VINES

If any one were to ask me to tell him what vine I considered best adapted to amateur culture in all respects, I would decide in favor of the ampelopsis—better known in many localities as Virginia creeper. My decision would be based on the beauty of the vine, its rapid growth, its hardiness, and its ability to furnish its own support on walls of wood, brick, or stone. Its foliage is very pleasing in summer, but it is doubly so in autumn, when its green gives place to a brilliant crimson and a rich maroon. At that season of the year all our flowering vines are eclipsed by its magnificent coloring. It grows well in all kinds of soil—better, of course, in a good one than a poor one—and it will go to the eaves of a three-story house if given an opportunity to do so, and cover every inch of the wall unless special efforts are made to prevent it from doing this. If you do not want your windows hidden under its luxuriance it will be necessary for you to cut away a good many of its branches during the summer.

The Dorothy Perkins rose—one of the rambler class—is a most charming vine when in full bloom, and it has the merit of being quite attractive at other periods, as its foliage is a rich, dark, shining green—something that cannot truthfully be said of some of the other members of this class of roses. It is the only rambler I would advise for use about porches and verandas. It blooms in wonderful profusion. Its flowers are a soft pink, borne in large, loose clusters or sprays. The general habit of the plant is all that could be desired. It is the only member of the rambler class that is really vinelike.

There are two varieties of clematis that I am always glad to speak a good word for. One is the native variety, catalogued as C. flammula. This is a very rampant grower, and well adapted for use wherever a dense shade is desired. It blooms in August. Its flowers are white. They are succeeded by seed with a feathery tail which makes the plant look as if covered with gray smoke. This variety is always greatly admired because of this peculiarity. The other variety that I have a special fondness for is C. paniculata. This is a late bloomer, being in the prime of its flowering period long after the plants in the garden have completed the work of the season. Its flowers are of the purest white. They are small, individually, but they are borne in such profusion that the upper portion of the vine will be completely covered with them. It will look as if a fall of snow had tried to hide it. I consider this one of our very best flowering vines. Unlike the hybrid members of the clematis family, with their enormous flowers of rich colors and scanty foliage, it is perfectly healthy, and it has ample foliage to make a charming background for its blossoms.

The trumpet honeysuckle is a favorite wherever grown. It is one of our best vines for porch use, as it does not climb to a great height. It bears its scarlet-and-orange flowers throughout the entire season. It is an especial favorite because its foliage is always clean and seldom attacked by insects.

The good old morning-glory is, all things considered, our best annual flowering vine. It grows rapidly, reaching to the windows of the second story by midsummer. It is a free and constant bloomer. It is excelled by no other vine in richness and variety of color—white, pink, purple, blue, violet, and crimson flowers will make a veritable "morning glory" of it. Care should be taken to provide it with stout cord to climb by. A light twine is not strong enough to support the weight of its heavy vines.

Another good flowering vine is the hyacinth bean. Why it should be given this name I do not know, as there is nothing about it suggestive in the remotest degree of the hyacinth. Its flowers are a brilliant scarlet. It seldom grows to a greater height than seven or eight feet, and is therefore well adapted to use about porches where a rampant grower is not wanted.

The wild cucumber, catalogued as echynocystis, is a good vine for covering tall buildings and screens. It will make a growth of twenty-five or thirty feet in a season. Its foliage is pretty, as are its white flowers, which make the vines look as if covered with foam. These give place to prickly fruit, somewhat resembling some varieties of cucumber, hence its popular name.

The wild grape that is found growing along creeks and rivers in almost all parts of the country is a most excellent vine for covering summer-houses and for planting where it can have trees to clamber over. Its flowers are so small and so pale in color as to be scarcely distinguishable, but they are so delightfully fragrant that every one knows when the vine is in bloom without looking at it. Its fragrance has much of the pervading quality that characterizes mignonette, and is quite unlike that of any other plants I can call to mind. It seems to have the very spirit of the spring in it—vague, elusive, and sweet beyond description.

I would not class the crimson-rambler rose among the vines, though the majority of our florists have done so. I treat it as a shrub, and find it most satisfactory when grown in that manner. I allow the young canes to reach a length of seven or eight feet. Then I nip off the tops of them. This causes side branches to develop. A central support is provided for these branches. In this way I succeed in getting flowers all over the plant—in other words, of making it a shrub instead of a vine. If it is used to cover summer-houses, the canes can be allowed to grow to suit themselves.

Celastrus scandens, more commonly known as bittersweet, is a native vine that can easily be domesticated. It is well worth a place about every home. Its foliage is bright and clean, its flowers inconspicuous, but its fruit makes the vine a favorite wherever grown. This is a bright crimson, each berry being inclosed in an orange shell which splits apart in three pieces, revealing the fruit inside. As this fruit remains on the plant until late in the season, it makes the vine quite as attractive as if it were covered with flowers at a time of the year when bits of brightness are greatly appreciated in the garden.