The Best Flowering Vines For Your Garden
The easiest way to increase your gardening space is to add ornamental plants that grow vertically. Flowering vines come in an array of sizes and colors, with both annual and perennial types. Many bloom for weeks or months for continuous color.
Vines can be grown up a trellis, arbor, pergola, fence, or wall depending on their method of attachment (see more below). Smaller forms are suitable for trailing in hanging baskets, window boxes, and containers.
Many vines grow rapidly and some species aren't appropriate for all areas. Check local resources to make sure you are choosing a vine that's right for your garden.
Why are many vining plants considered aggressive or invasive? Some of the vining invasives are that way because of their vining, sprawling habit, but they often also have seeding tendencies which can be most of the problem. And they displace natives that are not as competitive. For instance, honeysuckle grows aggressively, but they are invasive mostly because birds love their seeds and disperse them where they can outcompete natives. (See more on invasive vs. aggressive plants below.)
6 FLOWERING VINES
WISTERIA (Wisteria spp.)
Zones: 5-9
Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
Height/Spread: 10 to 50 feet long, 4 to 30 feet wide
Method of attachment: Tendrils
One of the best-known climbing flowering vines, grown for its long hanging clusters of pea-like flowers in shades of lavender, purple, white, or blue. The most commonly grown are Japanese (W. floribunda), Chinese (W. sinensis) and American wisteria (W. frutescens), which bloom in spring or summer. This vigorous perennial vine needs strong support and judicious pruning, and can be damaging to homes or structures if not kept in check.
NOTE: Wisteria is invasive* in some regions, so check with your local garden center or extension service before planting. American wisteria is less invasive and aggressive than Asian types.
Learn more about growing wisteria.
CAROLINA JESSAMINE (Gelsemium sempervirens)
Zones: 7-10
Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
Height/Spread: 10 to 20 feet tall, 3 to 6 feet wide
Method of attachment: Twining stems
Native to parts of the southern U.S., Carolina jessamine flowers from late winter to early spring before many other plants are in bloom. Also known as Carolina yellow jasmine, this evergreen or semi-evergreen vine produces prolific clusters of golden yellow trumpet-shaped flowers that are sweetly scented. Can be grown up a sturdy arbor or pergola, or allowed to sprawl as a groundcover. Use as a privacy screen or to hide an unsightly feature such as a chainlink fence.
BLACK-EYED SUSAN VINE (Thunbergia alata)
Zones: 10-11, or grown as an annual
Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
Height/Spread: 3 to 8 feet tall, 1-1/2 to 6 feet wide
Method of attachment: Twining stems
Cheerful five-petaled flowers come in shades of yellow, orange, apricot, coral, white, or bicolor, with an eye-catching dark center. This fast growing annual or tender perennial vine produces attractive heart-shaped leaves, blooming continuously from summer into fall. Use as screening on a trellis, fence or arbor. Makes a stunning stand-alone accent in a hanging basket or combined with other annuals in window boxes and containers.
Learn more about growing black-eyed Susan vines.
Tangerine Slice A-Peel® black-eyed Susan vine from Proven Winners, pictured.
MORNING GLORY (Ipomoea spp.)
Zones: Grown as an annual
Exposure: Full sun
Height/Spread: 4 to 15 feet tall, 2 to 6 feet wide
Method of attachment: Tendrils
This fast-growing flowering vine is a popular mainstay in cottage-style gardens. Large heart-shaped leaves provide an attractive backdrop to funnel-shaped flowers in shades of purple, blue, pink, white, and bicolor patterns. Plants bloom from early summer to frost, with each single flower lasting just one day. Use this annual as screening on a trellis or arbor, or grow along a wall or fence. Easy to grow from seed.
NOTE: Although not to be confused with bindweed (Convulvulous arvensis), some ornamental morning glories can self-sow readily and have also been determined to be aggressive or invasive* in certain areas.
Learn more about growing morning glory vines.
PASSIONFLOWER (Passiflora spp.)
Zones: 5-11
Exposure: Full sun to partial shade
Height/Spread: 6 to 30 feet tall, 3 to 6 feet wide
Method of attachment: Twining stems
Add tropical flair to borders and containers with passionflower. The exotic blooms are multi-layered, with a base of rounded petals topped by a collar of thin radiating filaments, and a vertical antennae-like center. Flowers, which bloom from summer into fall, are purple, blue, red pink, green, white, or multi-colored. Use this vigorous quick-growing vine as a screen, to cover a fence or arbor.
NOTE: Can be invasive* in warmer regions.
Learn more about growing passionflower vines.
BOUGAINVILLEA (Bougainvillea spp.)
Zones: 9-12
Exposure: Full sun
Height/Spread: 2 to 30 feet tall and wide
Method of attachment: Twining stems
This tropical vine is a popular choice in frost-free regions for its prolific bloom and carefree nature. Plants bloom nearly year-round, with clusters of flowers in bright hues of pink, orange, coral, red, yellow, orange, and occasionally white. This vigorous woody vine needs strong support and regular pruning to keep it in check. Grow along a wall, arbor, or pergola, or use as a low-maintenance groundcover. In cooler climates, smaller specimens can be grown in a hanging basket or container and overwintered indoors.
Learn more about growing bougainvillea.
HOW VINES ATTACH THEMSELVES
Understanding how different vines and climbing plants attach themselves will help you pick an appropriate support structure for your climber.
Twining stems: As vines grow they wrap their stems around the supporting structure, such as poles, chain-link fences, trellises, or arbors.
Tendrils or petioles: Thin, flexible leafless stems (tendrils) or the short stems that attach the leaf to the stem (petioles) wrap around narrow supports such as thin poles, stakes, wire, twine, or chain-link fencing.
Aerial roots: Small root-like structures growing out of the sides of the stems attach the plant to rough-textured surfaces such as the textured bark of trees or masonry.
Hold fasts: Disk-like adhesive pads on plants such as Boston ivy or Virginia creeper attach to almost any smooth surface.
(Resource: Vines: Climbers & Twiners: Methods of Attachment, University of Illinois Extension)
*INVASIVE VS. AGGRESSIVE GROWERS
When learning about plants, it's important to understand what it means for a plant to be invasive. From the USDA website: "An invasive species is non-native to the ecosystem under consideration, and whose introduction causes or is likely to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health."
Keep in mind that a plant may be invasive in one environment, but okay to grow in another. So, although some of the plants above are noted as being invasive in certain regions, they are fine to grow in others.
It's also important to note that there is a difference between a plant being considered invasive and one that grows aggressively. The University of Illinios Extension Service defines aggressive plants as those that have the ability to "spread fast enough within the garden as to cause issues to other garden areas where the plant is not wanted or is intended to be growing." This is not the same as being identified as being invasive.
Resources for determining if a vine or plant is invasive in your region:
Your local extension service (search online)
Local Master Gardener's Association (search online)
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