The next seminar I will be giving on vertical gardening or climbing vines. There’s lots more to the category than just clematis, honeysuckles and morning glory’s as I will discuss some annual vines and tropical vines that can be planted to beautify a garden wall, trellis or pergola. Some of the vines have “feet” with which to cling to a wall or other structure but most have tendrils that wrap around as the vine makes it way up.
Some vines such as wisteria or Campsis, better known as trumpet vine, are quite aggressive and can wreck all but the most sturdy of structures. I remember years ago when a homeowner in Akron planted wisteria vine eight feet on center to cover an otherwise ugly cyclone fence. The effect was stunning and never so more when the pendulous flowers came on in late May and early June. When the homeowner sold this starter house to buy a new one, the new owners immediately cut and pulled off the wisteria and dug them out. It reminds me of a case in Norton where the homeowner cut down two huge red oaks as he did not want to rake leaves! How strange the oak case was since I am certain for what he paid to have the trees removed he could have easily hired someone to rake up the leaves for at least 20 years before the tree removal money was spent. As they say, it always pays to do the math first.
Rightly so, clematis is one of the best known of the vines as they come in a myriad of colors, sizes and combine well with each other. Over the years we have been growing more clematis in a true one gallon in order that they have longer shelf life and are not pot bound when our customers plant them.
Today, new clematis varieties are coming out of Estonia, Poland and from the famed hybridizer Raymond Evison.
For more shade, ivy works well along with the green forms of Euonymous such as Euonymous ‘Greenlane’ that’s evergreen and will thrive just as well in full sun. Another vine for shade or sun is Hydrangea petiolaris as it will wind it’s way up a trellis or lattice work and even up a tree!
There is one I know of in Painesville, Ohio that is quite happy as it has grown 25 to 30 feet up a large tulip poplar. For certain, vines add interest and another dimension to gardening not to mention the delight they create in all that see them.
Join me this Saturday for the third of our winter seminars series on vines. All seminars start at 11 a.m. in the Owl Barn.
Tom