This is the second post in a series designed to help you understand how your climbing plants climb! Providing good support for your climber is the best way to ensure its health and growth.
Part II - Twining - In our last post in this series, we addressed tendril plants. Twining plants are similar to tendril plants; however, instead of using small separate offshoots (the tendrils), twining plants actually use their own leaves or stems to wrap around the supporting structure and pull themselves up. Plants will twine in clockwise or counterclockwise directions, depending on the species. Some plants are loose twiners, while others twine very tightly around whatever they can find. Some examples of twiners include morning glories, honeysuckle, pole beans, and gourds. It is important to provide sufficient support for your twining climbers, as some of them can grow quite large and heavy. Wisteria, for example, is a twining climber that is famous for collapsing porches and decks.
Climbing plants can be an excellent way to better utilize the space in your garden; why grow out when you can grow up!? But knowing what type of support to provide your climbers may require a little more thought. This series of posts is designed to help you identify how various climbing plants grow and attach themselves to their supporting structures.
Part I - Tendrils - Tendrils are small growths on a plant’s stem that reach out, grab on to something, and help stabilize and support the plant in its growth. Tendrils often look like tiny springs, wrapping around the supporting structure. Peas are a good example of a climbing plant that utilizes tendrils in its upward growth. Tendril cimbers do best when they have something relatively narrow to wrap around (no more than 1/4″ in diameter).
How did coniferous trees become associated with the Christianity? According to legend, some 1,000 years ago, St. Boniface came across a group of pagans in the woods who were worshipping an oak tree. St. Boniface cut down the oak in anger, and it is said that a conifer sprung up in its place. St. Boniface believed that it was a sign of the Christian faith.
It was centuries later when coniferous trees became associated with Christmas. The custom of decorating coniferous trees for the Christmas holiday is usually traced back to 16th century Germany. The earliest account comes from a Bremen Guild chronicle dated 1570, in which a small fir tree is described as being decorated with fruit and nuts and placed in the guild-house, where children later collected the goodies from the tree.
