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Where
the garden meets the wild
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VINES AND CREEPERS |
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| Akebia Aristolochia Clematis Codonopsis Linnaea Lonicera Metaplexis Mitchella Schisandra Tripterospermum Vaccinium | ||
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| AKEBIA CHOCOLATE VINE Lardizabalaceae ( Lardizabala family) 木通属 | ||
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Akebia
trifoliata (Thunberg) Koidzumi subsp. trifoliata.
Three-leaf Akebia. 三叶木通(原亚种)
San ye mu tong (Yuan ya zhong) (Chinese);
ミツバアケビ
Mitsuba-akebi (Japanese). This
climbing, twining, woody vine with 3-fingered leaflets is
kin to 5-fingered Akebia quinata, which is much more common in
gardens. It can attain a length of 6 m (20'). Both species have
highly ornamental, dangling, plum to maroon flowers in spring and
sausage-like mauve to purple fruits in late summer; but this species
is hardier.
Chinese traditional medicine uses the roots, stems and leaves of Akebia spp. The main ingredient of interest is aristolochic acid, a bingo carcinogen which, despite our respect for Chinese culture, we would not take into our body unless we were already at death's door. The species is native in eastern Asia to low-elevation scrub just beginning to recover from fire, hand-clearing or bulldozers. This subspecies is native to north-central China and Japan and is distinguished mainly by its stiff leaves with wavy margins. Our plants are of Japanese origin. Akebia trifoliata likes sun to part shade and tolerates many soils, as long as they drain well. Zone 5. Pot (10 cm / 4") or root. $8.00 |
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| ARISTOLOCHIA BIRTHWORT, DUTCHMAN'S PIPE Aristolochiaceae (Birthwort family) | ||
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Photograph © AMD Hoog |
Aristolochia
clematitis L. Birthwort. This tropical-looking,
bushy but deciduous perennial has yellow-green, tubular flowers in summer.
The main attraction, however, is the leaves: dark green, heart-shaped and
at least as big as your hand. A. clematitis will climb to about 1 m
(3.3') given support. Cut it back to two or three nodes
in early spring for lushest growth. Once widely grown for herbal medicine,
this plant contains a powerful chemical, aristolochic
acid. Interesting claims for its healing
properties are undermined by reports that it is also highly carcinogenic and can
destroy the kidneys. Native to E and SE Europe. Tolerates many soils and part shade to full sun. Zone
3.
Pot (10 cm / 4") or root. $9.00 |
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| CLEMATIS VIRGIN'S BOWER Ranunculaceae (Buttercup family) 铁线莲属 | ||
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| Clematis columbiana | ||
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Photograph © Paige Woodward |
Clematis
forsteri
Gmelin.
Pot (10 cm / 4"). $10.00 |
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Photograph © Paige Woodward |
Clematis fusca Turczaninow.
褐毛铁线莲 He
mao tie xian lian (Chinese). Native
to NE China, the Korean Peninsula and Siberia in Russia. This is often
described as "scandent," that is, climbing but with help; we
find that it climbs on its own.
Pot (10 cm / 4"). $10.00 |
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Photograph © Paige Woodward |
Clematis
hirsutissima Pursh. Hairy clematis. Our
photograph was taken in eastern Oregon.
Pot (10 cm / 4"). $10.00 |
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Clematis
hirsutissima Pursh var. scottii (Porter)
Erickson. Scott's clematis.
Pot (10 cm / 4"). $10.00 |
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Photograph by Brother Alfred Brousseau © St. Mary's College of California. |
Clematis ligusticifolia Nuttall. Western white clematis, Virgin's bower. Creamy asterisk flowers bloom all summer; the seeds are in silvery plumes. Spreads rapidly and may festoon tall trees. Some people hate this vigor, others rejoice in it. Part shade to full sun. Native from Alaska to California and New Mexico. Our plants are from seed collected near Vancouver, British Columbia. Zone 3. Pot (15 cm / 6"). $8.00 |
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Photograph © Paige Woodward |
Clematis
montana var. rubens E.H. Wilson 'Tetrarose'.
绣球藤
Xiu qiu teng (Chinese,
C. montana). The species is variable, native across mountainous
China and the Himalaya. Usually the flowers are white. A vanilla-scented
pink form, var. rubens, was collected in China's Hubei province in
1901 by the plant-hunter Ernest Wilson. 'Tetrarose' is one of the best
selections from that stock, a vigorous, long-flowering tetraploid
registered in the Netherlands in 1960. We got our plant not long after
that, it's still going strong, and so many visitors have asked for it that
we have finally rooted some cuttings. Blooming in May-July, the
scented pink flowers are about 7.5 cm (3") across. The copper-bronze
new leaves age to dark green on a vine that can attain 6 m (20 ft.) or
more. Prune after flowering. Zone 6, perhaps colder.
Pot (10 cm / 4"). $8.00 |
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Photograph © Paige Woodward
Photograph © L.J. Clark from Wild Flowers of the Pacific Northwest by Lewis Clark, edited by John Trelawny (Harbour Publishing) |
Clematis
occidentalis var.
grosseserrata (Rydberg) J.
S. Pringle. Blue rock clematis.
Bellrue. We have offered this plant before as C.
columbiana (Nuttall) Torrey & A. Gray. Clear blue flowers open as the air warms in April-May, giving way to grey-green
plumes of seed in August. Uncommon and fine-boned, this clematis prefers
to twine through the understorey in dappled thickets. Adapted to
summer-dry woods and talus slopes, it is native from British Columbia (E of the
Cascade Range) and
Alberta to Utah and Colorado. Our plants are from seed collected
near Dog Creek, BC. Zone 3. Pot (10 cm / 4"). $8.00 |
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Photograph © Paige Woodward |
Clematis
occidentalis var. dissecta (C. L. Hitchcock) J. S. Pringle.
This treasure grows only in the Wenatchees and adjacent mountain ranges of
N Washington State. Blue to reddish-purple flowers, bell-shaped like those of the previous
plant, dance on short pedicels above the scrambling, mounded foliage.
Flowers in May-June are followed by striking, moplike seedheads. Our plants
are from seeds collected by Ron Ratko above Mills Canyon in the Entiat
Mountains at an elevation of 1350 m (4500 ft). Zone 3.
Pot (10 cm / 4"). $10.00 |
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Photograph © Paige Woodward |
Clematis serratifolia Rehder. 齿叶铁线莲
Chi ye tie xian
lian (Chinese).
Violet-tinged yellow with purple stamens.
Native to NE China and the Korean Peninsula. Our seeds were received from the Vaevenkallion
Arboretum in Finland. Zone 3. Pot (10 cm / 4"). $8.00 |
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| Clematis scottii | ||
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Clematis tibetana Kuntze. 中印铁线莲 Zhong yin tie xian lian (Chinese). Orange-peel clematis. Not available this season. |
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| CODONOPSIS CODONOPSIS,
BONNET BELLFLOWER 党参属
Campanulaceae (Bellflower
family). Cousin to ground-hugging bluebells, not Clematis, these
tuberous East Asian climbers have large, open bells, often with intriguing
inner markings around the nectaries. The tubers of many species are
used in traditional medicine. Despite these positive traits, it must be
mentioned that the leaves often smell like cat urine when you rub them,
and sometimes even if you don't. So this is a plant for people who
garden on a very windy site. Or who, like growers of Arum
and Gethyum, will tolerate funk for the
sake of beauty.
Resources. The taxonomy of Codonopsis is tangled and incomplete. For guidance we recommend The Codnopsis Website created by Paul Kneebone, holder of the United Kingdom's National Collection of the genus. |
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| Codonopsis
bulleyana Forrest ex Diels 管钟党参
(Chinese). Zone 4
Pot (10 cm / 4"). $8.00 |
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| Codonopsis
forrestii Diels. There are signs that this will be
called Codonopsis convolvulacea
Kurz subsp. forrestii (Diels) D.Y.Hong & L.M.M. when the new Flora
of China treatment is published. Zone 5.
Pot (10 cm / 4"). $8.00 |
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| Codonopsis
grey-wilsonii J.M.H. Shaw. Syn. Codonopsis nepalensis
Grey-Wilson. Treated sometimes as a synonym of C. forrestii. Zone
6.
Pot (10 cm / 4"). $8.00 |
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| Codonopsis
obtusa (Chipp) Nannf. Zone 6.
Pot (10 cm / 4"). $8.00 |
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| Codonopsis
pilosula (Franchet)
Nannf. Poor man's ginseng. 党参
Dǎngshēn (Chinese)
Though its chemistry is different, this species is often used in Chinese
traditional medicine as a substitute for ginseng in tonics for the immune
system. Zone 6.
Pot (10 cm / 4"). $8.00 |
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| Codonopsis
thalictrifolia Wallich. 唐松草党参
(Chinese). Zone 7, possibly
colder.
Pot (10 cm / 4"). $8.00 |
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| LINNAEA TWINFLOWER Caprifoliaceae (Honesuckle family). | ||
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Photograph © Pat Woodward |
Linnaea borealis
Linnaeus. Twinflower. Linnaeus, who gave so many plants their double
Latin names, chose this diminutive creeper to bear his own name. We
love it, too. Its fragrant pink trumpet flowers, borne in pairs on 5-cm
(2") stems in spring, arouse atavistic tenderness in us. The
small, shiny, egg-shaped, slightly toothed leaves are evergreen. Linnaea is
native to the wintry parts of the northern hemisphere. It belongs
officially to cool, moist, dappled shade, but if there's not much rain, it
will still make a mat in shade, and if it rains a lot, Linnaea will
venture out into the sunshine. It's making a dense mat in one of our
sunbaked rock gardens, where the soil is mineral and gritty. Zone
2. Pot (10 cm / 4"). $4.00 |
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| LONICERA HONEYSUCKLE Caprifoliaceae (Honeysuckle family). Lonicera involucrata (Twinberry) is here. | ||
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Photograph © Dorrie Woodward |
Lonicera ciliosa
(Pursh) DC. Orange honeysuckle. A deciduous, climbing vine
with clusters of orange-red tube flowers in spring that are pollinated
by hummingbirds. Red berries follow in autumn. The grey-green leaves
have a white bloom on the underside. This vine prefers part shade. Tolerates
considerable drought. Native from BC to
California. Zone 6.
Pot (10 cm / 4"). $4.50 |
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Photograph © Paige Woodward |
Lonicera hispidula
Douglas ex Torrey & A. Grey. Purple honeysuckle. Hairy honeysuckle. This
deciduous vine with fuzzy grey-green leaves may creep or climb. Its clusters of purple-pink
spring flowers are pollinated by hummingbirds. Red berries follow in autumn.
Adapted to dappled shade and low rainfall. Native from the Gulf Islands of
SW British Columbia to California. Zone 6. Pot (10 cm / 4"). $4.50 |
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| METAPLEXIS ROUGH POTATO, CRANE PLANT Asclepiadaceae (Milkweed family) 萝藦属 | ||
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Metaplexis
japonica
(Thunberg) Makino. Rough potato. 萝藦
Luo mo (Chinese);
ガガイモ
Gagaimo (Japanese). This is a doughty liana, or woody vine, that grows
to about 8 m (26'). It is found in thickets and along streams across China,
Japan and the Korean Peninsula. Its opposite leaves are fuzzy; its racemes
of star-shaped, pink flowers are positively plushy. They bloom in July-September
and are pollinated by night-flying moths. Both roots and stems are used in traditional
Asian medicine.
Root. $8.00 |
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| MITCHELLA PARTRIDGEBERRY Rubiaceae (Coffee family) | ||
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Photograph © Paige Woodward
Photographs © Eleanor Saulys |
Mitchella repens
Linnaeus. Partridgeberry. This wonderful
groundcover is native to much of eastern North America; it is named for the
botanist Elisha Mitchell (1793-1857). Like Linnaea
borealis, it's an evergreen woodland creeper with shiny, rounded
leaves and fragrant twin flowers, but that's where the resemblance ends.
Linnaea's pairs of nodding pink trumpets rise
on forked pedicels all down the stem. Mitchella's tube
flowers ~ white to occasionally pale pink and about 1.2 cm (0.5")
long ~ are only at the end of the stem and each pair shares a single
stalk. They are fetchingly hirsute, tend to face
out or upward, and bloom in
June-July. Then the fertilized flowers fuse to form a single red berry with two
navels. It's true! The berry persists through winter and is eaten by birds
and small animals.
Another thing about the flowers: they are heterostylous, like Primula. A flower with short stamens and a long style ("pin") can only be pollinated by one with long stamens and a short style ("thrum"). Order several plants to ensure that you get berries. Height to 5 cm (2"). Adapted to acid, deciduous duff and dappled shade. Zone 4. Pot (10 cm / 4") or bare-root. $8.00 |
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| SCHISANDRA MAGNOLIA VINE Schisandraceae (Schisandra family). 五味子科 | ||
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Photograph © A.M.D. Hoog
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Schisandra
chinensis
(Turcz.)
Baill. Magnolia
vine. 五味子
Wu
wei zi (Chinese, "Five-flavor berry"). This tropical-looking
but very hardy liana, or woody vine, can attain 8 m (26') in length and
is a good choice for covering a wall or a pergola. It has dangling, fragrant,
cream to pink flowers and is very
shade-tolerant. It is native to NE China, Siberia and the Korean Peninsula.
Schisandra chinensis produces red berries if the flowers are fertilized, but for this vines of both sexes are required. Our vines are from cuttings and we don't yet know which sex they are. The fruits are widely used in traditional medicine. The Chinese name comes from the fact that the fruits have all 5 basic flavors, which correspond to the 5 elements in traditional Chinese thought: salty (water), sweet (earth), sour (wood), spicy (metal) and bitter (fire). We offer good roots. They need a few years to settle in; then they should bloom copiously. Zone 4. Root. $8.00 |
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| TRIPTEROSPERMUM TWINING GENTIAN Gentianaceae (Gentian family) family) 双蝴蝶属 | ||
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Tripterospermum japonicum (Sieb.
& Zucc.) Maxim. Climbing gentian. ツルリンドウ
Tsuru-rindou (Japanese).
Sometimes called Gentiana
trinervis. This is a twining gentian cousin with dangling, white to purple
flowers in the axils of its long, heart-shaped
leaves. They are followed by red berries. This treasure is native to Japan, China and the Himalaya. Our stock is of
Japanese origin. Zone 8, perhaps colder.
Root. $8.00 |
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| Vaccinium oxycoccos Linnaeus. Bog cranberry. This creeping vine is usually thought of as a groundcover; it is described with other Vaccinium species, here. | ||
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| Return to Plants Index Return to Perennials Index How to Order | ||
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| This page was updated Feb. 23, 2008 | ||
