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Ivy for trellis


31 Flowering Vines That Climb Trellises and Walls

Few things add to the beauty of a yard or garden more than a climbing vine that puts on colorful flowers. But which vines will climb a trellis with minimal intervention? And which ones can climb walls with a little guidance? There are actually quite a few, which can make finding the right one a bit of a daunting task.

Some of our favorite flowering vines produce abundant flowers only in spring and provide lush green backdrops for the rest of the summer season. Others bloom from summer to fall with continuous flowering. But one thing they all have in common, is that they will climb a trellis with minimal guidance, and will stick to walls with a little help.

While we do have a comprehensive list of perennial climbers, the following list contains both perennial and annual flowering vines. Keep on reading to learn about a number of different climbers that will grow quickly, and stick to your trellis, walls, or pergola. Let’s take a look at some of our favorites, with pictures and details of each!

Contents

Apple Blossom Clematis

Apple Blossom Clematis is a moisture-loving plant that requires abundant watering at least once a week.
Scientific name:
Clematis armandii ‘Apple Blossom’

This evergreen clematis variety has waxy dark green leaves and pale pink and white blooms that smell sweet and slightly of almonds. The flowers appear in early spring and are often some of the first blooms in a garden.

Flowering only lasts up to four weeks, but the foliage is attractive and dense enough to form a pretty trellis or fence cover that lasts all year. In addition, you don’t have to prune the plant, so it’s an easy-to-grow, low-maintenance choice.

This plant is one of few vines you need to skip if you have dogs or your yard is open where dogs can wander in. Instead, plant it in a fence-protected yard to keep dogs away because it’s highly poisonous to canines.

Black-Eyed Susan Vine

Black-Eyed Susan Vine is a tender perennial plant grown as an annual in cooler areas.
Scientific name:
Thunbergia alata

Most people don’t think of vining plants when they think of the Black-Eyed Susan, but the shorter wildflower variety. The vine is a different species that grows up to 8 feet and quickly spreads up to 6 feet.

Plant the vine in early spring after the last frost to watch it climb. It can grow a full 8 feet in one growing season. The vine self-seeds, so you don’t have to worry about replanting or maintenance, but it can take over its part of the garden if you’re not careful.

The leaves have an arrowhead or heart shape and set off the small coral-colored, daisy-like flowers. Also known as a clock vine, some tropical areas like Hawaii consider it invasive, so check before planting.

Blue Moon Kentucky Wisteria

Blue Moon Kentucky Wisteria flowers appear first in early summer and bloom up to three times in a single growing season.
Scientific name:
Wisteria macrostachya

This plant is one of the trellis climbing vines that’s easy to grow but has dramatic results. Clusters of vining lavender flowers, ranging from light to dark, appear in late spring and bloom a couple of times again during the summer.

The scent is sweet and rich, ensuring that everyone nearby will smell the flowers. In addition, Kentucky Wisteria attracts butterflies, making the vine an even more beautiful addition to a yard or garden.

New plantings might not bloom until their third spring, but the vines can grow up to 25 feet and spread as wide as 8 feet during the first year or two.

Bougainvillea

Bougainvillea is a climbing, lush plant with oval leaves and panicle inflorescence up to 8 inches long, blooming from late summer to late autumn.
Scientific name:
Bougainvillea

Bougainvillea plants are flowering vines that produce bright-colored bracts shaped like trumpets with a tiny bloom inside from May to December in a suitable climate.

Once the plant takes root properly, it’s a low-maintenance plant that grows fast and can spread across any trellis, fence, or wall as long as it has something to twine around. The only maintenance required is regular pruning to keep the vine reined in and promote brighter and more plentiful bracts.

The plant can thrive in partial shade but will bloom less. The bracts come in various colors like white, orange, red, fuchsia, and purple and can even change color over time in reaction to the climate and its growing environment. 

Carolina Jessamine

Carolina Jessamine is a beautiful, easy-to-care climbing flower that produces flowers with a sweet jasmine scent.
Scientific name:
Gelsemium sempervirens

This plant is one of the evergreen flowering vines that grow wild in the southern United States. It’s one of the easiest vines to grow in the ground or well-watered containers.

Also known as the “Evening Trumpetflower” and the “Poor Man’s Rope,” the Carolina Jessamine is South Carolina’s state flower.

Though it’s an excellent climber, it also works as a ground cover. Deep yellow and golden trumpet-shaped flowers appear in February and bloom until late April. The plant is low-maintenance, though some tendrils might get top-heavy and need occasional trimming.

Carolina Jessamine is highly toxic to people, animals, and insects if eaten. Don’t plant this vine if you have dogs or an unfenced yard where pets can wander in. Also, avoid planting near apiaries because it can kill bees and make their honey poisonous.

Chocolate Vine

Chocolate Vine is a climbing shrub, reaching a height of 3 to 6 meters.
Scientific name:
Akebia quinata

The Chocolate Vine gets its name from the chocolate-scented flowers that are different from the highly sweet-smelling blooms on most other trellis climbing vines. This vine does better in shade, than some others on this list.

Blooms have three petals and a deep brownish-purple hue that sets them apart from the bright color of most other flowers. They appear in March and bloom until May, then sometimes produce tiny edible but unpleasant-tasting fruits shaped like eggplants with dozens of tiny black seeds inside. 

The oval-shaped leaves are a glossy dark green and grow in five-leaf clusters on this vine that can grow up to 20 feet per year. Some southeastern and northeastern states list the Chocolate Vine on the invasive species list, so check before planting in any part of the eastern US.

Climbing Hydrangea

Climbing Hydrangea is a species of flowering plant from the genus Hydrangea of the Hydrangeaceae family, originally from Japan.
Scientific name:
Hydrangea anomala petiolaris

The Climbing Hydrangea is easy to grow and low maintenance. It’s a good climber and can also serve as a ground cover. It grows slowly, climbing by clinging to trellises and even walls with thin, aerial rootlets. However, once the plant takes hold, it grows fast.

The leaves are a glossy dark green creating a pretty backdrop for the white and cream-colored lace-cap flowers appearing in early summer. Plant it out of easy reach of animals because it’s toxic to horses, cats, and dogs.

While this is one of the most popular flowering vines, you don’t need a trellis or a fence for it to twist around. Climbing hydrangea is easy to grow, and will scale walls. It can also grow to a second floor in one growing season. With pruning, it makes a pretty shrub, too.

Cup and Saucer Vine

Cup and Saucer Vine is a moisture-loving plant and needs regular watering.
Scientific name:
Cobaea scandens

This fast-growing vine can easily climb nearly its entire length in one growing season when started from seed. It might not flower well or at all during its first year. The plant will spread as far as you let it and cover fences and trellises with a thick blanket of oblong, bright green leaves.

The flowers are pale green and unpleasant-smelling before they open, then they open to a cup shape and turn purple or white with a sweet, honey-like scent. This plant is one of the few flowering vines that grow well in containers as long as it has somewhere to climb.

Some states list this vine as an invasive variety so check before planting. It also attracts bats for pollination in regions below USDA Zone 7, so you’ll want to avoid it if the idea of attracting bats to your property is a problem.

Cypress Vine

Cypress Vine is a herbaceous plant and shrub that belong to the Convolvulaceae family.
Scientific name:
Ipomoea quamoclit

The Cypress Vine is related to the morning glory. Other names for it are the Hummingbird Vine and the Red Cypress Vine. It’s a great choice if you want to attract hummingbirds and butterflies to your yard or garden.

Star-shaped flowers in white, pink, or red bloom through the summer on this annual vine, first appearing about a month after the soil warms and it starts climbing for the season. If the plant drops enough seeds and the region doesn’t frost or has only light frost, it often returns every year.

The leaves are thin and fern-like, giving it a light and airy feel different from the waxy, dark green leaves of many flowering vines.

It grows wild in the southeastern United States and appears on invasive weed lists in some states. Keep pets and children away because leaves, flowers, and stems are toxic if ingested.

Empress Eugenie Passion Flower Vine

Empress Eugenie Passion Flower Vine is one of the most beautiful evergreen climbers, stunning perfume and spectacular flowers.
Scientific name:
Passiflora x belotii

This vine has striking, multi-colored, and highly textured flowers with an almost alien appearance. Petals ranging from white to purple are a backdrop for darker purple feathery petals surrounded by thick green stamens.

Every part of the flower has multiple shades and patterns. Though the vine isn’t the easiest to grow, it makes a dramatic, fragrant addition to a garden. It attracts birds and butterflies when it does establish itself and flower.

False Hydrangea Vine

False Hydrangea Vine is a beautiful shrub with profuse creamy white flowers that bloom in summer.
Scientific name:
Schizophragma hydrangeoides

This vine can flourish in almost any level of shade or sunlight, but to flower, it needs at least filtered sun. Too much sun can harm it, especially in warm climates. Pruning in winter helps foster faster spring growth.

Also called rose sensation Japanese Hydrangea, this vine will climb and spread as far as you let it. It produces small pinkish-red flowers throughout most of the summer and makes a great choice to cover trellises, fences, or anything you want to disguise.

Firecracker Vine

Firecracker Vine is a perennial hardy climbing species up to 3 m high with three-lobed leaves and purple inflorescences.
Scientific name:
Ipomoea lobata

Also called the Spanish Flag, this vine flourishes in full sun. In partial shade, it still does well but doesn’t produce as many flowers.

Three-lobed leaves grow up to six inches long, while the tubular flowers stand out from the stems and grow the same length in red that fades to pale yellow, creating a pretty gradient that adds drama to a garden.

Blooms appear in July and continue until the first frost. It’s one of the best vines to plant if you want to attract butterflies and hummingbirds.

Golden Bell Clematis

Golden Bell Clematis is a deciduous vine with golden bell-shaped blooms that look a bit like an old man’s beard.
Scientific name:
Clematis tangutica

Also known as the “Old Man’s Beard Clematis” and the “Orange-Peel Clematis,” this clematis variety blooms with bell-shaped, hanging flowers in early summer, usually early June, and puts on new buds until the end of October.

The golden-yellow flowers are tiny, usually measuring less than two inches. When the flowers go to seed, the blooms become feathery hanging pods that look like beards, giving it one of its names. The pods appear in many late summer and fall flower arrangements.

This clematis attracts butterflies, but it’s highly toxic to people and pets, so plant it out of their reach. Small children who touch the plant can develop skin irritations from the sap or suffer severe poisoning if they put their fingers in their mouths.

Highwire Flyer Climbing Rose

Highwire Flyer Climbing Rose is a densely growing climbing rose with continuous, abundant, hot pink blooms.
Scientific name:
Rosa spp

This rose produces several hot pink blooms that keep coming until early fall. The rose doesn’t have a strong fragrance like other varieties, but it’s more disease-resistant than some heavily-scented breeds. The plant resists mold, mildew, and black spot that plague other roses.

It’s not one of the highest climbing trellis flowering vines, but the vibrant color and large clusters of blooms make it one of the prettiest.

Hyacinth Bean

Hyacinth Bean is a very beautiful annual herbaceous vine.
Scientific name:
Lablab purpureas

This fast-growing vine produces bracts of purple, shell-shaped flowers and deep purple seed pods that look dramatic in floral arrangements. The pods are edible in small amounts when they’re immature.

The vine’s an excellent choice to twine around a trellis or arbor to provide shade because it creates a thick blanket of large leaves. Let the seed pods dry on the vine during fall and store them in a dry place over the winter to plant in the spring.

Jewel of Africa Nasturtium

Jewel of Africa Nasturtium is an annual herbaceous plant of the familyTropaeolaceae with red, yellow, or orange flowers.
Scientific name:
Tropaeolum majus

The flowers of this vine are traditional fall colors, like orange, yellow, and dark red, and lighter shades like pinkish-orange and cream. Leaves are bright green and variegated with white lines.

Unlike many other vines, this one has edible leaves and flowers. Multi-colored fragrant flowers appear in mid-summer and keep blooming until early fall. You can start from seed in early spring for about ten feet of height by late fall.

Aphids are often a problem with this nasturtium, and it’s a favorite food of caterpillars, so expect plenty of chewed leaves and stems.

Madagascar Jasmine

Madagascar Jasmine usually blooms in May with white umbrella inflorescences, and also has a delicate aroma.
Scientific name:
Stephanotis floribunda

Madagascar Jasmine is a slow grower that eventually reaches about 15 feet. Leathery, dark green leaves set off clusters of tiny, white star-shaped tubular flowers.

It grows well in containers in all zones. However, in cold climates where the temperature drops below 40 degrees Fahrenheit, overwinter this plant away from frost by placing it indoors or in a greenhouse.

Also known as the bridal wreath and Hawaiian wedding flower, this vine’s fragrant small white blooms frequently appear in wedding bouquets. The plant grows in cool temps, but growth slows, and few flowers appear.

Mandevilla Alice du Pont

Mandevilla Alice du Pont requires a lot of light, but it must be protected from direct rays.
Scientific name:
Mandevilla x amabilis  

Large, trumpet-shaped flowers have light pink petals with deep pink throats that attract butterflies and hummingbirds. The plant is evergreen in warmer climates and can be grown as an annual in cooler zones.

After a few weeks, the vine proliferates and is easy to maintain with blooms that appear from summer to fall. It can flower in April in warmer climates. The leathery leaves form a dark green blanket that covers trellises, arbors, and fences.

Moonflower

Moonflower buds open only with the onset of evening twilight and remain open until the first rays of the sun.
Scientific name:
Ipomoea alba

The Moonflower adds interest to any garden, with huge white blooms appearing mid-summer that open at night. It’s a perennial but can be grown as an annual in cooler climates. Like many other flowering vines, it’s toxic to people and pets and suffers from few diseases or pests.

The flowers release a sweet fragrance when they open each night after dark. It’s on the invasive plant list in some warmer regions like the southern US and Hawaii. You can also grow these as a ground cover or in hanging containers.

Morning Glory

Morning Glory is an ornamental herbaceous plant that belongs to the family Convolvulaceae.
Scientific name:
Ipomoea purpurea

The Morning Glory is one of the flowering vines most gardeners grow because it’s easy to care for and provides stunning color in any garden. It’s a fast-growing vine that’s simple to train as a climber and easy to start from seed outdoors.

The vine usually returns each year from self-seeding, though it’s not a true perennial. Trumpet-shaped flowers appear in mid-summer or early fall.

You can choose varieties with deep purple flowers, variegated blooms, or deep red petals. The flowers, leaves, and stems are toxic to people and pets.

New Dawn Climbing Rose

New Dawn Climbing Rose is a species of rose, commonly called sweet briar with prickly stems bearing apple-scented foliage.
Scientific name:
Rosa rubiginosa

This rose variety is a fast climber with waxy, dark green leaves and medium-sized soft pink flowers that keep coming all summer if you fertilize well. The 3-inch blooms are tightly packed with dozens of petals, adding color and texture to your garden.

Somerset Rose Nursery in New Jersey created this rose in 1930. It can climb to cover a trellis or arbor in a single growing season and resist diseases and pests.

Rebecca Clematis

Rebecca Clematis blooms from mid-spring to early summer, producing an abundance of large, velvety, deep vibrant red flowers.
Scientific name:
Clematis ‘Rebecca’ evipoo16

Clematis vines aren’t the trellis climbing vines that grow the tallest, but they produce some of the most vibrant and eye-catching flowers of any flowering plant. This one has some of the deepest red blooms in a summer garden. Each flower can span up to 8 inches across.

The blooms appear in late spring to early summer and keep flowering until early fall. This vine’s flower shades range from deep red to one that appears dark purple.

This clematis grows well in containers as long as there’s somewhere for it to climb, or you can prune to keep it as a shrub.

Scarlet Runner Bean

Scarlet Runner Bean is a tender herbaceous plant with juicy green leaves and fresh white and bright red flowers.
Scientific name:
Phaseolus coccineus

Bright green leaves grow in clusters of three as a backdrop to scarlet or white flowers that appear two months into the growing season. Flowers first appear as deep-colored buds that open up to blooms measuring 20 inches in length.

Bean pods containing 6-10 seeds per pod appear in late summer and hang up to a foot long. Immature pods are edible in small amounts but have a rough, fibrous texture.

Most people grow the vine as an ornamental plant, not for the beans.

Scentsation Honeysuckle

Scentsation Honeysuckle is a climbing deciduous shrub that reaches a height of 4-6 m.

This honeysuckle plant is a great climber that you can grow as a shrub or train to climb nearly anything. Richly-scented white and yellow flowers appear in spring and last until late summer. Then, in the fall, when blooms drop, red berries take their place.

Unlike most honeysuckle varieties, this vine isn’t invasive and won’t swallow up other plants, but it attracts hummingbirds like all honeysuckle types.

Other honeysuckle vines can choke out other plantings, but this variety offers a similar sweet fragrance without disrupting nearby growth.

Snowdrift Clematis

Snowdrift Clematis is a vigorous climber with evergreen, dark glossy leaves, and blooms with white, fragrant flowers from March to May.
Scientific name:
Clematis armandii ‘Snowdrift’

This spring-blooming evergreen vine produces fragrant tiny white flowers throughout April and May, with dark green foliage covering trellises and fences year-round.

Clematis vines are fast climbers, and this variety is no exception, though it’s not suitable for container planting like many other clematis types. The plant can spread up to 30 feet wide, making an excellent fence cover or plant to hide an eyesore in the yard.

It’s pest and drought-resistant, so a suitable vine for beginning gardeners.

Star Jasmine

Star Jasmine is a beautiful evergreen climbing plant that blooms in summer.
Scientific name:
Trachelospermum jasminoides  

Star Jasmine is one of the shorter vines, but don’t overlook it because it’s not a high climber. However, what it lacks in height, it makes up for with beauty.

Tiny white flowers appear from late spring to early summer, but the leaves are pretty all season. The oblong, bright green leaves cover the stems and make a good ground cover. This vine is easy to grow and thrives even in the shade, though it won’t put on as many flowers.

Summer Jazz Fire Trumpet Vine

Summer Jazz Fire Trumpet Vine is a fast-growing woody vine that can grow up to 12m in height.
Scientific name:
Campsis x tagliabuana

Rich red trumpet-shaped blooms with orange throats cover this compact vine from early summer to late fall. This trumpet vine won’t get too much height but makes a statement no matter where you train it to climb. It also makes a good container plant.

The vine grows fast and only requires regular watering once it takes root. The tubular flowers attract butterflies and hummingbirds, but they won’t appear if the plant doesn’t get enough sun.

Sweet Summer Love Clematis

Sweet Summer Love Clematis is a free-flowering, sweetly fragrant, and easy to grow climber with star-shaped reddish-purple flowers.
Scientific name:
Clematis ‘Sweet Summer Love’

This vine is one of the sturdiest from the clematis family and one of the fastest growers. Don’t expect star-shaped flowers the first year, but the second growing season should produce plentiful fragrant blooms from July until mid-September.

The flowers appear red and turn purple as they mature on the plant. You can grow this vine in a container as long as you give it a trellis or structure to climb.

Sweetpea Vine

Sweetpea Vine is a perennial herbaceous plant of the family Fabaceae. It has a delicate vanilla aroma and gorgeous pink flowers that look like miniature copies of orchids.
Scientific name:
Lathyrus latifolius

Also known as the Everlasting or Perennial Sweetpea, this vine produces bright flowers on long peduncles. It climbs best on a trellis or fences, but it also uses tendrils to climb flat surfaces. The sweetpea also works as a ground cover.

Sweetpeas are easy to grow and aren’t bothered by most pests. The vine is a gardening favorite that can produce blooms in shades like lavender, pink, red, blue, and white. It’s toxic to pets and humans, but only if ingested in large amounts.   

Virginia Creeper

Virginia Creeper is a surprisingly unpretentious decorative liana, consisting of five elliptical dark green petals, that turn purple in autumn.
Scientific name:
Parthenocissus quinquefolia

The flowers on a Virginia Creeper vine are green and hard to notice when they appear from June to July. However, you won’t miss the flowers, because the leaves are the real star of this vine. Its five-pointed leaves appear bright green in summer, but they darken to a striking crimson when the weather cools toward late fall.

Aerial roots let this vine climb flat surfaces like walls, but it also works well twisted around a structure or as a fast-growing ground cover. It’s easy to grow, even for gardening beginners.

Animals eat the berries, but they’re toxic enough to be fatal to humans.

Zephirine Drouhin Climbing Rose

Zephirine Drouhin Climbing Rose does not have thorns on the trunks, and has a weak aroma.
Scientific name:
Rosa ‘Zephirine Drouhin’ 

The deep pink blooms on this rose are impressive enough to look like they take a lot of work. The vine tolerates all soil types and climbs well as long as you keep a check on potential diseases and pests.

This thornless rose produces its old-fashioned 4-inch blooms best in hotter temperatures when it gets full sun. The vine continually lays on dozens of flowers from July to September and can be pruned as a shrub if you don’t want it to climb. 

The Zephirine Drouhin Rose is a Bourbon rose with a distinctive sweet scent reminiscent of raspberries.

Final Thoughts

It’s important to note that many of the prettiest flowers can be listed as invasive species depending on your state, so check before planting and place them with caution. With that being said, they will flourish if given the right growing environments, and provide you with the beautiful blooms you are looking for climbing up your trellis or pergola.

Most of these vines will grow outside the recommended plant zones, though perennials often die off over the winter and must be treated as annuals.

7 Flowering Vines You Can Grow on a Trellis

Garden

One of the easiest ways to add charm to your garden space is to grow flowering vines on a trellis. We have been working on our cottage garden and have found some lovely flowering vine ideas to add to the fence. Flowering vines make great use of vertical space, so they can really make an impact in your garden.

Perennial Flowering Vines

Today I’m going to share seven different perennial flowering vines that would make lovely additions to any trellis. We grow a few of these climbing plants in our own yard and always appreciate their beauty in the spring!

Most of the flowers I’m sharing with you are perennials, which means they will grow back on their own. A few are annuals, which means you will need to replant them after the season.

Roses

Who doesn’t love a beautiful rose? They smell so wonderful and the climbing variety look lovely growing on a trellis or fence. We have roses growing in our little cottage garden against the fence around the pool. I love the way they look in the spring draping over the fence and bathing it in a red color.

Plant Name: Rosa spp

Size: 3-10 feet

Zones: 3-11

Buy It: Climbing Rose seeds on Etsy

Wisteria

American Wisteria is absolutely gorgeous in the spring. We have wisteria growing all over our yard and it puts on a beautiful show of purple flowers all over the trees behind our pool. One of my sons says the trees look like ladies in dresses! We are currently growing wisteria on our wooden trellis.

Plant Name: Wisteria frutescens 

Size: Vines can reach 30+ feet long

Zones: 5-9

Buy It: Wisteria Vine Plant on Etsy

Clematis

We originally had a clematis vine growing on our trellis. Their flowers are definitely gorgeous and it is one of the best flowering vines for a trellis.

Plant name: Clematis viticella

Size: 10 feet

Zones: 4-8

Buy It: H.F. Young Clematis Vine on Etsy

Sweet Peas

Sweet Peas are annuals and need to be replanted every year, but their fragrance is amazing. They look gorgeous twining around a rustic trellis in your garden and one of the best climbing plants to make your garden smell like heaven!

Plant name: Lathyrus odoratus

Zones: 4-10

Size: up to 10 feet

Buy It: Sweet Pea seeds on Etsy

Climbing Hydrangea

Hydrangeas are absolutely beautiful and if you want to train that beauty up a trellis or fence, look into planting a climbing hydrangea. Climbing hydrangeas are low maintenance climbing plants and you can use the flowers in cut flower arrangements or you can dry them.

Plant name: Hydrangea anomala

Zones: 4-8

Size: 30-50 feet

Buy It: 50 foot climbing hydrangea on Etsy

Honeysuckle

Honeysuckle is my absolute favorite climbing vine. From the memories I have of pulling flowers off the fence at my elementary school to the memories of my own kids doing the same in our back yard, it’s a favorite of everyone. It fills our entire yard with its delicious fragrance every spring. It’s amazing!

Plant name: Lonicera periclymenum

Zones: 4-9

Size:

Buy It: Honeysuckle Vine on Etsy

Moonflower

Have you ever thought of planting a moon garden? Moon gardens usually include gorgeous white flowers that open from dusk til dawn. They can be enjoyed by the silvery light of the moon. If you’re looking for a pretty climbing vine for your moon garden, the moon flower is a great choice!

Plant name: Ipomoea alba

Zones: winter hardy to USDA zones 10-12

Size: 10-15 feet when grown in the U. S.

Buy It: Moonflower Vine on Etsy

I hope you enjoyed this look at flowering vines and that you’ve discovered some beautiful climbing plants you can grow in your own garden!

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