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gardenbear49

Vines for problematic area?

gardenbear49
9 years ago

I am hoping to purchase several 7' metal pyramidal trellises and am looking for advise on vines to plant on them. They would go in back of our golf cart garage wall kittycornered to our house wall. Finding the right vines to thrive in this exposure kinda has me stumped.
The area gets full sun from 8AM til noon from now til May and the rest of the year blasting sun til about 1 - 2 pm. However, due to the 2 walls butting up, full shade for the rest of the day.
Any advise for ornamental vines that could handle both would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks, Dale

Comments (3)

  • Tom
    9 years ago

    Coral honeysuckle would be nice. It isn't invasive and it will flower well in the spring and then a little off and on afterwards. It is an excellent vine to attract hummingbirds and butterflies.

    A passionvine is another choice. There are many types, but I recommend one with blue flowers, because they attract butterflies.

  • juneroses Z9a Cntrl Fl
    9 years ago

    I agree with Tom123's suggestion of coral honeysuckle. It was the vine that immediately came to mind when I read your query. Mine blooms well for 3 seasons and is evergreen. I planted it when I first moved to Florida because I wanted hummingbirds...and I got them. The little flying jewels definitely nectar on this vine.

    Besides the species (I have two), there are quite a few named cultivars; âÂÂMajor Wheelerâ is frequently cited as a favorite. Many are in the orange-red color range. âÂÂJohn ClaytonâÂÂ, a yellow flowering variety, is another one I grow and can recommend. Botanically, the type of honeysuckle we're recommending is lonicera sempervirens, as it does well here in our state.

    You mentioned several trellises. Coral honeysuckle is very east to propagate from cuttings so if you want to conserve your gardening dollars, you could just buy one plant (or, better yet, get cuttings from a friend) and then make more cuttings from that to fill your trellises.

    If you're in a garden center and see a honeysuckle vine that has a reddish cast to the plant with lovely, fragrant whitish flowers...DON'T get it. It's the invasive Japanese variety. Unfortunately I've seen it for sale in what I consider âÂÂbetterâ nurseries.

    Another vine to consider is blue pea vine (clitoria ternata). It's small flowers are an eye catching Milk-of-Magnesia blue. It's a host for the Long-tailed Skipper; evidence is small cuts with folds in a leaf. The Skipper definitely does not cause the vine to look unsightly so that's not a concern. It's not evergreen. It can be started from seeds. Mine comes back from the roots but I usually find a number of seedlings coming up in the spring too.

    Another plant that I've secured to a trellis is brown bud allamanda. If you're not familiar with this plant, don't be put off by âÂÂbrown budâ in the name. It's bloom is a large yellow eye catching one. Note that I said âÂÂsecuredâÂÂ. It's not a plant that clings in any manner. It just has long branches. Some grow it as as a large shrub and cut back the branches as needed. The leaves are shiny and attractive too. It also is not evergreen but comes back from the roots. I've never found any self-seeded plants. It also can be propagated from cuttings.

    Tom123 also suggested passion vine. It's a host for several butterflies, among them the Zebra longwing (our state butterfly) and the gulf fritillary. It's amazing how many caterpillars can appear on the plant and eat away until there are only stems left. The reward are the subsequent butterflies flitting about your yard.

    The passion vine is vigorous, however, and will send out runners that pop up many feet away from the original plant. I'm frequently removing invaders that originate from a neighbor's plant.

    All of these plants get about a half day of sun (some the AM half and others the PM half) and do well. Soil here is sandy.

  • gardenbear49
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    Been away on vacation up in the Panhandle. Nice but brrrrrrrr!
    These suggestions are great and will try them. Anyone know of anytlhing I can use together with them that will bloom in the winter?
    Maybe some annual vine? Gets pretty cold here once in a while but most winters no frost. Soil here is hardpacked where they brought in fill to raise the development above the surrounding swampy preserves.