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Perennial climbing flowers


20 Popular Flowering and Vines and Climbers

By

Marie Iannotti

Marie Iannotti

Marie Iannotti is a life-long gardener and a veteran Master Gardener with nearly three decades of experience. She's also an author of three gardening books, a plant photographer, public speaker, and a former Cornell Cooperative Extension Horticulture Educator. Marie's garden writing has been featured in newspapers and magazines nationwide and she has been interviewed for Martha Stewart Radio, National Public Radio, and numerous articles.

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Updated on 11/18/21

Reviewed by

Mary Marlowe Leverette

Reviewed by Mary Marlowe Leverette

Mary Marlowe Leverette is one of the industry's most highly-regarded housekeeping and fabric care experts, sharing her knowledge on efficient housekeeping, laundry, and textile conservation. She is also a Master Gardener with over 40 years' experience; writing for over 20 years.

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The Spruce / Letícia Almeida

One of the hardest skills for a gardener to master is incorporating climbing vines into a landscape. Annual vines, such as cardinal climber and morning glory, are easy enough. They last only for a single season, so you can discontinue planting them if they don't work the way you want. Deciding where to place perennial vines is an important consideration and often a daunting one for both new and experienced gardeners alike. Perennial vines are in your garden for years and will get larger and fuller over time. Even so, some truly stunning perennial vines can be trained over doorways, trellises, up trees, or even left to dangle from hanging pots.

Here are 20 of the best perennial flowering vines and climbers for your garden.

Tip

Vines that climb do so via different methods. Twining vines climb a trellis, fence, or other structure by branches that grow in a circling fashion, twisting themselves around the structure. A modified form of twining is the use of tendrils—small shoots that anchor themselves to a supporting structure as permanent branches become established. Other vines use aerial roots or suckering disks that attach themselves to a supporting structure. These vines can damage wood, stucco, and brick mortar are best avoided unless you are willing to put in the effort to control their growth.

Pictures of Vines for Landscaping

Article Sources

The Spruce uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

  1. Akebia quinata. Global Invasive Species Database

  2. Campus radicans. North Carolina State University Extension

10 Best Climbing Perennials - Garden Lovers Club


If you are searching for a way to improve your vertical space in your garden, then climbing perennials may be a great option to consider. Recently, I decided that I needed more climbing plants in my garden that grow all year long, so I came up with a list of several different options that could improve my color scheme and make my garden smell amazing.

Many of the perennials that we are going to look at are extremely simple to care for, while others take a bit more work to maintain.

Let’s take a look at 10 of the best climbing perennials that I’ve discovered can make any garden look fantastic.

Hydrangea Vine

If you are trying to find a plant that will give you a lot of vertical foliage, the climbing hydrangea vine can grow to be 50 feet in height. It will grow in partial shade and moist, acidic soil. In the springtime, it produces beautiful blooms that are white, pink, blue, or purple in color. This plant originates in Asia, but this plant will grow in zones four through seven in the United States.

Dutchman’s Pipe

Seen growing in zones four through eight, this plant will easily grow to be 20 to 30 feet tall. It will bloom from May through June in most situations, and the blooms will be green, yellow, or purple in color. They grow best in full sun or partial shade conditions, and with a bit of moist soil around their roots. This is a nice looking plant to train up a trellis or a fence.

Passion Flower

The passion flower can grow between 10 and 15 feet tall. It will be seen growing in zones six through 10, and it will create pink, purple, red, blue, and white blooms from midsummer until the first frost of the year. This plant will grow best in full to partial sun, and it likes moist soil, which can either be neutral, slightly acidic, or slightly alkaline.

Clematis

Clematis is a beautiful blooming plant that can bring colorful blooms and a lovely smell to your garden. It will thrive in zones five through nine, and it can grow in partial sun and full sun. It can grow from eight to 20 feet tall with ease. It can also climb up to 20 feet wide, which will help give you the growth that you need to train it along your fence. See this guide here for the different types of Clematis

Honeysuckle Vine

Have you ever smelled the sweet blooms of honeysuckle on the wind? Well, if you like the smell of this delightful plant, then it may be a great option to put in your garden. These vines prefer to grow in full sun conditions, and they will do best in well-drained soil. Though they grow best along a fence or a trellis, they can also grow in containers in zones four through nine.

Sweet Pea

If you are searching for a large climbing plant, then the sweet pea is a great option. It produces blooms that are pink, red, lavender, blue, and white in color, and it will bloom in the earliest part of the summertime. A mature plant can grow to be more than eight feet tall with the right growing conditions. It is a plant that will do best in growing zones eight through 10, and it will grow best in full sun and well-drained soil.

Wisteria

Wisteria is a large vine that will bring some purple or blue blooms to your garden. These plant vines often reach 25 to 30 feet in length, and it will look great when trained on a trellis. They grow best in well-drained soil and full sun, though they will easily grow in partial shade without an issue. These are drought tolerant plants, so they require very little water. They typically will grow best within zones five to nine.

Trumpet Creeper

Also known as a trumpet vine, it is a plant that’s easy to care for, especially in zones four through nine. In one growing season, the plant can grow as much as 30 to 40 feet, and since this is a sweet smelling plant, you can expect it to attract hummingbirds and other pollinators to your garden. It grows best in well-drained soil and full sun or partial shade.

Climbing Rose

If you like roses in your garden, then there are several varieties of climbing roses that you should consider for your vertical space. They tend to thrive in well-drained soil and soil that is mostly wet. They like to grow in partial sun, but they will need a bit of protection from the heat of the afternoon. These climbing roses have a tendency to grow in zones five through 10.

Silver Bells

This is a beautiful plant that produces white, bell-shaped blooms in clusters. It can easily grow more than 40 feet high, especially when you are providing the right growing conditions. It prefers to grow in six hours in direct sunlight and in partial shade for the remainder of the day. It grows best in acidic, well-drained soil within zones four to nine.

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90,000 curly perennials for the garden + photo and name

Content

9000 9000 Ent -hiding plants occupy a special place With their help, you can conditionally divide the site into zones, create a green fence, hide the unsightly walls of outbuildings or decorate the facades of houses. There is a huge number of evergreen and flowering climbing plants. Of their wide variety, climbing perennials should be distinguished, which do not need to be planted annually. They do not require much time and effort from the grower, they have increased resistance to diseases and adverse weather conditions. The most popular types and varieties of such plants, their photos and descriptions are given below.

Flowering perennials

Flowering perennials can be a real decoration of the garden. They can be used, among other things, for planting flower beds and decorating vertical surfaces. Plants need to be given the desired shape using specially installed supports or garters of vines. Also, a fence, a wall of a building or, for example, a tree can serve as a natural support.

Clematis, Kampsis and climbing roses are among the flowering climbing plants for the garden. These plants are the most popular. They are unpretentious in cultivation, have high frost resistance and can delight with their beauty for many years. The names of varieties, photographs of these plants and the basic rules for growing are given below.

Clematis

These excellent plants are designed to amaze with their beauty. Their advantages are:

When choosing a variety of clematis, you should pay attention to the root system of plants: it can be tap or rhizome. Also, depending on the variety, flowers can form on last year's shoots, shoots of the current season, or simultaneously on fresh and old vines.

Montana

This clematis variety is the most popular. Clematis "Montana" is called mountain. It has a particularly high frost resistance, excellent for temperate climates and the northern regions of Russia. Its flowers are formed on last year's vines, so the plants do not need to be pruned annually, which simplifies care.

Clematis 'Montana' large flowers. Their color is white or pale pink. The diameter of simple inflorescences is 5-6.5 cm. You can see perennial, climbing clematis of the Montana variety in the photo below.

Atragena

The Atragena variety has similar agrotechnical characteristics with the Montana variety. This plant also forms flowers on the shoots of past years and needs only health pruning, which should be done 1 time in 3-4 years. The height of the vines of the Atragena variety reaches 2-2.5 m. The flower has the shape of a drooping, double bell, 5-6 cm in diameter. Every year, in early spring, Ashva creepers should be cut, leaving only 1.5 m of shoots from ground level.

Ashva variety is unique, first of all, for its bright color: its flowers are purple-violet. Longitudinal red stripes can be observed on their surface. Flower size is average: 5-8 cm in diameter. The flowering period of this clematis begins in June and ends in September.

Important! Variety "Ashva" can be grown in pots, containers.

The same cut as for the Ashva variety should be carried out for Piilu, President, Gypsy Queen and some others.

Jackman

The perennial variety of clematis "Jackman" needs regular, full pruning, as a result of which it is necessary to leave only shoots 30-40 cm high. The color of its flowers is blue-violet, the size is medium. The inflorescences are simple, consisting of 6 petals.

Also, deep pruning should be carried out when growing the Rekta variety.

All listed perennial varieties of clematis are classified as small-flowered, since the diameter of their inflorescences does not exceed 10 cm. Among the large-flowered varieties, the flowers of which are more than 10 cm in diameter, Comtesse de Bouchot should be distinguished.

Comtesse de Bouchot

One of the most popular large-flowered clematis varieties. Differs in unsurpassed, beautiful blossoming, resistance to diseases and frosts. The length of the vines of this variety reaches 3 m. The flowers of the Comtesse de Bouchot variety are pale pink, decorated with yellow stamens. Each flower consists of 6 petals with a rough surface. It is worth noting that the variety is characterized by the flowering of only young shoots of the current year.

Important! Variety "Comtesse de Bouchot" can be grown not only in the garden, but also on the balcony in small containers.

Magnificently flowering, beautiful clematis are able to amaze the most sophisticated aesthetes with their beauty. It is also good that to create such stunning beauty, it is enough to plant this unpretentious, but amazing plant only once. For information on how to properly plant and care for clematis, see the video:

Campsis

Campsis is a type of climbing plant that is excellent for vertical gardening. Perennial creepers grow quite quickly and delight with wonderful, abundant flowering all summer from June to September. The length of the Kampsis lianas reaches 15 m. It is necessary to trim the long lashes of the plant at the end of winter. Kampsis flowers have a bizarre shape. Their length is about 7 cm, the diameter of the lower part is 5-6 cm.

There are several varieties of Kampsis ("Flamenco", "Flava" and others), however, they all have similar characteristics in terms of agricultural technology, and form flowers that vary in color from pink to red. Kampsis propagate by seeds, cuttings, shoots.

It should be noted that Kampsis are quite whimsical. They do not tolerate high humidity and cannot grow in areas with high groundwater levels. Plants require intense lighting, shelter from the winds and regular feeding.

Climbing roses

Climbing rose bushes can reach a height of five meters. There are many cultivars and hybrids of these stunning, perennial plants, with varying flower sizes and colors. There is a classification of climbing roses and flowering features. So, plants belonging to the subgroup of ramblers form flowers on new and last year's shoots. A subgroup of klimengs blooms only on the shoots of the current year. The list and characteristics of the most famous, frost-resistant varieties of climbing roses are given below.

Elf

The climbing rose of the Elf variety is highly resistant to freezing, therefore it is excellent for the central and northern regions of Russia. The plant should be planted in well-lit, sunny places. The soil for perennial roses should be nutritious, with a high content of organic matter. In the process of growing, the culture requires regular watering and top dressing.

Cream-coloured 'Elf' flowers. Closer to the core of the flower, tightly twisted petals of a brighter lemon color can be observed. The flowers are densely double, with a diameter of at least 12 cm. The inflorescences are goblet. The height of the climbing plant is not less than 3 m. The variety "Elf" belongs to the subgroup of klimengs.

Sympathy

Climbing rose variety "Sympatiya" has exceptional frost resistance, belongs to the subgroup of klaimings. Rosebuds are terry, lush. Their diameter is not less than 10 cm. The color of the flowers is red.

Rose forms lashes up to 5 m long. Vigorous plant forms a shrub up to 2.5 m in diameter. Place the plant in sunny places. They can decorate the walls of buildings or fences. You can tie roses to artificial vertical supports and arcs.

Important! Roses of the "Sympathy" variety exude a delicate and very pleasant aroma.

Indigoletta

You can surprise your relatives, friends, neighbors and just passers-by with a climbing, perennial rose of the Indigoletta variety. The buds of this plant are painted in a pale lilac color. Bushes are resistant to diseases and severe frosts. The length of the lashes of the plant reaches 3 m. The flowers exude a wonderful light aroma.

Important! Rose "Indigoletta", depending on the lighting, can change color: the more sunlight falls on the plant, the darker its buds will be.

Cordes Rose

This wonderful rose belongs to the rambler subgroup. Her buds combine three colors at once: white, yellow and pink. The combination of colors and variety of shades makes the flowers unique.

The variety "Kordesa" is characterized by high frost resistance, endurance, adaptability to adverse weather conditions. The stems of a perennial climbing rose are quite strong, decorated not only with magnificent flowers, but also with elastic bright green leaves. The height of the shoots of this plant exceeds 2.5 m.

Important! Curly roses "Kordesa" bloom all summer until late autumn.

Climbing roses can be an amazing, wonderful decoration for any garden. The opinion that these plants are whimsical is erroneous. It takes a little attention, patience and time to grow them. You can learn the nuances of growing climbing perennial roses from the video:

In addition to clematis, kampsis and roses, there are other types of flowering, climbing plants for the garden. Among them are calistegia, honeysuckle, broad-leaved rank and some others. All these flowers are excellent for growing in temperate climates, have high frost resistance.

Fruit

Some perennial climbing plants for the garden can please not only with beautiful flowers, but also with fruits that can be enjoyed. The most famous types of such crops are given below.

Schizandra chinensis

This climbing plant is great for the garden. Schisandra chinensis is a perennial vine with reddish stems. The leaves of the plant are large and glossy. During flowering, the bush is decorated with white flowers and exudes a pleasant lemon scent. In autumn, the leaves of the plant turn yellow. Lemongrass bears red sour berries that form clusters.

Important! The berries of Chinese magnolia vine have a healing effect.

Actinidia

This plant is called frost resistant kiwi. There are male and female varieties of actinidia. In order to obtain the fruits of this unique culture, two seedlings of different sexes should be planted simultaneously.

The vines of this perennial tree-like plant, 8 to 15 m high, need support, which can be provided by a growing tree or an artificially made lattice. Actinidia berries are like miniature kiwis. Their diameter is 2.5-3 cm. The taste of berries resembles gooseberries.

The most popular male actinidia varieties are Adam and Veiki.

Important! Variety "Adam" has original variegated leaves, which are painted in pink-green color.

Vitakola and Scarlet are well-known female varieties of actinidia. The color of their fruits is green and brown-red, respectively. You can see the berries of these varieties below.

When choosing a climbing fruit plant for your garden, you should also pay attention to various grape varieties that will delight you with lush green foliage, beautiful flowers and delicious grapes.

Among the frost-resistant grape varieties, it is worth highlighting "Crystal" and "Levokumsky". These plants will not only survive the harsh, frosty winter without problems, but will not cause much trouble during the growing process. In gratitude for the minimal care, the grapes of these varieties will generously thank you with a plentiful tasty harvest of berries.

Climbing greens

You can decorate a fence or wall of a building with perennial green climbing plants that do not bloom or bear fruit, but at the same time have leaves of an original, decorative shape and color. Among such green beauties, ivy and wild grapes should be distinguished.

Ivy

The most famous variety of ivy is "Common". It is highly resistant to severe winter frosts, so flower growers of the northern regions prefer it. The plant is shade tolerant. The length of its vines is up to 30 m. Ivy "Ordinary" will easily decorate the high walls of buildings.

Ivy varieties "Tornado", "Modern Times" have a high growth rate. Long creepers of these varieties in a short period of time cover large areas of vertical supports with dense greenery. Pruning a climbing culture must be done to give shape. The plant does not require special preparation for the winter season.

Parthenocissus

The predominant feature of the wild parthenocissus are purple leaves. The vines of this plant reach 20 m long and are able to soon fill large areas.

There are more than 10 varieties of this plant. All of them are undemanding to the composition of the soil, resistant to pests and not susceptible to diseases. The girlish vineyard gratefully responds to the introduction of top dressing with an abundant growth of green mass. It is necessary to form bushes of wild grapes by removing excess shoots. Preparing plants for winter is not required.

Important! Girlish grapes bloom inconspicuous, barely noticeable flowers and bear fruit, bitter taste.

Conclusion

Among other perennial climbing plants for the garden, one can single out Dioscorea, whose vines reach 1.5 meters in length, Gynostemma five-leaf, which is called the grass of immortality and Schizophragma, the leaves of which have an original pale pink color and some others.

Domestic flower growers can choose from a huge number of climbing plants, including flowering, fruit-bearing and evergreen. Among flowering crops, the rose is undoubtedly the most exquisite and beautiful, however, clematis, with its diversity, is also able to surprise and amaze the imagination of every person. Fruit climbing plants will not only decorate the garden, but also become a source of tasty and healthy berries. Curly, "evergreen" beauties often become the background of various flower arrangements. Combining different varieties and types of flowering perennials, you can get wonderful vertical fences, stunningly beautiful "high" flower beds and other unique decors for your garden.

The best perennial climbing plants for the gazebo and garden (21 photos)

Perennial climbing plants are good because they can be grown in one place without transplanting for several years. They are best suited for decorating gazebos.

If you are going to plant climbing plants in your garden, pay attention to unpretentious, but at the same time beautiful flowering lianas. We have compiled a list of plants that are ideal for growing in a garden on poles or planting near a recreation area:

Clematis

This climbing plant is one of the most popular vines that inhabit our summer cottages. And this is quite justified: it grows quite quickly, it blooms very beautifully. And although the choice of varieties is quite extensive, for long-term cultivation it is worth choosing winter-hardy and not too demanding varieties.

Clematis flowers are very diverse. In different varieties, they take bizarre forms: an open bowl, a drooping bell, a half-open jug. Buds can be painted in all colors of the rainbow, and even with interesting transitions of tones and overflows of shades. Liana blooms all summer.

Climbing roses

Climbing roses are another climbing plant that is a leader among crops for decorating arbors, pergolas and arches. This is because these plants have a lot of advantages: a huge variety of varieties, relative unpretentiousness, as well as rapid growth.

Climbing roses on poles are a real eye-catcher. In addition, many varieties can bloom twice a season. And caring for them consists only in moderate watering and timely top dressing with complex fertilizers (1 time in 2 weeks).

Kampsis

Kampsis is an excellent plant for strong support. Moreover, this is one of the fastest growing perennial vines. Kampsis flowers are very unusual - orange tubules with inverted edges. And although there are only two types of kampsis, this is quite enough to adequately decorate the site.

The advantage of this climbing plant is that it is undemanding. The only thing to take care of when growing Kampsis is to shelter its root system from bright sunlight. Watering culture requires moderate and only in dry times.

There is evidence that the lignified shoots of adult Kampsis are able to tolerate short-term frosts down to -18°C without significant shelter. But it’s still not worth the risk, and it’s better to prepare the heat-loving kampsis for winter more carefully - cover it with spruce branches or a layer of dry foliage, put a film on top and again a layer of spruce branches, otherwise the plant may not endure a long frosty winter.

Honeysuckle honeysuckle

Another perennial climbing plant that can beautifully wrap around the gazebo is honeysuckle. Its exotic flowers will not only create the necessary shade, but also fill the air with a pleasant aroma. True, there is a certain minus in this: during flowering, honeysuckle honeysuckle attracts many bees.

Parthenocissus

Girlish grapes can also beautifully braid the arbor. This perennial vine is very similar to ordinary grapes, but it looks more delicate and decorative. Parthenocissus is attractive for its dark green leaves, which turn red-purple by autumn. And this culture is unpretentious, practically not afraid of pests and not prone to disease.

Parthenocissus flowers are not very decorative, the berries are inedible, blue-black. But the plant does not shed foliage for a long time and is considered quite frost-resistant. Girlish grapes are great for decorating arbors, pergolas, brick and concrete walls, and balconies.

Wisteria

Wisteria is a luxurious plant for arbors, as well as other buildings and small architectural forms in the garden. It comes in a variety of colors, but in the middle lane, the variety Blue Moon ( Blue Moon) with violet-blue "clusters" of flowers takes root best of all. Liana inflorescences can reach 50 cm in length, which allows them to almost completely hide the green behind them.

Wisteria, like campsis, is a southern plant and therefore loves warmth. The plant will withstand short-term frost down to -20 ° C. But without shelter, all the shoots of wisteria will freeze in the frosty winter. And even though new branches will grow from the vine in the spring, you will not wait for flowering, since flowers form only on last year's shoots.

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