flowering vine to cover arbor

[Reneeb]

Hello. I was wondering if anyone could suggest a moderately fast reblooming vine to cover an arbor. My garden is cottage themed. I have a large yard that gets full sun and is fenced in. My current project is converting my 1000 sq foot vegetable garden into raised beds. This Arbor would be the transition from my perennial garden into my new vegetable garden. I am in zone 6 and struggling to find the right flower to cover my white vinyl arbor. The flower will be placed in its own mini raised bed container on either side of the arbor. I have been considering thornless climbing roses, and clematis. I would like to avoid anything invasive, like morning glories, as I have a lot of yard maintenance already to keep up with. Anyone know of any varieties that will put on a show? And if so any idea how fast they grow?

thanks again

[applestar]

Does it have to be ornamental? What about runner beans (choice of scarlet, salmon peach,mor red/white) or Purple Podded Pole beans?

[rainbowgardener]

For something else edible there's our native passionflower, called maypop. Very interesting, exotic looking flowers. My garden arch has trumpet honeysuckle vine (the native, not- invasive one, lonicera sempervirens). It stays a very manageable size that doesn't weight the arch down (wisteria will collapse most structures in a few years), it has been very well behaved about not popping up other places in the yard, and hummingbirds love the flowers.

Other choices, especially if it is not in full sun, include caroline jessamin and dutchman's pipe. Dutchman's pipe is a native vine that has it's own beautiful butterfly that uses it/ relies on it - the pipevine swallowtail.

Pipevine_Swallowtail_090107_015.jpg (14.77 KiB) Viewed 1307 times

those are all perennials. If you don't mind starting over from seed every year, there's the annual cardinal climber. It is very easy to start from seed, just placed in the pot and if you let some go, it will start re-seeding itself, but not invasively or aggressively. It is pretty small for covering an arbor with delicate leaves and flowers, but hummingbirds love these flowers (another red trumpet flower) also. Maybe mix it in with something else that will provide better coverage. This year the trellis on my deck has the scarlet runner beans applestar mentioned and cardinal climber, mixed together.

[catgrass]

Firecracker vine. I have one that covers my arbor quickly. Hummingbirds love the flowers.

[catgrass]

You don't say where you are, but cardinal flower here in the deep south is worse that morning glories. It will come up EVERYWHERE as birds like their seeds and drop them all over. I've been trying to kill it for years.

[rainbowgardener]

I guess it depends where you are located. The cardinal climber is in the genus Ipomoea with morning glory. But neither it nor the also related moonflower vine self-seed very aggressively for me, with our fierce winters.

[ElizabethB]

Reneeb - Welcome to the forum.

I had to laugh when I read the part about "non invasive vines". A true Oxymoron. Vines are by nature the rowdiest, most miss behaved plants in the yard.

My comment is about your structure. The vinyl arbors that you get from the Big Box stores are very flimsy. You need to bury 4" x 4" post at least 2' deep and slide the legs of your arbor over the post. Even with that support you need to avoid heavy vines like climbing roses, wisteria or bougainvillea. I love both Jasmine and Clematis but you will have to control the growth. With age they will get too heavy for your arbor.

Do include edible plants with your ornamental. Grape tomatoes in both red and yellow trained over your arbor with an ornamental would be wonderful.

My 2 cents - If I were building an arbor I would skip the vinyl and build a very sturdy wood arbor.

Good luck

[pinksand]

I've been really happy with my major wheeler trumpet honeysuckle (lonicera sempervirens). It grew quickly, reaching the top of my arbor in the first year and really filling in so far in the second year with an abundance of blooms currently emerging. It's a native honesuckle as RBG mentioned above so it isn't a threat and so far it has been fairly tame for me, though I guess that time will tell.

[imafan26]

I have to agree with Her Majesty Elizabeth, non-invasive and vine don't usually end up in the same sentence.

Whatever vine you chose to put on the arbor that is fast growing is also going to require a lot of maintenance trimming and thinning.

I do like climbing roses but they still need managing and it is not fun with all of the thorns. They also are not in bloom year round.

I do like an edible arbor like the scarlet runner beans, or even a grape vine.