Fiery Favorites

Few plants can provide the thick, rapid, luxurious growth that vines deliver. Homeowners use many varieties for different purposes including screening, as groundcovers, to create shade or windbreaks and to soften hard edges.

It’s an added bonus when some of these rambunctious plants turn a bright crimson when autumn arrives. Two of the best blushers are Boston Ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata) and Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia).

The latin names refer to the number of lobes each type has in its leaf: Boston Ivy has three, Virginia Creeper has five.

Baseball fans have been watching Boston Ivy grow for years. It’s the vine used on the outfield walls of Wrigley Field. This vine grows very well on masonry surfaces and is one of the best for covering structures or supports. The leaves tend to stand out and overlap on long stalks, which creates an interesting effect. Boston Ivy can grow to 50 or 60 feet with support and has reddish-bronze new growth that turns a glossy, dark green in summer and orange-red in fall. It produces clusters of blue-black berries in autumn. A partially shady or full sun site suits this zone 4 - 8 plant. It can handle urban conditions but is less tolerant of drought, heat, and sun than Virginia Creeper.

There are two schools of thought on the use of climbing vines on walls: those that believe the esthetic effect outweighs any detrimental factors and those that do not. Allowing usage on walls can be economically important because it reduces cooling costs by producing shade. The adhesive disks used to climb by these two vines cling to supporting structures, but do not penetrate the building’s surface. However, damage can occur if the vines are ripped off.

One of the attributes of Virginia Creeper is that it will grow well in the shade. It makes a good ground cover where other plants may not grow. The fruit of this plant is poisonous to humans and should not be eaten.

Some sites that discuss this vine on the Internet warn that naturalized colonies of Virginia Creeper often share the same site as Poison Ivy. To differentiate, look for ‘teeth’ on the leaves. Poison Ivy has none and only has three leaves to Virginia Creeper’s five.

Virginia Creeper does have a tendency to smother neighboring plant life or structures.

I’ve seen it completely engulf and kill a tree before and cause real problems by growing over the top of a chimney. It cannot only grow up tree trunks and walls, it can also stand alone and send out runners along the ground.

This week’s tips from Communities in Bloom are: Give your property a 20-minute makeover. By committing to tidy up your space such as picking up any accumulated trash, deadheading flowers and just generally cleaning up for as little as 20-minutes a week, your property will look great all year round.

Next time you’re out for a walk in beautiful Yarmouth, take along a grocery bag and fill it with trash. What a simple way to keep our town litter free.