Complimentary 
NEW SERIES VOL. VI 
NO. 14 
ARNOLD ARBORETUM 
HARVARD UNIVERSITY 
BULLETIN 
OF 
POPULAR INFORMATION 
JAMAICA PLAIN, MASS. JULY 21. 1920 
Grape Vines. Summer is the time to study Grape Vines as ornamen- 
tal plants for they do not unfold their leaves until late in spring and 
the first severe frost blackens them in early autumn. For the summer 
covering of walls or fences, to spread over hillsides and among rocks, 
or to train over arbors, no other vines compare with them in vigor and 
rapidity of growth, or in beauty of foliage. The fragrance of the 
flowers, too, of several of the species should find a place for them in 
gardens. The Arboretum collection of Grape Vines is a large one and 
contains all the North American species, with the exception of two or 
three species which grow only in the extreme southern states and the 
California species which does not take kindly to the conditions which it 
finds in the eastern states. The collection contains, too, several Asiatic 
species. The plants have been trained on a long trellis on the upper side 
of the Shrub Collection in order to make it easy for students to compare 
the different species growing under the same conditions and note the 
variation in the shape, size and color of the leaves. Grape Vines, too, 
have been largely used for covering the boundary walls of the Arbor- 
etum, and their value for this purpose can be well seen near the Jam- 
aica Plain and Forest Hills entrances, and on Centre Street above the 
gate of that name. An example of the way in which Grape Vines can 
be used for covering bare ground can be seen at the junction of the 
Meadow and Bussey Hill Roads. Here the plants are cut back severely 
every spring. Although the Arboretum has made it possible for gar- 
den lovers to become acquainted with the beauties of these plants, they 
are apparently little appreciated or planted and it is impossible to find 
several of the handsomest of the American Grape Vines in American 
nurseries. 
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