Unless you require a frost-resistant plant, I would strongly recommend Malabar Spinach. This rascal has large,very tasty leaves which may be used like spinach. It grow like mad and is very decorative upon arbors, pergolas, or fences. I have a good supply of seeds if you need some.

Sounds interesting. I might give it a try this summer. Are you in the Tidewater/Hampton Roads Area?

Hopefully, the activity on this forum will pick up. We need a common site for questions about gardening in this area.
Thanks,
veggie_pak

I agree. I'm pretty confused as to when to plant things in my region. I probably need to follow our most famous VA gardener advice (Thomas Jefferson) and keep a detailed notebook but I'm way too lazy for that!

Here's to more activity!

To s hamptongardner: I am in the richmond area and enjoy a somewhat diverse collection of plants. And to answer your query, I have a large supply of Malabar Spinach seeds. If you would like to try some next summer, please e-mail me at hanoverrose@verizon.net

I second the recommendation of malabar spinach. The red vines more than the green :) It's actually a tropical plant, so it's one to plant in the spring and it'll produce until frost. I just pulled mine out Saturday.

Wow. That malabar spinach looks like a really useful plant. I'm thinking topiary ...
The nutrition is more like lettuce than spinach. I wonder what the deer would think. They may trim it for me.

The deer didn't bother my malibar, but it was right beside my house.

Another recommendation, if you're looking for grapes, is muscadines. We went to a presentation by Edible Landscaping at the Heritage Harvest Festival and the presenter said that muscadines are the only grapes you can grow around here without spraying. They're more like little plums than grapes, but they're really yummy! Unfortunately the only way to assure flavor is by growing cuttings because the seeds aren't 'true'. Lowe's has vines in green and purple right now for $13, and Edible Landscaping carries them too.