HOUSE AND GARDEN 
April, 
1912 
It should be borne in mind that the 
flowering and fruiting branches of 
the ivy exhibit a character and leaf 
form different from the rest of the 
plants. While the ivy is climbing or 
creeping its leaves are more or les-: 
lobed and it produces plentiful clasp- 
ers or modified roots, by means of 
which it attaches itself tightly to the 
surface of the wall. When the vine 
has reached a certain development 
bushy, spur-like branches that droop 
over are produced. The leaves be¬ 
come modified in form, growing nar¬ 
rower and less lobed. In due season 
clusters of small yellow-greenish flow¬ 
ers form at the ends of the branches, 
followed later by black berries. 
Ivy may be cultivated as a bush or 
tree, for which purpose it is usual to 
select the fruiting, branch-like growth. 
This method of training ivy might 
advantageously be practised much 
more than it is, especially with some 
of the variegated forms of Hedera 
helix. Some of the variegated ivies 
are white, yellowish-green or a deep 
orange-yellow. In planting English 
ivy, and that means any of the kinds 
that bear the name of English ivy in 
the mouths of an undiscriminating public, it is well to remember 
that young ivy plants, like other young and tender things, need 
a little thoughtful consideration from time to time until they 
get a good start in life when they may be left to look after them¬ 
selves. A rich soil is by no means necessary, although the plant 
will not disdain the nutriment that 
may be present in the garden earth. 
The ivy does need moisture, however, 
and when young should not be allowed 
to go thirsty or be exposed to the heat 
of the sun. The north and east sides 
of buildings are ordinarily chosen for 
English ivy, but if sufficiently shielded 
in its early stages of growth it will do 
well also on the west and south. 
And now we come to the considera¬ 
tion of ivy from the architectural 
point of view. To begin with, we 
should rid ourselves of the foolish 
prejudice that exists in some quarters 
against having ivy growing over the 
walls of a house. There is no damage 
to be feared so long as the shoots do 
not penetrate the wall by any cracks 
or apertures made by displaced stones 
or bricks. If the walls are sound the 
ivy covering is distinctly beneficial, 
for it promotes dryness and warmth 
and minimizes the corrosive action of 
the atmosphere. The chief objection 
urged against planting English ivy is 
that it takes too long to grow. We 
Americans are too impatient; we want 
everything in a hurry and we are 
nearly always unwilling to wait long 
enough to allow things to attain per¬ 
fection. Consequently we plant am- 
pelopsis or Virginia creeper or some¬ 
thing that will spring up with the 
same alacrity as Jack’s marvelous 
beanstalk. Ampelopsis and Virginia 
creeper both have their proper places 
and their several excellences, but there 
are walls where no amount of gor¬ 
geous flaming color in the fall or ten¬ 
der green in early spring can make up 
for the satisfaction of having the 
solid, friendly leaf to cheer us through 
the bleak days of winter. With Eng¬ 
lish ivy we have a restful, satisfying 
mass of sturdy green instead of a 
tangled gray mat of dead twigs cov¬ 
ering our walls in the dreary months 
when we crave a bit of vivid color 
out-of-doors. The dull subdued gray 
light that we have so much of during 
December, January and Eebruary in 
our latitude is just the medium to act 
as a foil for color, and realizing this 
wise gardeners are coming more and 
more to plant barberry and other 
berry-bearing or evergreen shrubs for 
winter coloring. Eor this same object 
nothing is more valuable than a good 
wall of ivy in the background. Even 
without the introduction of any other 
hues its wholesome green against the 
snow gives a contrast that is always pleasant and lessens any 
appearance of bleakness that might exist. 
No plant more than ivy will soften and modify the outline of 
a building large or small. good building it will grace and an 
unsightly one it will redeem, as far as redemption may be pos¬ 
sible. It not only affords a smooth 
unbroken mantle of green for the 
surface of a wall, but also cov¬ 
ers up sharp, uncompromisingly hard 
edges by its branching, bushy growth, 
a habit of growth that other vines 
have not to the same extent. By this 
very characteristic it tones down 
angles and helps to blend the building 
to which it clings with the surround¬ 
ing face of nature. Because ivy cov¬ 
ers the walls of a house there is no 
reason that it should have an un¬ 
kempt appearance. On an old Breton 
chateau I once noted how carefully 
the vines had been trimmed away 
from a panel of carved adornment 
over the door. In this wise the ivy 
growth had been made to throw an 
architectural feature into greater re¬ 
lief than would have been possible in 
any other manner. Instead of ob¬ 
scuring the features of a building, by 
judicious training a vine may be made 
to set them off to better advantage 
than if the face of the walls were 
kept vine-free. 
The decorative possibilities of ivy 
are almost unlimited, and a little con¬ 
sideration on the part of the house 
owner will surely suggest some way 
in which these vines can be used. 
The greatest value of the ivy is in its rich green color 
when other leaves have fallen 
The nearly round leaves above are borne on the fruiting 
or flowering branches 
