VOL. XLIX. NO. 2088 . 
NEW YORK, FEBRUARY 1 , i89o. 
PRICE, FIVE CENTS. 
$ 2.00 PER YEAR. 
rEntered According to Act of Congress in the Year 1890 by the Rural New-Yorker, in the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D. C.) 
TECOMA R4DICANS. 
T HE TRUMPET-CREEPER shown in 
the illustration, Fig. 27, was planted 
in 1862 in front of the house of Mr. William 
Blair of River Edge, Bergen County, N. J. 
The little vine planted at that time was 
but two feet high. Mr. Blair dug a large 
hole and sank a Red Cedar tree firmly 
beside the little vine. The side branches 
were not cut off close to tne trunk but left 
a foot or more long so as to furnish sup¬ 
port for the growing vine. As it grew 
Mr. Blair trained the branches so as to 
form a seat which is shown in the photo¬ 
engraving, Fig. 27. 
This beautiful weeping tree—for that is 
the best way to describe it—is now over 20 
feet high. It does not seem to have quite 
lost the vine habit, but its long shoots, hav¬ 
ing nothing to cling to, droop gracefully, 
giving it the appearance, not of a vine, but 
rather of a pendulous tree, which during 
its period of bloom is a most beautiful ob¬ 
ject. 
Of all hardy vines probably the Trumpet 
Vine is the best adapted to being changed 
into the tree form. Its main stem enlarges 
with its lateral and perpendicular growth 
proportionately, so that, being supported 
by a heavy stake, it in time becomes self- 
supporting. This cannot be said of the 
Duchman’s Pipe, the Celastrus scandens, 
Akebia quinata, or indeed of any of the 
vines which we sometimes attempt to 
change in this way. 
THE TRUMPET CREEPER. 
WILLIAM FALCONER. 
This is oueof the commonest,easiest to grow 
and most ornamental of all our woody 
climbers. Its botanical name is Tecoma 
radicans, and it belongs to the Bignonia 
family of plants; Catalpa trees also belong 
to the same order. It grows wild from 
Pennsylvania south and west, and abounds 
along the outskirts of woods, road-sides, 
and neglected grounds and thickets of 
shrubs where the soil is good, but is seldom 
found in dense, shady woods. 
As an ornamental climber it is cultivated 
in all temperate countries. The typical 
wild plant is the one most commonly culti¬ 
vated, but nurserymen have given us a few 
distinct varietal forms of it; for instance, 
Praecox, which is claimed to bloom a little 
earlier than the common form,Grandiflora, 
which has larger flowers,and Atrosanguinea, 
which has darker-colored blossoms. The 
last named is quite distinct, but the other 
two, although perhaps distinct enough, 
occur, I believe, not infrequently in a wild 
state, at least any one in the Southern 
States may observe that some plants bloom 
earlier than others and some have larger 
and handsomer flowers than others. 
Trumpet Creepers are very serviceable 
wherever vigorous, permanent vines are 
wanted, but they should not be planted 
against light trellis work as they might 
wind around and break it. They luxuriate in 
warm sunshine, and will blossom well even 
iu north-facing aspects provided they are not 
overshaded by trees. We have an old two- 
story barn covered to the top of the roof 
with one on the south side and on the west 
gable end, and when it is in bloom in mid¬ 
summer it looks lovely. We cut the vines 
hard into the boards every winter. Asso¬ 
ciated with many other vines we have it 
covering a large summer-house, and alone 
trained up arched pillars. And it is really 
pretty when allowed to run up trees and 
spread out among their branches, and de¬ 
pend again in flower-tipped sprays, as we 
find it wild along the margins of Southern 
woods. And a very striking way to use it 
is trained up a high pillar by itself in col¬ 
umnar fashion. Just set a 12 to 20-feet high 
locust or chestnut post in the ground where 
you wish to have the pillar and plant Trum¬ 
pet Creepers about it and let them climb 
up the pole at freedom, but clip them in 
close to the pillar every winter for tidiness’ 
sake. 
It clings to any rough surface by stem 
roots, just as English Ivy does and, too, it 
often twists around a narrow support. It 
spreads a good deal at the root and sprouts 
crop up as far as some yards away from the 
stems of the old plants, but they are easily 
chopped out if not wanted. It is quite hardy 
on Long Island, and hardy enough at 
Boston. 
r - ; ---—-rr- 
THE TRUMPET CREEPER AS A TREE. From Nature. Fig ~ 27. 
