Evening Republican, Volume 18, Number 280, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 27 November 1914 — VINES ON UNSIGHTLY POLE [ARTICLE]

VINES ON UNSIGHTLY POLE

California Man’s Use of Morning-Glo-ries Might Well Bo Copied In Other States. How to make trolley, electric light, telegraph and telephone poles anything more than eyesores is a problem that many an advocate of the “city beautiful” has pondered over In vain. Possibly the best solution is the discovery of George W. Long, park superintendent of Long Beach, CaL Five years ago he planted a few morn-ing-glory seeds at the foot of a guy line to an electric light pole In front of his property. His morning-glories are now one of the sights of that beautiful little beach city. In the genial climate of southern California the morning-glory is a perennial, growing and blooming ..winter and summer. Consequently, the vines he planted now form a mass of bloom and foliage from the foot of the guy line to the summit of the pole. By actual .measurement this morning-glory skyscraper is 20 feet in circumference, and Is still growing. Naturally, the success of Mr. Long’s experiment has resulted in imitation, and guy wires all over the city are being similarly transformed into real things of beauty. Several have obtained a good start in Los Angeles; and It now appears that the morningglory is likely to become as characteristic of southern California as the rose and poinsettia.