It’s time to rethink the possibilities of vines in our gardens

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I’m astounded at the growing interest in vines these days. This trend has almost certainly been triggered by our high density living and need for more screening and privacy.

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Vines are very versatile in any landscape. They can soften the harshness of chain-link fences and enhance wooden fences with foliage and flower colour most of the year. Cement walls can be adorned with clinging vines, like Virginia creepers, that simply blaze with stunning red-and-yellow foliage in late summer. Archways, obelisks and pergolas, draped with vines, are always an elegant touch in any garden. Attractive patio trellises, smothered in vines, create the most delightfully elegant privacy screens.

It’s just a guess, but I suspect that at least half of these vines are planted in containers. If this is the case, a larger container would be needed, as well as some type of watering system to ensure adequate maintenance, especially during hot summer weather or if folks are away for a few days. In winter, during extreme cold, vines in containers must have their roots protected, and the soils used in these containers must be well draining to accommodate heavy rains in spring and fall. It would also be important to apply slow-release nutrients for maximum growth performance during spring and summer.

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As proven by our recent extreme winter cold, it’s important, when selecting vines, to choose varieties that have the hardiness rating for your particular area. With fewer pest controls available these days, it would also be wise to select more insect and disease resistant vines to avoid problems, such as mildew, aphids and spider mites. Another consideration is location in terms of sun or shade. The majority of vines prefer sun, especially during the most intense period of sun from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. With a bit of protection from the hot afternoon sun, even some shade-loving varieties will tolerate a sunny location.

There are many great vines, such as Virginia creeper and the traditional Parthenocissus quinquefolia, and the smaller-leafed version called Boston ivy, Parthenocissus tricuspidata Veitchii. Parthenocissus quinquefolia Star Showers is, perhaps, the most interesting and beautiful. Hardy to Zone 4, it starts out green, like its cousins, but quickly sports mottled white and green foliage on distinct red stems and tendrils, and its fall colouring is stunning. As with most Boston ivies, it will grow six-to-10-metres tall and five-to-six-metres wide. Its tiny, inconspicuous green flowers attract birds, another added feature.

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Proven Winners has selected two other interesting innovations. Parthenocissus quinquefolia Red Wall and Yellow Wall have attractive, glossy green foliage during the spring and summer, and intense red-and-yellow fall colouring. As soon as I spotted them, I quickly thought of combining these two varieties together on walls, fences and arbours for an eye-popping fall display. Just imagine this dynamic duo adding brilliance to your fall garden. It’s this type of creativity that can take our gardens to a new level.

Honeysuckles have always been old-fashioned favourites, and although they can have a few fungus and aphid issues, the beautiful fragrance of some varieties and the fact they attract hummingbirds are real bonuses. One of the most popular varieties is Lonicera Gold Flame, with its fragrant orange/crimson flowers and crimson shading on the outside. Belgica is an older variety with fragrant, reddish-yellow flowers in May and June, followed by a repeat summer blooming. Lonicera Serotina is a fragrant cream white that blooms July through October.

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One of my favourites is L. Halliana, with its scented white flowers that bloom from early to midsummer. Most honeysuckles are somewhat susceptible to aphid and mildew issues, but I have found Halliana to be very clean, with minimal problems. It will grow up to three-metres tall and two-metres wide, creating quite a fragrant spectacle. They perform best in a location with morning sun and some protection from the hot afternoon sun, and their fragrance is more powerful in this type of setting.

There are also some clematis creating quite a buzz. The old-timer, Sweet Autumn, provides a massive display of tiny white flowers in September and October, and it has an enticing, lingering perfume. Clematis Sweet Summer Love (Zone 4) is a breakthrough from the amazing Polish breeder, Szczepan Marczyński. It has won numerous awards thanks to its cranberry/violet flowers that start blooming over a month earlier than the traditional Sweet Autumn clematis, and it keeps on blooming and perfuming your garden until fall. It’s a must have.

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The Vancouver™ clematis series, developed by Fred Wein Sr. of Clearview Horticulture in B.C., is a nice addition to any garden. Named after Fred’s sister, Vancouver Deborah Dahl (Zone 4) has huge 17-to-23-centimetre blue flowers, with intense red stamens that are contrasted with deep lavender sepals. It’s a long flowering variety in May and June, and repeat blooms in September. I like the fact that it’s a little more compact, about two-to-three metres at maturity, and it’s quite at home in containers. As with most early and late flowering varieties, it’s in pruning group B1, meaning at the end of its flowering season it should be pruned back by about one-third to enhance its early flowering show.

For gardens and balconies that are real hot spots, the campsis family, better known as trumpet vines, offer some of the most resilient vines. Hardy to Zone 5, these beautiful, summer-flowering vines, with their huge orange or yellow trumpet-shaped flowers, bloom midsummer into fall and attract hummingbirds. The older varieties can be somewhat invasive, but the newer orange varieties, like the Summer Jazz series, are not. By simply dropping some polyethylene in the ground, around their root systems, you can easily keep them under control. The red flowered C. Madame Galen and the orange flowered C. Indian Summer are two of my favourites. Campsis are heat and drought tolerant plants that perform best in full sun.

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Grapes make clean, attractive vines with edible fruit, and, when grown on overhead trellising, provide shade for hot patios. In Europe, they’re very much the vine of choice.

Years ago, at our gardens, we used small-fruiting kiwi for a beautiful, tidy, fast-growing vine that produced small, grape-sized, delicious fruit in September and October. Actinidia Issai, a self-fertile variety, is the easiest to grow. For a real treat, both the male and female kolomikta varieties have spectacular green leaves tipped with white and pink. If you have both male and female plants, they, too, will produce small, tasty fruit.

I think we underestimate the value of vines in our gardens, which is unfortunate because they perform so many meaningful tasks, like adding privacy and beauty in areas no other plants can match. Maybe it’s time to rethink their possibilities in our gardens.