If any appraisal of ornamental fruiting vines, the bittersweet are among the first to come to mind. The American bittersweet Celastrus scandens is spectacular in Autumn when its yellow fruits open and expose their scarlet seeds.
It is a twining vine often reaching 25′ feet long, good on walls and chimneys when given adequate support, and an excellent mantle for unsightly banks and old trees. It does well in ordinary soil, in either sun or shade.
Many people are still unaware of the reason that a solitary bittersweet vine fails to set fruit. The pistillate and staminate blossoms are borne on separate plants, and unless both are present, there can be no fruit.
The pistillate blossoms—from which the berries form—are easily identified by their prominent pistils and undeveloped stamens.
A staminate plant may be restricted by severe pruning if desired and still furnish enough pollen for one or more nearby fruiting vines.
Asiatic Species of Bittersweet
Several Asiatic species are of interest. Celastrus orbiculatus, from Japan, resembles our own, but its leaves are more rounded, and its fruit clusters are not as long. It grows vigorously to a length of 40 feet.
C. loeseneri, the Chinese bittersweet, provides an especially generous display of fruit and has glaucous leaves a little larger than our native species.
C. flagellaris is a small-fruited Korean vine reaching 25’ feet in length. These bittersweets are increased using seeds sown in the Fall and by either immature or hardwood cuttings.
By using cuttings, one has the advantage of knowing in advance which of the resulting plants will be fruit bearers and which will furnish pollen.
Evergreen Bittersweet: The Hardy Climber
Euonymus radicans vegetus, known as the evergreen bittersweet, is related to the previous, both genera being included in the staff-tree family.
It has dull green leaves and vivid orange-red berries that hold on nearly all winter.
It will climb to a height of 20’ to 30’ feet on any rough surface, supporting itself using stem rootlets. It is very hardy and has no special requirements, growing well in either sun or shade.
Controlling Euonymus Scale on Bittersweets
Should the euonymus scale prove troublesome, it can be controlled by persistent spraying. In early spring, before growth starts, apply a miscible oil spray at a 1-to-16 dilution.
As successive broods of scale hatch in summer, use a white oil spray diluted 1 to 50, plus one teaspoonful of nicotine sulfate per gallon.
Spring spraying should not be done when the temperature is below 45° degrees Fahrenheit, or summer spraying when it is above 85° degrees Fahrenheit.
The euonymus scale also attacks plants of the Celastrus group.
European Bittersweet
The European bittersweet, Solon urn dulcamara, is an altogether different plant now extensively naturalized in this country.
While often encountered as a troublesome weed in eastern gardens, it merits a place in the wild garden where it may climb and ramble at will, displaying its clusters of attractive but poisonous red berries.
These are preceded by light purple flowers of typical solanum form.
Climbing Honeysuckles
Fruits borne by a few of the climbing honeysuckles can be said to add materially to their attractiveness.
One is Lonicera henryi, a slender, fully hardy twining vine with evergreen leaves. Its blossoms are unimportant, but quantities of blue-black berries make an impressive Autumn showing.
This vine excels as a ground cover in shady places. Two red-fruited species are the native L. prolifera, a bushy plant of moderate climbing ability bearing purple-marked light yellow blossoms followed by showy scarlet berries, and L. caprifolium, a 20-foot vine naturalized to some extent in the East.
Grape Family: Beautiful Fruiting Vines
In the genus Ampelopsis of the grape family, we find several attractive fruiting vines that climb using tendrils and are suitable for use on trellises and arbors and as a ground cover in rough places.
They have no special cultural requirements. A. brevipedunculata is a beautiful Asiatic species with berries that turn turquoise blue in the fall. The fruit of A. aconitifolia, a slender Chinese form, changes from blue to yellow when mature.
A. arborea, the native pepper vine of our southern states, is a graceful climber that bears deep purple berries. It is of doubtful hardiness in the North. A tall vine from Ohio and Illinois, A, cordata, features blue fruit and rounded leaves.
Propagation of these vines is accomplished using layers, cuttings, and seeds.
Spraying and Caring for Grapevines on the Arbour
Leaf-spotting fungi attack Ampelopsis and, in a rainy season, may spoil the appearance of the foliage unless controlled.
Removing and burning spotted leaves during the infection’s early stages helps check their spread. Early and repeated spraying with Bordeaux mixture is generally effective.
Speaking of grapes, few vine plantings are more beautiful than a well-kept arbor covered with vines of one of the edible-fruited grapes.
When properly cared for, they will yield a handsome annual dividend of useful fruit over many years.
Because of their longevity, the arbor, to support them, needs to be soundly constructed of the most durable materials available.
As a rule, the plants are spaced six to eight feet apart around it. There is no better variety for an arbor than the well-known Concord, which bears blue-black fruit of excellent quality.
Grapes on an arbor are beset by the same pests and illnesses that attack those grown tinder vineyard culture, of course, and require spraying to keep them presentable and the fruit sound.
Black rot, the most serious disease, is controlled by spraying with Bordeaux mixture:
(1) When the new shoots are one-half inch long
(2) When they are nine or 10” inches long
(3) Right after the blossoms fall
(4) 10 days later
(5) 14 days later
Various insect enemies are held in check by adding a heaping tablespoonful of arsenate of lead to each gallon of spray for the third and fourth applications.
The main trunk of a grapevine on an arbor is best trained to the top of the structure, and the canes spread in a fan-like formation.
To avoid a dense tangle of poorly fruiting growth, the canes should be cut back to two- or three-bud spurs each February.
44659 by Richard Leon Spain