Vines

This fast-growing, evergreen climber reaches ten to thirty feet or more with dark green foliage and long, slender tendrils. This vine produces showy clusters of long, orangey-red, trumpet-shaped blossoms throughout spring and summer. The tubular flowers hang from the vine to produce a mass of magnificent color and attract hummingbirds. After blooming, the plant develops flat seedpods, containing winged seeds. It’s climbing tendrils and stems become woody as the plant matures. The variety ‘Tangerine Beauty’ is popular and widely available.  Use it to cover fences, trellises, archways, south- or west-facing walls or structures. It makes a great screen when properly trained. The plant is native to the Southeastern United States from Maryland to Florida, west to Missouri, and into Texas. This vine is found growing in low-lying areas, forests, and open clearings.

Bougainvillea is a sprawling vine grown for its beautiful flower bracts in fuchsia, pink, orange, rose, white, or purple, depending upon the variety. Inside the center of each flower bract is a small white, waxy flower. This evergreen to semi-evergreen plant has bright green, heart-shaped foliage and reaches fifteen feet tall or more. Older vines produce more color than younger plants and bloom best when water stressed. The vine is thorny and the tips have a blackish, waxy substance. ‘Barbara Karst’ is a popular variety for the Southwest desert since it loves the heat. ‘Torch Glow’ has a different shape than the other varieties and its blossoms appear at the ends of stiff, erect stems.  Use it as a warm season, color accent vine. Plant this vine to cascade over walls, banks, fences, trellises, arbors, and container rims. It can also be used as a cut flower or a security barrier. Plant the bougainvillea in tropical and Mediterranean gardens and around pools, ponds, and water features. It is native to South America from the coast of Brazil, west to Peru, and south to southern Argentina. There are two distinct species of this plant, Bougainvillea glabra and Bougainvillea spectabilis. B. glabra is a smaller plant with fewer thorns and grows more like a shrub. B. spectabilis is a faster-growing plant that is more sprawling, growing like a vine. There are many hybrids of these two species that show a wide variety in leaf forms and growth characteristics. It is sometimes called the paper flower since its bracts are very thin and papery.

The self-climbing evergreen has unique, attractive foliage and can quickly scramble up the side of a wall with its lacy stems and leaves, climbing to twenty feet or more. The creeping fig has small, heart-shaped, juvenile leaves when young, and large, leathery dark green mature foliage. It produces a pale greenish-yellow fig-like fruit on its horizontal stems that is inedible. Its flowers are inconspicuous or are not present. Several different varieties are available including a variegated form.  For best results, plant it on a north- or east-facing wall. Use to create a cool, green splash of foliage against a wall of wood, masonry, or block, or to soften a wall in an atrium, building, or house façade. It is native to Japan, eastern China, and Vietnam.

This attractive, fast-growing, compact evergreen vine climbs to heights of ten-twenty feet. Its foliage is glossy green with pointed tips, and its stems are smooth and reddish-brown. In early spring, the plant produces small clusters of fragrant, yellow, trumpet-shaped blossoms with five short lobes.  Use it to cover trellises, fences, and arbors in a sunny location. Also use it in a large container or as a groundcover along steep banks. This plant looks nice in smaller patios and entryways. This vine is native to warm temperate climates from Guatemala to the southeastern United States, and grows into the coastal plains of North and South Carolina. It grows naturally in open woodlands, thickets, and along roadsides.

The twining, woody evergreen climbs slowly to ten to twelve feet tall and about five feet wide with long, grayish-green, leathery leaves with prominent veins. In early spring, the vine produces showy clusters of lavender-purple, pea-shaped blossoms that cascade down from the plant. Varieties are also available that produce white or pink blossoms.  Use this rambling plant on trellises, walls, arbors, or fences for its amazing early spring color show. There are many available cultivars of this plant. It is native to Australia, growing in sandy soils, forests, on rocky outcrops and in woodland areas.

The fast-growing, tropical evergreen climbs to heights of twelve to fifteen feet or more with fine-textured, deep green foliage with five to seven leaflets and slender, twining, woody stems. The underside of its leaves is a lighter green. It produces lightly scented, delicate, white-petaled, tubular blossoms in clusters with emerging pink buds. When the flowers open they are star-shaped and pure white. Blossoms appear in early spring and bloom prolifically until the hot weather. This vine does best on east- or north-facing walls rather than on fences or on free-standing vine frames.  Use it on a trellis, wall, or arbor, or train its twining branches along a roof or eave of the house. It can also be used as a groundcover plant, or in containers for tropical effects. It is native to western and southern China.

The dense, vigorous evergreen or semi-deciduous vine has twining stems and climbs fifteen to thirty feet tall to cover a large area quickly with its sprawling branches and dense foliage. It has deep green, medium-sized, oval leaves with a brownish colored back. In spring and summer, the plant produces creamy white, fragrant blooms that turn yellow as they mature and send a heavenly scent throughout the garden. The flowers attract bees, hummingbirds, and butterflies.  Use it as a bank cover or on slopes for erosion control, or train it on an arbor, trellis, or garden posts for color. Also use it as a screening plant to hide an unsightly area in the landscape. Plant this fast-growing vine near entryways to enjoy its highly fragrant, spring flowers. It is native to the hills and mountains of Japan and the mountains and low-lying areas of Korea. This plant has naturalized and established itself in the southeastern United States where it grows in fields, at the edges of forests, in disturbed woods, and on floodplains.

The twining, woody, deciduous to semi-deciduous, climber grows vigorously to twelve to fifteen feet tall and spreads to ten feet. It has shiny, oval, bluish-green foliage with reddish stems that provide ornamental interest. The vine develops showy clusters of tubular, fragrant blossoms in coral, pink, and magenta on the outside of the flower and an orange-yellow on the inside of the bloom. It flowers throughout the warm season producing magnificent color and attracts hummingbirds and butterflies. In the fall, it produces inedible red berries.  Use it as a showy, color plant on arbors, trellises, and fences, or as an espalier near porches and patios for its amazing twining and trailing growth habit. This plant can also be grown in containers. The gold flame honeysuckle is believed to be a cross between two Lonicera species, Lonicera x americana and Lonicera sempervirens.

This self-climbing, self-attaching evergreen is a fast, aggressive grower that climbs to heights of twenty-five feet or higher with an equal spread. The foliage has with two green leaflets and an interesting three-pronged claw. Its tendrils work as an appendage, clinging onto most walls. In late spring, the vine produces a bright yellow, showy, funnel-shaped bloom with five petals. After flowering, it develops a thin seedpod that opens, dispersing winged, brown seeds. Its stems are reddish-brown aging to a dark green color.  This long-living vine is a great choice for covering an unsightly or hot wall in a hurry. Use it to soften a wall or side of a building. It can also be used as a screen on walls, lattice, or trellises, and on slopes for erosion control. This plant is native to the West Indies, Mexico, Brazil, and parts of Argentina. The cat’s claw vine is considered an invasive plant in many parts of the world.

The sprawling evergreen with twining stems climbs to twenty feet with pointed, dark glossy green foliage with divided leaves and woody stems. A variegated form has green leaves with white edges. In the spring and continuing through the first frost, large, beautiful, slightly fragrant, whitish-pink flowers appear. The varieties ‘Southern Belle’, ‘Charisma’ and ‘Rosea’ have a distinctive reddish-pink center. The varieties ‘Alba’ and ‘Lady Di’ have pure white flowers. After blooming, the plant produces large fruits that contain many seeds.  Use this graceful looking vine in containers and to cover arbors, trellises and fences. It can also be used to train, cascade, or twine along a wall or post. The bower vine is native to Queensland and North South Wales, Australia.

The deciduous, fast-growing, creeping vine climbs twelve to fifteen feet with tendrils and thin stems that are covered with sticky, yellow hair. Its dark green foliage has three- to five-lobed leaves and produces an unpleasant aroma when crushed. The exquisite blooms are white, pink, and deep purple with colored bracts, and it blooms from late spring to early summer. While beautiful, the blossoms can also produce an unpleasant odor. This plant is a butterfly, bird, and bee attracter. The flower bracts of this plant also serve as an insect trap. Its blossoms open in the morning and close in the evening. After blooming, the plant produces a sweet, kumquat-sized, edible, yellowish-orange fruit with black seeds. The fruits are eaten by birds, which disperse the seeds. There are some medicinal applications to the leaves but some parts of this plant can be poisonous. The dry leaves of this plant have been used in a tea in Vietnamese folklore, or as a medicine to relieve sleep problems and tension. Use it for its amazing flowers to cover a wall or trellis, train on arbors, or use it in entryways and patios. It is native to tropical areas of southern Europe, northern South America, the West Indies, Vietnam, and Hawaii. It can be an invasive species in some areas.

The evergreen, noted for its spectacular display of orange-red berries and shiny, brown bark, climbs to ten feet tall and about twelve to fifteen feet wide. It has small, rounded, dark glossy green foliage and has extremely sharp, spur-like thorns on its branches. In the spring, the firethorn produces small clusters of slightly fragrant, white flowers. In late fall, clusters of red or orange berries form and by the dead of winter, they ripen to add color to any garden. The berries are eaten by birds or other animals. In colder climates, the berries and leaves are darker in color.  This plant is a very fast grower and there are many varieties available. Use it as an espalier or vine trained up against the wall or shaped on a wall. It can also be used as a bank cover on a slope or groomed as a shrub or hedge. The firethorn branches look great in flower arrangements and the berries add color to wreaths. The plant is native to Southeastern Europe and into western Asia.

The popular, scrambling evergreen to semi-evergreen has an arching growth habit reaching heights of twelve to twenty feet with long, glossy green leaves with three to five leaflets per leaf. Leaves will defoliate at lower temperatures. In early spring, the plant develops beautiful white or yellow clusters of single or double flowers, depending upon the variety. The blossoms are fragrant, and attract bees and butterflies. The variety ‘Lutea’ has yellow flowers and no thorns. ‘Alba Plena’ has white flowers and some thorns. The stems of this plant are usually thorn-less, slender, and sprawling.  Use this vine in the landscape on trellises, walls, arbors, and fences, or train it to cascade over embankments. This is a great choice for erosion control on slopes and a beautiful, early spring color plant. The largest Lady Bank’s rose vine is growing in Tombstone, Arizona. The plant was installed in 1885 and covers an entire square block. The species is a native to central and western China, where it has been cultivated for hundreds of years.

The long-lived, deciduous twining vine grows fifteen to twenty feet, and is admired for its gnarly growth habit. It produces amazing clusters of fragrant, cascading purple, white, and lilac flowers that bloom over a long period of time, beginning in spring. The Chinese wisteria has shiny, oblong green leaves with seven to thirteen individual leaflets. Its flowers are actually racemes that drape and hang down from the vine, giving the air a sweet grape scent. The flowers attract bees, butterflies, and birds. After the blooms are spent, the plant produces large, flat, velvety, brown seedpods that mature in the summer. The pods open and disperse black seeds. Many varieties of this plant are available. All parts of the plant are toxic if ingested.  Use it in containers or as a specimen vine trained over a large arbor or espaliered on a building. It can also be trained to grow over rooftops, arbors and trellises, or as a bonsai plant. This vine is native to China.