Top 10 Backyard Vines

Not only are vines great to look at, but they definitely serve a purpose in backyards. Vines can add height and fullness to any garden with their climbing antics. You can train most vines to climb up trellises, posts and anything else with a little height!

Not only are vines great to look at, but they definitely serve a purpose in backyards. Vines can add height and fullness to any garden with their climbing antics. You can train most vines to climb up trellises, posts and anything else with a little height!

Photo: Park Seed, www.parkseed.com

Black-eyed Susan vine

Here's one climber that's definitely easy on the eyes! Black-eyed Susan vine grows as an annual. Its flowers superficially resemble black-eyed Susan, the popular garden perennial. The vine has thin green stems, which wrap around trellises or other plant stems.

• Common Names: Black-eyed Susan vine, Clock vine.
• Botanical Name: Thunbergia alata.
• Hardiness: Annual.
• Bloom Time: Summer.
• Size: Up to 8 feet high.
• Flowers: Yellow or white flowers with a black eye. Trumpet-like.
• Light Needs: Full sun.
• Growing Advice: Grows quickly from seed-sow indoors to get a jump start. Train on wires, strings, or a trellis; it also makes an impressive show in a hanging basket.
• Prize Picks: Suzie Hybrids yellow flowers have a black eye, just like a black-eyed Susan.

Photo: Park Seed, www.parkseed.com

Clematis

You say "clem-aye-tis," I say "clem-aah-tis." It really doesn't matter how you pronounce it, one word best describes this vine-dazzling! Clematis grows up more than out, which means you get more flowers in less yard space. And they're actually easy to grow and train, which makes them perfect for decorating a mailbox, lamppost, arbor or trellis.

• Common Names: Clematis.
• Botanical Name: Clematis.
• Hardiness: Zones 4 to 9.
• Bloom Time: Summer.
• Size: 4 to 30 feet high, 3 feet wide.
• Flowers: Dozens of colors including white, pink, red, purple, blue and yellow. Some are multicolored blooms.
• Light needs: Full sun to partial shade.
• Growing Advice: Buy container-grown plants at the nursery. After planting, shade the roots with mulch or surround with sun-tolerant groundcover plants. Grow on a trellis or other structure to support the twining tendrils.
• Prize Picks: Jackmanii and Wisley both produce beautiful purple blooms. Henryii has sensational white blooms, Nelly Moser has pink petals with dark pink stripe down the middles-the flowers look like peppermint candy!

Photo: Park Seed, www.parkseed.com

Climbing rose

For a classic with a twist, you'll love climbing roses. These beauties have everything you love about roses and more. You get the same gorgeous, often fragrant flowers, but thanks to the plants' long, pliable stems, the show can adorn all sorts of supports, from trellises to fences to arbors.

• Common Names: Climbing rose.
• Botanical Name: Rosa.
• Hardiness: Zones 5 to 10.
• Bloom Time: Summer.
• Size: 6 to 12 feet high or more.
• Flowers: Every color you find in regular rosebushes is also available in climbers.
• Light Needs: Full sun is required for maximum blooms.
• Growing Advice: Great for providing color without taking up ground space, but will need to be supported and trained.
• Prize Picks: If you want to see red, try Dublin Bay for its bright-crimson double flower. If pink is more your pick, choose Handel, New Dawn or Zepherine Drouhin (pictured here). Joseph's Coat has spectacular, multicolored flowers.

Photo: Park Seed, www.parkseed.com

Grape

This robust climber produces tiny green flowers in panicles from the leaf axils in summer; clusters of edible fruit follow. For some gardeners, though this plant's main attraction is its leaves. In any event, grow this vine over a trellis or fence.

• Common Names: Grape vine.
• Botanical Name: Vitis species and cultivars.
• Hardiness: Zones 5 to 10.
• Bloom Time: Spring.
• Size: Keep pruned to maintain under 20 feet.
• Foliage: Green or purple, turning red or purple in fall.
• Light Needs: Full sun to partial shade.
• Growing Advice: More productive when grown in fertile soil and full sun and properly pruned.
• Prize Picks: If a handsome vine with delicious purple fruit is your wish, go for Concord. If you're more interested in attractive foliage, try dark-leaf grape, Vitis vinifera Purpurea. Glenora (pictured here) is also a great choice.

Photo: Park Seed, www.parkseed.com

Moonflower vine

This enchanting vine is grown as an annual. Related to the morning glory, moonflower vine has big, trumpet-shaped bright white flowers and deep green leaves. The attractive white flowers will emerge at dusk and last until dawn. No wonder it's called the moonflower!

• Common Names: Moonflower vine, Belle de nuit.
• Botanical Name: Ipomoea alba.
• Hardiness: Annual.
• Bloom Time: Midsummer.
• Size: Up to 15 feet high.
• Flowers: White.
• Light Needs: Full sun.
• Growing Advice: Grows slowly in cooler weather, so be patient.
• Prize Picks: Try Giant White, with its big 6-inch blooms and rich scent.

Photo: Herbert Olson

Passionflower

Early Christian missionaries discovered passionflowers in South America in the 1500s. They named the bloom for the way its intricate parts can symbolize elements of the passion of Christ. The lacy fringe of petals represents a halo or crown of thorns, the five stamens are the five wounds, the three stigmas are the nails from the cross and the 10 petals are the 10 most faithful of Christ's apostles.

Some people call these flowers "maypop" because their fruit makes a popping sound when pinched or stepped on.

• Common Names: Passion flower, maypops.
• Botanical Name: Passiflora.
• Hardiness: Zones 7 to 9, varies with species.
• Bloom Time: Summer to fall.
• Size: 15 to 50 feet long.
• Flowers: Purple, lavender, blue, pink, red, yellow, and white. Fragrant.
• Light needs: Full sun or partial shade.
• Growing Advice: Grow from seed or nursery plants. Provide support for its tendrils to grab and twine. In colder areas, the plants should receive southern or eastern exposure and be protected by a building or wall.
• Prize Picks: Blue passionflower is popular for its blue-to-white flowers and evergreen or semi-evergreen foliage. Incense sports 5-inch wide violet flowers.

Photo: Ed Hume Seeds, www.edhumeseeds.com

Runner bean

The runner bean is grown for its showy pea-shaped flowers. It is a twining climber, which may need to be trained up a trellis or arbor with netting or string. This vine is fast-growing and will attract butterflies and hummingbirds to your backyard garden.

• Common Names: Runner bean, Scarlet runner bean.
• Botanical Name: Phaseolus coccineus.
• Hardiness: Annual-may be grown anywhere.
• Bloom Time: Spring to summer.
• Size: Up to 8 feet high.
• Flowers: Bright red.
• Light Needs: Full sun, but can tolerate some shade.
• Growing Advice: Simple to grow from seeds. Sow seeds outdoors about a week before last frost.
• Prize Picks: Dutch runner beans produce white flowers.

Photo: RDA GID

Sweet pea

This fragrant flower is easy to grow and provides a season's worth of cut flowers. In fact, sweet peas perform best if you harvest bouquets often. Like garden peas, sweet peas prefer the cooler weather of spring and early summer, gradually declining under hot August skies.

• Common Names: Sweet pea.
• Botanical Name: Lathyrus odoratus.
• Hardiness: Annual.
• Bloom Time: Varies by region; spring and summer through early autumn.
• Size: 4 to 12 feet high.
• Flowers: Wide variety of colors including pink, purple, salmon, blue, red and white.
• Light needs: Full sun to partial shade.
• Growing Advice: Plant presoaked seeds 1 inch deep and 6 inches apart in garden, or start indoors and transplant outside after about 6 weeks.
• Prize Picks: Royal Mix and Old Spice Mix are fragrant and heat tolerant. Also recommended: Captain of the Blues, which is prized for its lavender to purple flowers.

Photo: Dutch Gardens, www.dutchgardens.com

Wisteria

There's nothing like a blooming garland of wisteria to add romance to a spring backyard. Long dangling clusters of blooms make this woody vine a favorite choice to adorn arbors or dress up a doorway. Its honey-sweet fragrance makes it even more alluring.

Growing wisteria does take a bit of care however. Make sure to provide ample support for the vine's heavy limbs, and prune it each year after flowering to within five or six buds of the main branch.

• Common Name: Wisteria.
• Botanical Name: Wisteria.
• Hardiness: Zones 5 to 9.
• Bloom Time: Late spring.
• Size: Can reach 30 feet high or more; Depending on how it's trained it will spread 10 to 30 feet or more.
• Flowers: Dangling clusters of lavender, white or pink pea-like blooms.
• Light needs: Full sun to partial shade.
• Growing Advice: Plant container-grown wisteria in spring near a sturdy support. Be patient with young plants; it can be many years (up to 10 sometimes!) before they start generating blooms.
• Prize Picks: Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) is a beautiful choice for southern climate, where its flowers open all at once before the leaves emerge. In the North, Japanese wisteria (Wisteria floribunda) is a better choice; it comes in hues of purple, pink or white.

Photo: Park Seed, www.parkseed.com

Morning glory

As its name suggests, the morning glory is most glorious during the early hours when its trumpet-shaped flowers open to greet the new day. But its beauty is fleeting...the blossoms last only one day and wither by mid-afternoon.

These easy-to-grow annuals are probably the most popular flowering vine in North America. They climb just about anything - fences, trellises, arbors, mailboxes, lampposts...you name it. This makes it ideal for quickly masking unsightly views.

• Common Name: Morning glory.
• Botanical Name: Ipomoea pupurea.
• Hardiness: Annual vine hardy in all zones.
• Bloom Time: Summer to first frost.
• Size: Climbs 15 to 20 feet.
• Flowers: Purple, blue, red, pink, and white trumpet-shaped blooms; bicolors are also available.
• Light needs: Full sun.
• Growing Advice: Start from seeds indoors or in the garden. Nick the seed or soak it in warm water for 24 hours before planting.
• Prize Picks: An old-fashioned favorite is Heavenly Blue. For red flowers, try the glorious Scarlett O'Hara.