Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)
🌿Is THIS the new Auckland go-to now that we can't buy, propagate or plant our old faithful self-clinging climbing Ficus pumila?
Parthenocissus quinquefolia is another one of those super useful, self-clinging, climbing plants. I.e. it climbs by clinging, so no wires or trellis needed 🎉and it is just as perfect for covering walls and fences on just a tiny footprint.
Yes, it’s deciduous, but the colour of those leaves as they turn in the autumn is fabulous 😍, and once all the foliage has dropped, there’s still a gorgeous tracery of vines left on display.
🙊The botanical name is a bit of a tongue-twister so most of us just call it ‘Virginia creeper’. Though it's self-clinging, it won’t damage your wall the way an English ivy will, however, it may leave little footprints and once very established if you try to remove it, it may dislodge some of the wall surface, so plant with care.
🍃🍃'Virginia creeper’. is very similar in appearance to its close grape family relative ‘Boston Ivy’ (Parthenocissus tricuspidata) BUT you can pick ‘Virginia creeper’ by its distinctive foliage. Boston ivy has three points to each leaf, whereas on 'Virginia creeper’, each leaf has five 'leaflets' which form one larger compound leaf, earning it the other common names of five-leaved ivy and five-finger (not to be confused with our NZ native pseudopanax shrubs also commonly called five-finger🙄).
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