Gardening & Climbing Plants

A arched gateway adorned with greenery is inviting.

Climbing plants can offer architectural interest when coupled with pergolas, walls, trellises, fences and gazebos. Most local garden centers and greenhouse nurseries offer a variety of plants adapted for your area. Information about the plant characteristics can help you to choose wisely.

Clematis

Stair rails can be a good place to display clematis vines.

Clematis grows quickly up trellises in hot weather and produces large pink to purple flowers. One variety, which grows wild in the southeastern U.S., has small, cream-colored flowers. Plant them in well-drained soil with a northern exposure that gets plenty of light. The trick is to protect the roots from the heat of summer. For that, you need shade in hot weather. One tip is to cover the root area with a flat rock or tile to keep the roots cool.

Climbing Roses

Roses make a delightful adornment for a fence.

Climbing roses grow vertically. To maximize blooming, it is best to train them to grow horizontally along a wall or fence. Flowering habits vary, but most roses like full sun, mulching at their base and regular feeding. Hybrid tea climbers -- Casino and Ena Harkness -- have larger blooms and are pruned right after they flower in summer. They flower on new growth the following year. Floribunda varieties -- Allgold and Paul's Scarlet -- have small, fragrant clustered flowers. Perpetual flowering types -- Danse de Feu, New Dawn and Golden Showers -- are best pruned in winter. Neither type should be pruned until after their third year, and then in winter. Danse de Feu and Golden Showers both tolerate shade.

Honeysuckle

Masses of vining honeysuckle make for a fragrant arbor.

Japanese honeysuckle grows wild throughout most of the eastern U.S. It grows fast and can be invasive, blooming in spring and early summer. Honeysuckle tolerates poor soil conditions and hot weather, and rarely needs supplemental watering. The shoots train well and need to be cut back in winter.

Alabama Crimson honeysuckle is another variety that produces clusters of tubular red flowers. Hummingbirds are attracted to its flowers.

Trumpet Vine

Trumpet vines have been known to climb 20 feet or more in a season.

Trumpet vine is another eastern U.S. native. It has bright yellowish to orange-red blossoms. Like honeysuckle, it can become invasive, and can be planted in a large container beside the trellis or arbor to eliminate this problem. It is tolerant of a variety of soil conditions, needs water if very dry conditions prevail, and is tolerant of both hot and cold temperatures.

Passion Flower

Passion flower produces gorgeous blooms and small, edible fruits.

The passion flower is a quick-growing vine that can grow up to 20 feet in length. Passion flower is often seen growing wild in the southeastern U.S. along old fence rows, where it enjoys sunny conditions but shaded roots. Some varieties of passion flower are not cold tolerant and must be overwintered inside or replanted each year.

Wisteria

Wisteria can be trained to grow along a wall.

Wisteria vines can grow to the size of trees. They produce impressive amounts of fragrant blooms of lilac-blue to light-pink in summer. Wisteria vines need only moderate water and tolerate alkaline soil. If the plants develops yellow leaves with green veining, feed the plant some chelated iron to treat this condition (called chlorosis), but not much fertilizer.

References

• Hot Gardens: Vine Climbers for Hot Climates
• Garden Seeker: Climbing Roses - 10 Best Climbing Roses
• Garden Seeker: Ten Best Climbing Plants - Climbers