Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) is one of the first plants to announce the fiery tones of autumn. Native to the eastern side of the American continent from Canada to Guatemala it does considerably more than creep: it climbs and scrambles at a rate of knots. The leaves can linger on some deciduous plants for quite a while but P. quinquefolia drops them all in a day or two when the time comes.