I vote Lablab (white) with the Grandpa Ott's Ipomoea. Plant a few at the bottom alternately and watch the show!

Donn, grow BabyBoo pumpkins on it. Very fast and she'll love the tiny cream punkies.

Oh Trudi, what a cool idea!!!! I never heard of those. Everybody talks about the giants here since we live just an hour away from Howard Dill's farm where the big ones are grown. But 3" pumpkins on a trellis or such? Tres cool!!!!!

Got to keep that in mind for next year.

Don't got no 'Baby Boo' seeds.

Maybe I should consider (shudder) a run to the nursery to buy some already started annual vines.

Donn, I've got some. If you want I can mail them out to you tomorrow, you should have them by Wednesday. My treat on postage, let me know.

T

Thanks, Trudi, but I think I'll go with a mix of the seeds I already have. The spot is already prepared, so I can stick 'em in the ground tomorrow, and plant the obelisk when the weather improves. I'll start way too many, and thin them down to a few good seedlings, and see what happens.

Yeah, and depending on how much of a purist she is, SWMBO might not be fooled by the pumpkins. And if mama ain't happy...

:) Kim, who grows a lot of sweet peas on obelisks

"Ipomoea quamoclit" That stuff will cover your world. Well, it will down here. And next year it will be BAAAAAAAACK!!!!

Well they are white, just not big, lol!

I love the lablab... the blooms are gorgeous and the purple pods are awesome too. I've put a cheapo archway entrance to my veggie garden and am doing the purple around it this year. My seedlings are only about 4" tall so you aren't that far behind. Soak overnite for quicker germination.

Oh Trudi!
Those Baby Boo's sound too cute! Can I send a SASBE in exchange for a few? Do you think it's way too late to plant any for a fall harvest in my zone?
Stephanie

I'm going with Tiffy's suggestion. I just put 6 white Lablab and 12 'Grandpa Ott's' in to soak for the night. Tomorrow morning, they'll get sown in good-sized cells and stuck into the pot ghetto to germinate.

We'll see what happens.

Maybe I'll start some beans too, just in case. ;>)

Ipomoea quamoclit sprouts and grows faster for me. Japanese beetles favored my hyacinth beans but didn't bother the cypress vine or cardinal climber. Cypress vine will reseed for me too. which is nice as I never have to worry about planting or sowing them again.

Penny

I have germination in a few of the 'Grandpa Ott's' MG's.

That was fast!

Update...all 12 of the 'Grandpa Ott's' have sprouted, but none of the white Lablab. I may have to tie up a couple of tall bamboo tripods for all these MG's.

How many can I plant around the base of an obelisk that's only 8.5" at the bottom?

OMG, Donn. You've got enough for an army of gardeners! :O)

I'd do two. If they are strong growers, you'll have that thing covered in no time!

Jumping in late for this thread. I would vote for purple lablab. Well, shoot.

'Grandpa Ott's' is a very strong grower - at least it is for me.

I'm with Tiffy - two will cover it in no time. When they get to the top, they'll continue growing, swinging in the wind until they find something to latch on to - usually themselves. Your SWMBO will have plenty of flowers!

PV

.... for years to come. They reseed like crazy!!

PV

HooHa! One of the 6 Lablab purpureus - White Hyacinth Beans sprouted today.

I'm already working on another vine support structure. I have three 12' bamboo poles, almost 2" in diameter. I'm tying them up with black cable ties, instead of traditional twine lashing, to control splitting. I haven't decided if I should do a tripod, or a trellis. I have plenty of cross pieces for either. I also have 4-5 more 12-14' lengths of smaller diameter (1.25-1.5") culms for another structure.

Don: If your cable ties aren't specificlally UV-reisstant, they won't last very long. Probably to the end of the season, but I can't remember how quickly they'd give out on us, when we used them all the time at work. A bamboo tripod or trellis sounds really nice. I think about starting a bamboo grove, but I don't want it to tak eover the world! Instead, I'm building some trellises out of what I call "paint-stick"--the leftovers from ripping wood, that is just the right size to make paint-stirrers out of. I'll be growing MGs and hyacinth bean on them, too.

Rat..they are UV resistant, but the structures will likely come down and go into the boathouse at the end of the season anyway.

Pictures Don. Need pictures! Hurry up and get those things done and show us the climbing plants and whatever you're going to make them climb on to. I'm dying for pictures of this project! Get to it! :O)

There isn't much to show yet. Here are the seedlings as of this morning:

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12 'Grandpa Ott's' (2 each in 6 cells) and one White Hyacinth Bean.

And this is one of the items they'll climb:

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It's a 10' 2-dimensional obelisk, made with the stainless steel support for a pulpit from my big boat. I have no need for the pulpit, so I'm putting it's parts to work. A simple length of bamboo glued to the top to keep rain out. It's held up by two rebar stakes driven into the bed.