Contact: Diane Relf, Extension Specialist, Environmental Horticulture
Posted November 1997
Annual flowering vines are useful for many locations around the home. They add new interest to the landscape when grown on a fence, arbor or trellis. They grow rapidly to form an attractive mass of foliage and flowers.
Annual vines climb by twining around a support, or by clinging with tendrils. They may be used to provide shade along a porch, give new charm to a fence or add color and new appeal to the side of the garage. Wooden lattice, woven wire fencing, or string is all that is needed.
Morning glory is one of the most colorful vines you can plant. Brilliant flowers are available in white and shades of blue and red. The flowers are four to five inches across and are borne freely on vines which may grow to a height of 12 to 15 feet tall. Morning glories grow best on a well drained soil in a warm sunny location. Avoid rich soil and excessive fertilization which produces vigorous vines with few flowers. Start seeds indoors in four inch pots, and plant outdoors two or three weeks after the average last frost date in your area. Soaking the seeds in water overnight will speed germination. Be careful when choosing a location for morning glory vines. The plants self sow readily and you will get volunteers in the following year.
Vine-forming nasturtium cultivars grow four or five feet tall. They bloom profusely, producing fragrant flowers in shades of red and yellow. The plants perform best in well drained soil of average or low fertility. In rich soil, they will produce mostly leaves and very few flowers. The canary creeper is closely related to the nasturtium. This tender vine grows to a height of about eight feet. Yellow flowers have two large fringed petals, three smaller ones, and a green spur.
Scarlet runner bean is an edible ornamental suitable for trelessing. Rosy scarlet flowers top long twining vines. The purplish pods are ornamental and can be shelled for cooking purposes. A white runner bean, `White Dutch' can be found in some seed catalogs.
Gourds have rather inconspicuous flowers, but produce colorful fruit which are ornamental on the vine during late summer. The fruit may be dried for fall and winter arrangements in the home.
Avoid planting Japanese hops vines. These grow rapidly, reseed prolifically, and may become a weed which is difficult to control. Some people are sensitive to the prickly leaves of this plant, which may cause unsightly red welts.
(Originally prepared by Diane Relf, Extension Specialist, Environmental Horticulture, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA 24061-0327.)