VIBRANT VINES: CLIMBING PLANTS FOR THE GARDEN & LANDSCAPE
There's something dreamy and ethereal about climbing plants with vibrantly colored blooms. Whether they're trailing over an archway, across a pergola, or up a trellis, vines bring all the beauty and romance of flowers right up to eye level and even overhead. Imagine walking through a tunnel of blooming wisteria, it makes you feel like you're in a fairy tale.
Clematis is arguably one of the easiest climbing plants to grow and offers large dramatic flowers
There are plenty of gorgeous climbing plants with flowers that you can grow in your Indiana garden to add some romance and fairy tale ambiance to your life.
CLEMATIS
Clematis is arguably one of the easiest climbing plants to grow and offers large dramatic flowers; they climb almost anything, and the seed pods that develop after flowering offer additional beauty. There are three main groups of clematis.
Group 1 Clematis are early flowering, from early spring to early summer, and bloom on last year's growth. Group 1 clematis don't require pruning, except to remove dead, damaged, or diseased limbs.
Group 2 Starts blooming in mid to late spring and lasts into mid-summer, on last year's growth. Lightly prune immediately after the flowers finish to control size or shape, and to avoid cutting off next year’s blooms.
Group 3 Bloom on this year's new growth, from summer to autumn. Pruning is essential for group 3 clematis; to ensure best blooming, they should be cut down completely to about 12" high in early spring.
Clematis like to have cool roots and hot sunny leaves, so plant them somewhere in full sun, but make sure you mulch around them, or arrange to plant so you have something to provide shade over their root zone.
CLIMBING HYDRANGEA
Climbing hydrangeas are plants that grow very slowly and may take three years to start flowering. But they're worth the wait. They can get as much as 50 feet long when they reach maturity and are full of lacy blooms in early summer. The dried flower heads also look beautiful after they finish.
Climbing hydrangea plants like lots of sunshine but will do best if they have a bit of dappled afternoon shade. Once your hydrangea matures, it will grow fast—and will require a very sturdy structure to climb. You may need to prune it every summer after it finishes flowering, maintaining size or shape. Be sure to only prune immediately after flowering before new buds generate, or else you will cut off next year's blooms.
CLIMBING ROSES
Climbing rose plants come in a wide array of bloom colors, sizes, and petal arrangements. They don't have vines to hold themselves onto a trellis, like a clematis does, so you will need to train them and tie them where you want the plants to grow. It's best to train the beginning leaders or canes to a nearly horizontal angle, as this will encourage them to produce flowers all along the branch instead of just at the end.
HARDY WISTERIA
The otherworldly flowers of wisteria make it one of the most beautiful climbing plants. Unfortunately, most wisteria is for much higher planting zones. Luckily, there have been a few types developed to be hardy for zones 4 and 5. Hardy wisteria requires a very sturdy structure to climb and will require pruning as it becomes established, or else it can be known to take over. It may seem like a lot of work, but it will be worth it. You just can't beat wisteria for that fairytale vibe.
TRUMPET VINE
Trumpet vines are popular climbing plants with hummingbirds because of the long deep trumpet-shaped flowers. The blooms range from reds to oranges to yellows. Trumpet vine is a very vigorous grower and can be invasive in some areas of the country. It should be a little easier to control here, but it can still quickly cover an entire fence, arbor, or trellis. Because of its vigorous growth, you can prune it extremely hard every year, taking it right back to ground level in the spring before new growth starts.
If you're ready to turn your yard into a fairy tale dream, stop by the garden center today and check out all the different flowering climbers we have in stock.