CHAPTER XV 



CREEPERS AND CLIMBERS 



" Our tallest rose 

 Peeped in at the chamber window/' 



No cottage, villa, hut, nor any other human dwelling, 

 however small and gardenless, need be without some 

 leaves and flowers, for it must have walls, and up them 

 may the Ivy wander and the Jasmine cling. Quaintly 

 enough, both Vine and Fig tree are tolerant of town air, 

 and, suggestive as they are of sylvan and patriarchal life, 

 might flourish in Seven-Dials if there were room enough 

 for them to grow. The Vine, in fact, is one of the best 

 climbers it is possible to find for London and the suburbs ; 

 one regrets that it is not oftener made use of, for, to say 

 nothing of its fruits, the foliage is so exquisitely decora- 

 tive : in summer of a pure green, and in autumn rich in 

 yellows, reds, and browns. The Fig tree is another 

 handsome plant, well worth growing if only for the sake 

 of its comfortable triple leaves that in Eden were found 

 so useful. There is no occasion to mention Virginian 

 Creepers ; everybody already knows and appreciates them. 

 The large-leafed, loosely flowing, common kind is pre- 

 ferred by some, but is not so neat and compact as the 

 small-foliaged Ampelopsis Veitchii^ which clings wherever 

 it can place a finger with extraordinary tenacity, and 

 never needs a nail. Naturally, this clinging habit makes 

 the Veitchii very popular where gardeners are scarce. 

 In planting creepers and climbers we find it the best 



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