A Vine for Every Use in the Landscape

The more popular “vines” we have spoke about in the past – Morning Glories and Clematis – probably because they feature big and showy flowers. But there are others equally good and indispensable to the gardener and landscaper. Everblooming honeysuckle, Lonicera Heckrotti, has rose and gold flowers produced as continuously through the summer as you could desire. A golden variegated form of Halls Japanese honeysuckle (the “wild” honeysuckle naturalized in many sections) is available from nurseries. It’s a modest grower and doesn’t bloom much, but the gold-veined leaves are distinctive and much loved by flower arrangement artists.

Polygonum auberti, the silver fleece or lace vine, is especially useful for late summer and autumn display of its fleecy canopy. It needs plenty of sunshine. Dutchman’s pipe, Aristolochia durior, has interesting if inconspicuous flowers, but its broad, overlapping leaves make the densest screen of any vine I know.

Wisterias are famous woody climbers – not always “friendly,” because their rampant runners sometimes coil around and strangle supporting tree limbs, or they may dislodge shingles on a roof. Individual specimens, too, may be slow and temperamental about blooming. But happily situated, they are magnificent in blossom. Chinese wisterias are the ones with well-filled purplish or white-flowered racemes not over a foot long. Japanese varieties have longer but less dense clusters, more color variants in the purple, lavender and pink to white range, and the vines are hardier.

Boston ivy, Parthenocissus tricuspidata, and our wild Virginia creeper, Parthenocissus quinquefolia, are deservedly popular for covering the walls of buildings. They cling well to both masonry and wood, and develop bright autumn color before the leaves fall. For gate posts, garden structures and homes of average size, the small-leaved ‘Lows’ and `Veitch’ varieties of Boston ivy are particularly suitable.

English ivy, Hedera helix, and wintercreeper, Euonymus fortunei, are the best evergreen trailers. Both have “sporting” tendencies; that is, they produce mutations from the typical forms, and a number of the desirable “sports” have been named and propagated. Of special interest are extra hardy selections of English ivy – ‘Baltic,’ ‘Thorndale,’ and ‘MBG Bulgaria” varieties – which thrive even where winters are long and bitter.

Forms of both the ivy and euonymus are adapted for many uses – ground, tree trunk and wall covers, clipped or informal edgings for walks, and borders in home, church and cemetery plantings where maintenance chores must be held to a minimum. In general the ivy is superior for north and east walls and other shaded locations, while the wintercreeper might better be chosen for a place in the sun. Both are so tolerant, however, that you can find varieties of each to do well almost anywhere.

Incidentally, some of the varietal names of both English ivy and wintercreeper seem to be badly confused in commercial stocks around over the country. When it’s possible, there is an advantage in buying these vines from your neighborhood nursery, where you can see in advance how they look and perform under local conditions. They root easily from layers or cuttings made during the growing season. So if a garden friend has a kind you admire, probably he’ll share a few green shoots to start your own.

by S Caldwell

Related Articles Of Interest:

• Choosing and Planting Vines in Your Garden
• Passiflora – Passion Vine – Trellis
• Clematis Hardy and Handsome Vine
• Passiflora Species – The Passion Flower