Virginia creeper
Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus) belongs to the group of climbers. It is highly branched, short and strong mustache with rebates, thanks to which it can stick to the walls, stones or tree trunks. Finger-folded or three-lobed leaves, they perfectly change their color to red in autumn.
The most famous is Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) about palm leaves, composed of five shiny leaves, dark green, bluish underside; leaf petioles and young shoots reddish. Climbs to 25 m in height. It blooms in July. The fruit is navy blue spherical in color, covered with a waxy coating. They ripen in September – October.
Scrub virginia, that is, wild wine, (Parthenocissus inserted) is a climber very similar to the Virginia Creeper, but there is no rebate and therefore the plants do not climb very high, wrapping around the supports. Leaves (from 3 do 5) elongated, up to 12 cm, rough and sharp, they are dark green in color, glossy on both sides, in the fall they turn scarlet red. It blooms in June – July. It is an indiscriminate climber and resistant to frost.
Japanese Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus tricuspidata) is a climber, climbing high, tightly adjacent to the wall, thanks to strongly developed rebates on short, branched whiskers. It has mostly three-lobed leaves with sharp and thick ,,sawn edges. They are leathery, strongly shiny, in autumn they turn bright red and dark red. It blooms in June – July. Flowers gathered in paniculate inflorescences of yellow-green color, honey-bearing on shoots. The leaves are tiled, tightly covering the entire surface of the walls. Sensitive to low temperatures. His variation of Veitchii (Ampelopsis veichiipurpurea) it has red leaves in the spring.
Virginia creeper can be propagated from seeds, while the Virginia Creeper reproduces from woody cuttings. The Veitchii variety of Japanese Virginia Creeper is propagated by grafting it on the Virginia Creeper, in order to protect it from freezing.
