Title: The American florist : a weekly journal for the trade
Identifier: americanfloristw34amer (find matches)
Year: 1885 (1880s)
Authors: American Florists Company
Subjects: Floriculture; Florists
Publisher: Chicago : American Florist Company
Contributing Library: UMass Amherst Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries

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ipo6. The American Florist. 201
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AMPELOPSIS VEITCHII ON CHURCH AT WATERTOWN. MASS. in the spring, no matter what tempera- ture is maintained. Varieties of ferns suitable for jardinieres are very limited. A selection should be made every year from the seedlings, picking out a plant of good character from each variety to be grovi^n along for stock. You will find by saving your own spores, that they will give more satis- faction in every way than by buying them in. I have seldom had a good batch of ferns from bought seed. When the spores show brown upon the fronds it is time to gather them. Cut the fronds off, place in a paper bag, and hang up in a dry place for about a week, when they will clean easily, and are ready for sowing. If they are kept in a dry, cool place they will keep their vitality for a consider- able time. Tbe Ampelopsis. The familiar Imes from Dickens, "Creeping where no lite Is seen A rare old plant Is the ivy green." brings to the minds of all those who have come to this country from the British Islands memories of English ivy covering the walls of churches, cas- tles, mansions and homes with a dense mass of evergreen foliage. The Enghsh ivy, although it is such a hardy, compact, stalwart vine, forming enormous rugged stems in the course of many decades in England,^ is of little value here as a hardy vine. The only vine that ap- proaches it in this country in rugged virility is the deciduous Japanese ivy, sometimes known as Boston ivy, Ampe- lopsis tricuspidata. For covering stone. brick, or cement buildings, or bare un- sightly walls with a dense mass of hand- some, dark green, lustrous fohage, it has perhaps no equal; and no other vine is more commonly used in this countrj' to-day for that purpose. Its chief utility as a covering vine is exercised under urban conditions. In large cities where dry reflected summer heat from immense areas of asphalt, cement, stone and brick, and the air filled more or less with smoke, dust, and gases, make conditions trying on vege- tation, the Japanese ivy shows remarka- ble vigor. It clings to objects with short tendrils furnished with small disk, and once it gets a good start, it is surprising how quickly it will climb to the top of a wall forty feet or more in height. The leaves are very variable in forma- tion; sometimes they are three lobed and occasionally almost divided into three leaflets. During the past few years I have noticed a great many vary- ing forms of the Japanese ivy. That is of course due to the fact of its ex- tensive cultivation, and its being largely propagated from seed. In looking over any building where a number of plants are growing, forms can be observed with long stalked, large leaves, and generally loose habit; and others can be detected with short stalked, single leaves and close compact habit, and many in- termediate forms. It would be advisable for propagators to collect seeds only from those forms showing the neatest and best habits. In propagating it from cuttings as is some- times done, there is a good opportunity to select a definite type showing the best characters. The Japanese ivy is not par- ticular about soil. Any fairly good soil seems to suit it. Six feet apart is a good average distance to plant it around a building. A few small stakes keeping the young shoots against the wall until they get a start are advisable. The Virginia creeper, A. quinquefolia, in the new nomenclature is known un- der the generic name of parthenocissus, which seems a cumbersome substitution for the pleasant name of ampelopsis; but the botanists set the pace and we have to follow. Alfred Rehder has re- cently determined three species of the Virginia creeper on this continent in a most comprehensive and clear treatment of the subject in the first volume of "Trees and Shrubs." The form with disks on the ends of the tendrils; leaves dull green above, glaucescent beneath, he names the true Parthenocissus (ampe- lopsis) quinquefolia of Planchon. The form without disks on the tendrils; leaves bright green above, smooth and sometimes hairy beneath, he names P. (ampelopsis) Dumetorum. Another form having long tendrils without disks, and the leaflets serrate only above the middle, he names P. (ampelopsis) Tex- ana. The first two species are common from New England to the south, and the the last is found throughout Texas. A. quinquefolia on account of climbing by disciferous tendrils, is the most use- ful species; there are some distinct va- rieties of it in which the foliage is quite dense. The variety latifolia sometimes sold under the name of muralis is one of the most useful varieties. As hardy quick growing vines, with clean lustrous foliage, brilliantly colored in the fall, A. quinquefolia and its different forms are most excellent. For covering fences, trellises and piazzas rapidly, they have few equals. A. heterophylla usually sold under the

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