oral BPiciorktl Home 
jomjmniaiu 
Jjforitl imtirHtttimmn 
(This article received Second Prize.) 
CLIMBING VINES. 
BY MAY MIGNONETTE. 
The number of vines climbing by the aid of tendrils 
is large. Some are called creepers. Among this class 
may be found many bearing edible fruits, as the squash, 
melon, cucumber, and the luscious grape—and I must 
not omit the pumpkin. These creep along on the 
ground until they find an object upon which they 
can climb, and then, grasping it with their tendrils and 
raising their heads, up they go. 
I think if these vines were grown upon frames their 
fruit would be much nicer and ripen better. Some 
years since a squash seed was accidentally dropped 
near the corner of my piazza. As it grew it was trained 
along the edge of the roof, and in the course of the 
summer it attained to the length of forty-four feet. 
The bright green leaves afforded a grateful shade, and 
the large, goblet-shaped flowers, in color a delicate 
buff, threw out a sweet perfume. It bore several 
squashes, one of which hung directly over the well, 
and proved to be excellent food. One of the best 
squashes I ever tasted was ripened on the roof of my 
shed. Others are cultivated for the beauty of the foliage 
and fruit. Among the gourds are the curious, the or¬ 
namental and the useful, some of them beariug fruit 
large enough for dippers. From these are formed the 
calabashes about which we read in stories of West 
Indian life. 
The fruit of the Mock-Orange, so called from its re¬ 
semblance to the real orange, when arranged on a plate 
of green wedge wood ware, in shape imitating a cluster 
of vine leaves, is a cheerful and also a tantalizing ob¬ 
ject on the centre-table. 
The pear-shaped gourd is very handy in darning 
stockings. The gourd fits nicely into the heel or toe, 
and one can hold on to the neck and mend the hole 
(often a large one) with much more ease than when 
the hand is within the stocking. The seed must be 
planted early, in order to have the gourd ripen and 
mature in this northern climate. The blossom is white, 
and has a somewhat musky odor. 
Bryonopsis I can recommend as a graceful, rapid 
growing annual climber. The leaves are pretty, and 
its little marbled fruit is very attractive. The flowers, 
which are of a pale straw color, are small. The seeds 
are enclosed in a small capsule of the size and form o 
an agate marble, pretty in their green state, and when 
ripe, a subdued scarlet color and striped with white. 
They grow in pairs, and, if they were hard like a 
gourd, would be valuable for making a variety of fancy 
articles. They remain fresh for some time, and then 
shrivel in drying. It is a pretty vine for the house or 
conservatory. 
Cardiospermum is light, airy and graceful; the foli¬ 
age and tendrils of a bright green. From the axils of 
the leaves are thrown out slender, thread-like stems, 
on which are borne its tiny white flowers. One can 
hardly believe that such little flowers will produce seeds 
in such large capsules (but some small women are 
mothers of tall sons). The seeds are brown, with a 
white spot on one side, and are enclosed in a green 
capsule, looking like a little airy balloon, dancing in 
the wind and ready to soar aloft as soon as the tie is 
broken that binds it to the plant. The seeds are hard, 
and if one could procure them in a sufficient quantity 
they might be strung on thread or wire and used for 
necklaces, hanging baskets, and a variety of pretty 
ornaments. 
Abroba viridiflora is thus described in Mr. Wash¬ 
burn’s catalogue: “A rare and extremely pretty 
tuberous-rooted perennial climbing curcubitacae, 
with elegant cut, glossy dark green foliage, and small, 
vivid scarlet fruits, &c.” 
Certainly, thought I, the plant that will bear the ' 
weight of so long a string of adjectives must be worth ! 
cultivating. I forthwith purchased and planted some 1 
seeds. The vines grew well during the summer, and 
the foliage answered the description given above. A 
friend, to whom I gave one of the plants, tended and 
cared for it during four or five years. At last it died, 
and gave no sign either of flowers or fruit. The root 
is tuberous and may be kept in the cellar during the 
winter. It is worth cultivating for its pretty foliage. 
There are some vines that deserve the name of 
pedestrians. One of these is Iladianthus Dubia, not 
nearly so pretty in its leaves and manner of growth as 
Abroba, but described as a vine bearing “yellow flow¬ 
ers and vivid scarlet fruit, the shape and size of an 
egg.” These scarlet fr uits glowed in my imagination, 
and I sent for a package of seeds. Four of them 
sprouted, and I planted them near together by my 
south door. I would not give any away, as the pis¬ 
tillate and staminate flowers grew on separate plants, 
lest by so doing I should lose my chance of raising 
fruit. The third year they blossomed plentifully; the 
flowers upright, a bright lemon color and resembling 
in form a Canterbury bell, though somewhat smaller. 
The season passed on, but no scarlet eggs appeared to 
gladden my sight. Whether they were spinsters or 
bachelors I do not know. Since then I have been 
trying to get rid of the roots, as I could not spare them 
all the room they wanted. How they get from one 
end of the bed to the other I cannot tell. “ They all 
run up to the parson’s wife,” but cutting off their beads 
with a carving knife does not kill them. I have had 
the bed dug over every spring and the bulbs taken out, 
but every year one or more rears its head. They look 
somewhat like a potato. I wonder if they arc fit to be 
eaten ? If they are it might be profitable to raise 
them. They seem to travel under ground from one 
end of the bed to the other without going through in¬ 
termediate space. If Dubia means dubious, doubtful, 
the name is well applied. I am beginning to be shy 
of “ novelties,” for those scarlet eggs still rankle in my 
imagination. 
The sweet pea, climbing by tendrils and bearing 
flowers so deliciously fragrant, is so well known to all 
lovers of plants that it needs no description. 
Now we have come to a more delicate assortment of 
vines, which are beautiful for foliage and flowers. 
Some are called hardy, but require protection in these 
northern latitudes during the winter; others are stove 
plants, flowering only in a high temperature. 
Coboea scandens is valuable because it will grow in 
the shade, where many plants would languish and 
die. It is a rapid grower and will climb almost with¬ 
out support, catching and clinging to any rough spot on 
wall or paper. There are several varieties. Flowers 
purple and green. 
The Passifloras are all beautiful flowering vines—- 
some blooming in summer, others, as Volxemi and 
Trifasciata, in winter; the latter lias variegated leaves. 
It is a stove plant, and requires heat and more moisture 
than can be given it in a parlor. 
Cissus Discolor is avery beautiful vine, with which 
I have had some experience. Five years ago Mr. 
Henderson sent me three plants about two feet in 
length. Everybody was delighted with them. I put 
them on a shelf in my parlor window. In the winter 
all the leaves except two fell off. I waited impatiently 
till spring to see what would happen. Though they 
are called stove plants I believe the roots would live 
through the winter in the cellar. In April, getting 
out of patience, I carried one of the plants into a room 
in the barn; sometimes I watered it, but mostly let it 
alone. \V hen 1 was in want of a pot I would seize it 
to throw it away, but. always, on cutting the end, 
found it green and alive. After cutting it until there 
seemed to be no joint from which a leaf could start, I 
put it into. a cup of earth and placed it in a sunny 
window. In time it began to grow, and in the autumn 
it was an elegant vine, nearly two yards in length. I 
have one in my conservatory, in a hanging pot, from 
which the leaves dropped in the early part of last win¬ 
ter, the mealy bug having had a taste of them. There 
it is—a bit of brown, dead-looking stump. Not a 
shoot or leaf has started during all these months, and 
yet it is not dead. I have come to the following con¬ 
clusions : That some stove plants are not easily killed. 
That they require heat and moisture to make them 
flourish; more moisture in the atmosphere than can 
be given them in a parlor, and that it is tantalizing to 
try to raise them. It is best not to give them much 
water whilst they are in a dormant state, but all vines 
when growing require much water and must not be 
suffered to wilt. 
“ Creeping "where no life is seen, 
A rare old plant is the Ivy green.'” 
Hedera or Ivy does not climb by curling tendrils, 
but rather by little rootlets, which force themselves 
into crevices in walls and buildings. There are many 
varieties. The English and Irish are most cultivated. 
The Chrysoscarpa, or golden-berried, has a beautiful 
leaf and is my favorite. They are good for growing 
in halls or large rooms, but lighter vines are better 
adapted to small apartments. 
Let us look now at another class of vines, climbing 
by the stalk or stem, after the manner of Jack the 
Giant Killer’s bean. In this class belong the run¬ 
ners; Phaseolus, scarlet and white beans and purple 
snail plant, the Morning Glories, the pretty Ipomceas 
and the little wild Ground-nut, with its whorls of pretty 
pink, pea-shaped flowers. Also Japanese Honey¬ 
suckle, the pedestrian Callastegis and the delicate, 
glossy, fashionable Smilax. Give these vines a stick 
or string and they will continue to wind around it, 
making spirals with their stems, until they come in 
contact with something that does not please them, 
when they will turn away and sometimes wind back 
upon themselves. 
There is still another method by which vines at¬ 
tempt to support themselves. The Lophosphermum 
scandens, Maurandia and Tropceoluins cling by the 
leaf stem, as the human arm sometimes hugs around 
the arm of a fiiend. It is very interesting to watch 
them, and I have been surprised to hear people who 
have cultivated them say they did not know that they 
were leaf-climbers. And I have heard people, who 
have raised Zonale Geraniums for years, say, “Why, I 
did not know that Geraniums bore seeds! ” They 
must be very generous in cutting tbeir flowers, or de¬ 
ficient in observation. 
The Tropceolum, an emblem of patriotism, is gor¬ 
geous in its coloring; orange, scarlet, crimson and 
gold, and very sweet-scented. 
The Maurandia is an elegant, graceful vine, with 
small leaves and foxglove-shaped flowers of various 
colors. If the leaves did not wither sooner it would 
be a rival of the Smilax. 
If you have but little ground room grow vines. You 
can have a vine if you have a foot of ground and a 
wall or beam on which to fasten a string. They like 
long runs, prefer contra dances to quadrilles, 
would doubtless excel in practising the scales. 
