Climbing High with Flowering Vines

'Sweet Summer Love' Clematis and 'Pink Mink^®' Clematis

One way to add another dimension to your garden is to grow flowering vines. Flowering vines add height, color and interest as well as block unsightly views. Flowering vines can be annuals. herbaceous perennials or woody perennials. Let's take a look at the different types of flowering vines to grow.

Annual flowering vines add a burst of color all summer long. Some of these “annual” vines are actually perennials in warmer climates, but in our region they die after a hard freeze.  You can grow annual flowering vines in the ground or in a container. One of my favorite annual flowering vines is mandevilla. These climbing or trailing vines produce large, colorful flowers starting in mid summer and bloom until frost. 'Bombshell^®' Vining Red mandevilla (Mandevilla hybrid) features deep red, silky blooms that love the heat and humidity of summer. Although a vining plant, Bombshell only trails 12- to 14-inches long, so is a manageable size in containers and hanging baskets.  If you want a longer trailing, mandevilla-like vine try the Dipladenia. 'Diamantina^™ Coral Orange Sunrise' (Mandevilla hybrida) can trail 5 feet making it great on a trellis. It flowers all summer, is heat tolerant, doesn't need deadheading and is drought tolerant. Black Eyed Susan vines

(Thunbergia alata) are great flowering vines for containers. The traditional varieties of Thunbergia have yellow, orange or white flowers. Now the color pallet is expanded. 'Sunny^™Rose Sensation' features bright, rosy-pink colored flowers on vines that grow 5- to 8-feet tall. They look great in a large container with a teepee trellis or in the ground winding up a structure.

For herbaceous perennial vines that will overwinter in our Northern climate you can't beat clematis. There are many different types of clematis from the small flowered, early summer blooming species types to large flowered summer bloomers and to autumn flowering varieties. The two I'm particularly fond of have smallish flowers but bloom for many weeks in the summer. They're carefree and come back consistently each year. 'Sweet Summer Love' (Clematis X) features 10- to 12- foot tall vines. We grow ours on a 10- foot tall, metal trellis beside our house. By the end of June it's covered with purple, scented flowers. It continues flowering until late summer. The same is true of 'Pink Mink^®' clematis (Clematis X). Our vine grows up and over a 8 foot tall garden fence with pink colored blooms. The vine is covered with flowers all summer long. We prune both of these clematis hard in late winter to a few feet off the ground and they come back consistently each year.

Finally, don't forget flowering woody vines. These perennials have woody stems that are attractive even in winter. 'Scentsation' honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum) is a beauty climbing 8- to 10-feet tall up a trellis or fence. I grew it once to climb up our deck 6 feet off the ground and it flowered in summer along the railing. The yellow flowers have a sweet smell and the vine blooms in summer with red berries in fall. It's not invasive like other honeysuckles. For a really tall climber try 'Rose Sensation^™' false hydrangea (Schizophragma hydrangeoides). This mammoth vine can grow up snag trees, walls or chimneys, even in part shade. It has unique pink flowers in early to mid summer and is carefree. It likes moist, well-drained soil. It grows in part to full sun and is a conversation piece in a landscape.