CHAPTER XII
SOME HARDY CLIMBERS
We think the American who described climbing plants as ‘creepers and crawlers’ must have been first cousin to the American novelist who said the house in which his heroine lived was not disfigured by any messy plants growing near it. As you may have a wall, a paling, an arch, or the dead stump of a tree that you would like to disfigure with flowers all the summer, we will tell you of a few good hardy climbers, other than those already recommended in earlier chapters.
A creeper should always be allowed to grow as naturally as possible, and not be restrained more than is necessary by nails or by cutting back. Climbing Roses lose much of their vigour and beauty if penned severely and stretched out tight on a wall. Most climbing plants need some support at the beginning, but later in life take care of themselves. One climber may be freely allowed to mingle with others, so that you can think out lovely combinations; but you must understand which are free growers and which are shy and delicate, or the strong will strangle the weak. The common Honeysuckle and a pink monthly Rose climb all over the front of a cottage known to us, and on the south side the exquisite Solanum Jasminoides throws its clusters of snowy flowers into them. The Honeysuckle and the monthly Rose would grow almost anywhere in these islands, but the Solanum Jasminoides, or Winter Nightshade, is only hardy in the South of England and other warm districts. It finds support for itself by a twist of its leaf-stalk (you will have watched your Giant Nasturtiums do this most cleverly), and its colour varies a little according to its place in sun or partial shade. The shoots of this creeper must be cut back in spring, when frosts are well over, and in hot weather it must be watered.
The Wistaria is one of the most beautiful of all creepers, and its long mauve racemes mix well with a Dorothy Perkins Rose. The Wistaria is a native of China, and was brought to Europe by Mr. Wistar in 1816. The original plant is still to be seen at Wistar House, grown to an immense size. It is a most useful creeper, for it will flower year after year without any attention to roots or soil. If you have one you should, if possible, get a gardener to pay its woody branches a little attention once a year, as, if left quite to themselves, they grow into an inextricable tangle, too thick in some places, and not thick enough in others.
We are sure you gardening children who live in a cold climate must often wish for a warm one. But now we will tell you about one of the most brilliant creepers known that likes to be as far north as possible, spreads like a weed in Scotland, Yorkshire, Westmorland, and is usually a ‘miffy doer’ in the West Country. This is the Flame Flower, the Tropæolum Speciosum, whose vermilion trumpets can be seen two miles away on a clear day. It is a capricious plant, sometimes failing when it has every attention, and succeeding when it is badly treated. Mr. J. Weathers tells a story of a garden in which it was planted most carefully in many places, but some tubers left over were thrust anyhow amongst the roots of an old yew. None of the correctly-planted ones came up, and the others were forgotten. In the third year someone noticed a flame-coloured flower on a Yew, and found that the badly-planted tubers were all coming up, increasing, flowering, and likely to go on for ever. It dislikes scorching heat, and needs moisture in the air. A west or north aspect suits it, and bushes or hedges amongst which it can scramble. We know a Westmorland garden where it can hardly be kept within bounds, and there they believe in deep planting. A daughter of the house got it to succeed against the wall of a cottage on the place, where it had never succeeded before. ‘What did you do?’ we asked. ‘I dug till I got to New Zealand,’ she said, ‘and then I planted it.’
If you live in the Midlands or the South, where this Chilian Tropæolum would probably not do well, you had better be content with the Ampelopsis Veitchii, the best of the Virginian creepers. It is a wonderful sight in Oxford all through September, and even in London it makes a lovely blaze of colour on many a dull house and wall. It is the least troublesome of all creepers, as it attaches itself by little suckers. We once grew the Ceanothus Veitchii with it, a shrub that is often trained against walls, and which in spring becomes a mass of powder-blue flowers. It is one of the easiest and handsomest doers we know, but be sure to get the right kind, the Gloire de Versailles or the Veitchii. There are a good many kinds of Ceanothus, and some are a very poor colour.
We have told you already about two of the Clematis tribe, the white Montana and the purple Jackmanni. The Montana must not be pruned until its flowering season is quite over. If you cut it back while it is making new shoots, you will injure it. The Jackmanni and its relations are hybrids, and you must try to get either a layered plant or one grown from seed, as the grafted ones are unsatisfactory. The flowers are produced on this year’s shoots. The plants should be cut down in winter to twelve inches from the ground. If you get one of the ‘Patens’ section, remember when you prune that the flowers are borne on the old ripened wood. Only dead wood should be cut away. Lady Londesborough, Miss Bateman, and Mrs. George Jackman, are three well-known ones. The Wild Clematis, Vitalba, or Traveller’s Joy, will grow into a dense mass if left undisturbed. We know of a cottage where, with a Japanese Honeysuckle, it forms a rainproof porch; and even that is nothing to one at Belvoir Castle, which is twenty feet high and thirty feet in diameter.
The great advantage of Wichuriana Roses is that they are evergreen, and it is a good plan to grow one of them—for instance, the deep red Hiawatha, with the yellow Jasmine (Jasminum Nudiflorum), whose flowers come out before its leaves. If we could only have one creeper out of all there are, we would have this Jasmine, which flowers in winter, and is quite hardy. Be sure not to let anyone prune yours in autumn. Ignorant gardeners often do this, and cut off all the shoots that wanted to flower. Any pruning necessary should be done in March or April, but you need only cut out dead wood. The charming sprays, if cut in bud, come out well in water.