May 09, 2007
Adding Vines to My Garden
Mention the word vines in the landscape and many gardeners, especially novice ones, panic. They have visions of morning glory, Japanese honeysuckle, Chinese wisteria or even the dreaded kudzu consuming their yard and house.
But there are a number of vines that offer attractive foliage, flowers, fragrance or all three without being aggressive or invasive plants. I’m using three different types to camouflage the hog wire fencing of our very large compost area.
This year, I was pleased to see that my gloriosa lily planted in a large container had survived the winter. Gloriosa lily, Gloriosa superba, is a climber native to South Africa. The vines can reach 8 feet or more. Some words of caution about this plant—all parts of it are highly toxic. You may want to avoid this plant choice if you have young children or pets.
The gloriosa lily will take your breath away when it blooms. It has large, vivid blossoms usually in shades of red and yellow. One of the most striking qualities of the bloom is the way the petals curve backwards from the flower center.
This year a friend suggested I give black-eyed susan vine a try. This is the second vine I’m using to disguise the compost pile. I’ve planted two plants in an oversized container, and they are already beginning to work their way up the fence.
Black-eyed susan vine is Thunbergia alata. Norman Winters, a horticulturist with Mississippi State University, says the plant is underused. The vigorous annual vine climbs by twining itself around a support and has bright flowers in orange, yellow or white. While the coloration is similar to black-eyed susans (Rudbeckia), the flowers on Thunbergia are tube shaped instead of the composite flowers of Rudbeckia.
Since this wire fencing offers such a large area, I am also going to plant either purple hyacinth bean or perhaps scarlet runner beans. I haven’t yet decided which to plant. Who knows—I may wind up planting both.
I'll talk more about some other vines I have added to my garden in a future entry.
You can learn more about vines for Alabama in this publication from the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.