamental Foliage or Fruit -By w. c. McCoilom, 



TWO-PURPOSE VINES THAT HAVE DIFFERENT PHASES OF BEAUTY — WHY HAVE SO MUCH 

 UGLINESS AROUND WHEN THERE ARE FRUITING ANNUAL VINES THAT COVER QUICKLY ? 



New 

 York 



FOLIAGE vines are especially adapted 

 for stone or brick buildings, as 

 they look more at home there than flower- 

 ing ones. They are also valuable for 

 working in with flowering vines having poor 

 foliage, and no other class of vine gives 

 such good autumn colors. Foliage vines 

 can be pruned at any time of the year, but 

 spring is the better time for transplanting. 

 They should have a good, rich soil if 

 they are to produce a luxuriant growth. 

 Hardy vines which bear ornamental 

 fruit are almost as good as evergreens 

 for winter effect. In fact, one of the 

 best winter effects I ever have seen was a 

 combination of the English ivy and the 

 bittersweet. The dark green of the ivy 

 formed a background for the curious little 

 orange-scarlet seed pods of the bittersweet. 



All the woody, ornamental, fruiting vines 

 here mentioned, flower on new wood and 

 should, therefore, be pruned moderately 

 in early spring. That is also the best 

 season for transplanting them. 



Because of their value as free producers 

 of fruit, I have included a number of annual 

 vines. They are far too little used indeed; 

 miles of bare fences might easily be made 

 attractive by putting a spadeful of manure 

 at each post and sowing a few seeds of 

 gourd or other annual fruiting vine. 



For its leaves, which turn to the most 

 enchanting shades in fall, and for its ex- 

 treme hardiness and durability in large 

 cities, the ampelopsis is the best of all 

 foliage vines. All kinds of ampelopsis 

 are thrifty growers, and, if properly 

 planted require little, if any, attention. 

 Being self-clingers, they are among the 

 very best vines for stone or brick build- 

 ings, sticking with great tenacity. They 

 will grow well in full sunlight, but a semi- 

 shade, or even a northern exposure, brings 



out the best colors in autumn. Ampelop- 

 sis requires no pruning other than cutting 

 away from windows and doors. Although 

 it responds readily to good soil, I have 

 seen plants growing quite well in plain 

 beach sand. Young plants can be raised 

 by layering. 



Absolutely hardy and with beautiful au- 

 tumn foliage is the Boston, or Japanese, ivy 

 {Ampelopsis tricuspidata). In large cities, 

 where the dirt and smoke are almost in- 

 variably very harmful to plant life, this 

 vine thrives remarkably well. The fall 

 coloring is enchanting, shifting from green 

 to the various shades of yellow, orange- 

 yellow, orange-crimson, and crimson. Some 

 leaves are even blotched with pure white. 



This vine clings by means of discs, and 

 is a very vigorous grower. It has been 

 found growing on church spires over one 

 hundred feet in the air, and still ascending. 

 The profusion of small, blue-black berries 

 adds to its attractiveness in the fall. 



For use on frame buildings, to which 

 it clings with long straggling shoots 

 hanging down in great festoons, the Vir- 

 ginia creeper {Ampelopsis quinquefolia) 

 is valuable. In the fall, the berries, al- 

 ways freely produced, are very attractive. 

 The vine holds better if a little poultry 

 wire is stretched over the object to be 

 covered, in which case the disc-bearing 

 tendrils cling to the support. If this help 

 be given, the vine can also be used on 

 stone or brick buildings. It does not color 

 so vividly in the fall as the Boston ivy, 

 although the foliage assumes a beautiful 

 shade of red. 



There are numerous good varieties of 

 this vine, differing more or less in minor 

 points. A. quinquefolia, var. radicantis- 

 sima is of closer-growing habit than the 

 type. It is the loose, straggling growth 



64 



of the Virginia creeper which to most 

 persons is so pleasing. A good variety 

 for planting beside a green-leaved vine, 

 where the glaucous foliage stands out very 

 prominently, is var. murorum. With 

 small leaves and especially valuable when 

 a good fall color is desired, is var. Engel- 

 manni, a new variety. A variety with 

 very shiny leaves, especially adapted for 

 planting on dark-colored buildings, which 

 bring out the contrast, is var. latifolia. 

 The best autumn varieties of this species, 

 with foliage remarkable for their color, 

 approaching very closely to the Boston 

 ivy, are vars. Grsebneri and vitacea. Both 

 bear an abundance of blue-black berries, 

 which stay on the vine most of the winter. 



For damp, shady locations, where the 

 best colors are brought out in the fall, 

 when its clusters of berries of a peculiar 

 bluish tint are also very attractive, is 

 A. heterophylla, a very vigorous grower 

 closely allied to the grape. 



For a screen of heavy foliage few vines 

 will compete with the Dutchman's pipe 

 {Aristolochia macrophylla), with its enor- 

 mous, dark-green, sombre leaves. This 

 is a vigorous grower, is never troubled 

 with insects or disease, and if given a good 

 soil and abundance of sunlight it will 

 attain a height of fifty feet or more. 



The plant is also a good twiner, and will 

 climb any suitable support. It is especi- 

 ally good for mixing in with other small- 

 leaved vines that will stand some shade. 

 The large leaves stand out, and leave the 

 small-leaved forms close to the support. 



For lamp posts or dead tree-trunks in 

 sunny positions, the small, dark-green 

 foliage of the silk vine {Periploca Grceca) 

 is very ornamental. The peculiar brown- 

 ish-purple flowers produced in June are 

 also attractive and very fragrant. When 



