A Gardeners Forum Forums General Discussion The Plants and Flowers Forum Your suggestions re: blooming vines to plant

Okay folks, I need your input and suggestions regarding choosing a blooming vine for my arbor. Last year I grew passionflower vines on my arbor which were spectacular! By late fall, the gulf fritillaries ate my vines alive, really. I salvaged the very bottoms of the four vines and repotted elsewhere.

My arbor is the focal point looking thru double french doors from my dining room. I want something very pretty, preferably pink blooms, but not necessarily. I would like to plant a vine that is cold tolerant, to maybe 20 to 25 degrees, if possible. I am considering Alice Dupont mandevillas but I know the cold will kill them.

Any suggestions? Thanks for your input in advance.

Hi Bill,
Wow, that's great, didn't know you had that link on the GF. Thanks!

The read will keep me quite busy for a while.

Okay, didn't see anything of interest on the list.

Any suggestions from yall?

wow flowering child you got a hard thing here, Im sorry but ive googled it but i can not find any other flowering vine besides the may pop up passion flower that can withstand that cold... i know from the reading on that link bill gave us (thank you bill!) Texas-native Passiflora incarnata aka "the may pops" can withstand temps to 18 degress, but you said you had a problem with the butterflys.... sooo idk all i can say is kill the caterpillers by either making your own pesticide or buying one.... I know commercial grade ones can do the job well but yu risk killing other beneficial insects... You could try grape vines! They dont flower but they make yummy grapes! lol but they cant stand lower than 20degress even 20 degress is pushing it... you may just have to stick with the passion flower. But if you want something that will give you pink fragarent bloms every spring you can try;

My personal favorite is Jasminum x stephanense its fragrant with pink blooms it grows very well but i have no clue what temps it can withstand...

Hi toposh,
I know. I may have to stick with passionflower vines and zap the caterpillars. I am a fan of butterflies so that is a little hard to do but ya know, ya do what you have to right? :) Grapevine is a nice thought but I am looking for pretty blooms to view from my doors for several months throughout the year. But, your suggestion of Jasminum x stephanense, pink, is a good one. I will consider that one for sure! Thanks!

Others?

Why not try several varieties of clematis---they come in all colors & shapes.. and while they do not grow so very fast--they are pretty--and they vine--

Juniegirl, that sounds like a terrific idea! wow! I've never tried planting clematis but I think my conditions are right. I googled and already am considering a beautiful pink one! Thanks!

Still open for other comments!

Hey there!! Last summer I had the great idea to start a vining something or other as well.. I have an area on the side of our house where I have the frame of an old swing I got.. the swing long since rotted away.. it was the fabric kind you buy at WalMart.. but the frame has pretty scroll work on it and I didn't want to throw it away.. so I decided to start a new project.. I bought a stone bench to put under it and this year I want to plant some nice flowering vines all around it.. someone mentioned something about a flowering bean.. I can't remember now what it was.. and I don't know if I can still find my old posts.. but I will try.. if I do, I will come back and edit.

Ok, I was able to find my thread, but I don't know how to link to it. So I will just post the different suggestions that I got, here. The beans are Scarlet Runner Beans.. which I had never heard of.. suggested by Tamara. They grow fast with beautiful red flowers and you get to pick and eat the beans.

And here are some of the others that were mentioned on that thread:

Climbing roses
Wisteria
Morning Glories
Clematis
Mandevilla
Passion flowers
Loofa Plant


I don't know anything about those plants.. you said you wanted something hardy. I just thought I would throw those out there for you to consider. Um, another one, is a little yellow flower with a dark center.. looks like a black eyed susan, but I don't know what it is called.. it could be some kind of clematis.. The greenhouse next door had some last year, and I almost got one or two.. but didn't.. then I saw some later in the season growing up a pole for a front porch of a house I pass daily.. and it was gorgeous! I might have to get me a couple this year.. but I am not sure where I will put it. lol Anyway, I hope I helped!!

was it purple hyacinth bean?

No, it was a Scarlet Runner Bean.. I will have to look up that hyacinth bean.. sounds pretty!!

Wow.. that does sound really nice!! I don't mind an annual really... I thought I wanted a perennial.. but if I go with an annual I can change it up every year if I don't like it or want to try something new.

You say this flowers in the fall?? I wonder if there is anything that has a longer bloom time.. but you said the plant itself is really pretty.. hmm.. I don't know.. to many choices.. lol

Just wanted to add another suggestion.. not a perennial.. but I am going to try it this year.. cypress vine mix. Very pretty from the pics... I am excited!

I bought two Honeysuckle vines last year and planted under my new pergola. They started out really good with leaves and blooms. Now the leaves are turning yellow and the inside leaves have all died. How can I bring it back?

youd get tons of seeds off it, I do off mine (purple hyacinth bean) there's one in a white too, my white didn't do as good, maybe I planted it too late.