Flowering vines are an easy way to fill vertical spaces in your garden with life and color. Choose from annual vines for quick color for a growing season, or go with a perennial vine that will grow and bloom for years in your landscape. Plant either type of flowering vine where they can grow up and over fences, arbors, and trellises to show off their beautiful blooms.
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Blue Sky Vine
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A flashy cousin to the black-eyed Susan vine, blue sky vine (Thunbergia grandiflora) produces multitudes of big, purplish-blue, cuplike flowers with golden throats. Also called Bengal clock vine, this fast grower is a perennial vine in mild climates. It can be brought indoors as a houseplant in colder northern regions during the winter. When grown as an annual, blue sky vine can grow up to 8 feet in one season.
Season of Bloom: Late summer
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 30 feet long
Zones: 10-11
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Bougainvillea
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Add an outstanding display of color to your yard with bougainvillea. This tough, tropical vine gets its brilliant color from its showy paper-like bracts which surround small, trumpet-shaped flowers. Grow bougainvillea on a sturdy wall or trellis that can support the plant’s woody habit and vigorous growth. Be sure to plant this vine away from a walkway to avoid getting poked by the plant’s long thorns.
Season of Bloom: Spring
Growing Conditions: Full sun and acidic, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 40 feet tall
Zones: 9-11
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Black-Eyed Susan Vine
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Another fast-growing annual, black-eyed Susan vine (Thunbergia alata) develops scores of bright yellow, orange, or white flowers with dark centers all summer long. You can easily grow this vine from seed and plant it directly in the garden or choose to buy started plants. While this climbing vine is happy to climb a trellis, it's also a favorite in hanging baskets where it can twist around the basket supports.
Season of Bloom: Summer to fall
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 8 feet tall
Zones: annual
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Canary Creeper
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Canary creeper (Tropaeolum peregrinum) is a vining cousin of the common nasturtium. Its bright yellow flowers are made up of two fringed upright petals and three smaller lower petals—together the blooms look like the wings of a canary in flight. The vine’s foliage is attractive too with its bluish-green deeply lobed leaves. This frost-tender perennial climber is usually grown as an annual in cool areas, and once in bloom, it will attract pollinators such as butterflies, bees, and hummingbirds.
Season of Bloom: Summer
Growing Conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 12 feet tall
Zones: 9-10
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Carolina Jessamine
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Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) is a perennial vine that flowers as early as February in mild winter climates. Its golden yellow, trumpet-shaped, fragrant blooms brighten the garden when few other plants are in flower. It's a fast-growing vine and will reach towering heights if left unpruned and given adequate support. Use Carolina jessamine to screen a view or add color to a woodland garden.
Season of Bloom: Early spring
Growing Conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 20 feet tall
Zones: 7-10
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Chocolate Vine
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It’s hard to miss the chocolate-scented flowers of chocolate vine (Akebia quinata). The delicate purple and white flowers entice passersby with their chocolate fragrance and beauty. In the fall, if the flowers are pollinated, they’ll produce violet fruit pods that contain small black seeds embedded in a white pulp—the fruit is edible, however, it is not very tasty. Be sure to give this vine sturdy support on a trellis, fence, arbor, pergola, or wall to support its heavy weight.
Season of Bloom: Spring
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 40 feet tall
Zones: 4-10
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Climbing Nasturtium
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The tiny little seedlings of climbing nasturtiums (Tropaeolum majus) will quickly turn into showy plants with eye-catching round leaves and funnel-shape, yellow, orange, peach, or red edible blooms. Except for the roots, all of this plant's parts are edible and have a peppery flavor. You might have to initially give this sun-loving annual a little climbing support by tying it with string to a low fence or trellis. Eventually, you'll be rewarded with masses of jewel-tone flowers.
Season of Bloom: Spring to fall
Growing Conditions: Full sun and slightly acidic, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 10 feet tall
Zones: annual
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Climbing Roses
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Acrobatic climbing roses (Rosa spp.) develop long canes adapted to training on pillars, fences, arbors, and gazebos. Most climbing roses are mutations or variations of bush-type varieties. Climbers may bloom once a season or continually, depending on the type. Regular deadheading of the flowers can help to encourage continuous blooms throughout the growing season. If you decide to prune your roses in winter before the initial bloom, you can increase the number of blooms you get later on.
Season of Bloom: Spring to fall
Growing Conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 10 feet tall
Zones: 5-9
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Cross Vine
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Beautify your fences, arbors, and trellises quickly with cross vine (Bignonia capreolata). This vigorous, woody native vine rapidly covers structures with large, evergreen leaves and fragrant red, orange, or yellow blooms from late spring through summer. The easy-to-grow vine attracts hummingbirds and uses its tendrils to twine around its support structures. Prune cross vine after it stops blooming by cutting vines back by half or more to keep the plant in bounds.
Season of Bloom: Spring to summer
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 50 feet tall
Zones: 5-9
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Cypress Vine
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Like morning glory, cypress vine (Ipomoea quamocl*t) is a fast-growing annual flowering vine that makes a colorful addition to a summer garden. Cypress vine is prized for its ferny, light green foliage, and proliferation of small, scarlet, trumpetlike flowers. It's also called hummingbird vine because hummingbirds flock to the bright red, nectar-rich blooms. Cypress vine will often self-sow, but excess seedlings are easy to remove.
Season of Bloom: Summer to fall
Growing Conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 15 feet tall
Zones: 11-12
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Clematis
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Available in a spectacular array of colors and forms (double and single flowers), clematis will quickly scramble up a fence, mailbox, or arbor. There's also dwarf clematis that grows just 3 feet tall, perfect for containers. Clematis vines are easy to grow if you follow the old saying that clematis like their "heads in the sun and their feet in the shade." You should plant them in full sun but apply a thick layer of mulch around them to keep their roots cool and shaded.
Season of Bloom: Summer
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 10 feet tall
Zones: 4-8
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Climbing Hydrangea
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If you love beautiful hydrangea flowers, then you’ll love climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris). Once established, this woody-stemmed vine can easily cover a wall, fence, or arbor with its large clusters of white flowers, dark green foliage, and strong aerial roots. Its blooms keep on giving in dried floral arrangements. Before planting the vine, make sure you choose a location that will support its mature size. If the vine becomes too dense or overwhelming, prune dead or damaged branches soon after it blooms.
Season of Bloom: Late spring to early summer
Growing Conditions: Part shade to full shade sun and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 50 feet tall
Zones: 4-8
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Cup and Saucer Vine
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Watch the fragrant flowers of cup and saucer vine (Cobaea scandens) transform from green to purple as they mature in your yard. The vine gets its name from its bell-shaped flowers (often described as cups) and its saucerlike green calyx. This tender perennial vine is best grown as an annual vine in cooler areas and can grow up to 20 feet in a single season. Grow cup and saucer vine from seed by starting the seed indoors about 8 to 10 weeks before your area’s last frost date. Be sure to give this fast-growing vine the support of a trellis, wall, fence, or arbor.
Season of Bloom: Late summer to fall
Growing Conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 20 feet tall
Zones: 9-11
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Firecracker Vine
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Also known as Spanish flag, firecracker vine (Ipomoea lobata) unfurls an explosion of color when it blooms. The tubular-shaped flowers open red and gradually fade to orange and yellow as they mature. Hummingbirds, butterflies, and other pollinators are frequent visitors to the clusters of blooms. This tropical vine comes back every year in Zone 10 and 11 but it won’t survive frost, so if you live in colder planting zones, plan on growing firecracker vine as an annual and replant it every year from seed.
Season of Bloom: Midsummer to frost
Growing Conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 16 feet tall
Zones: 10-11
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Honeysuckle
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The long, tubular flowers of honeysuckle vines (Lonicera spp.) might look tropical, but these climbing perennials prefer a northern climate. Various species of honeysuckle vines have several things in common: sweet fragrance, nectar-rich blooms that attract hummingbirds, and easy care. Whether this vine's climbing up a sturdy post, fence, or trellis, you're sure to enjoy honeysuckle vine's yellow, white, orange, or red flowers.
Season of Bloom: Spring
Growing Conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 15 feet tall
Zones: 4-9
Some types of honeysuckle vine are invasive in certain regions, so be sure to check local lists of invasive plants to avoid selecting a problem plant.
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Hyacinth Bean Vine
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You'll be amazed at how quickly hyacinth bean vine (Lablab purpureus) reaches for the sun. Its beautiful green or purple foliage topped with brilliant heads of pink and purple vine flowers provides a quick, colorful canopy over arbors and trellises. After the flowers fade, the plants develop large, glossy, pea podlike purple seed heads that dangle from the ends of each branch.
Season of Bloom: Summer to fall
Growing Conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 20 feet tall
Zones: annual
Raw hyacinth beans are toxic, so it's best to use this plant as an ornamental.
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Madagascar Jasmine
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Every spring, the rich fragrance of Madagascar jasmine (Stephanotis floribunda) perfumes the air across the Deep South. This elegant perennial vine has dark green, leathery leaves topped with clusters of trumpet-shaped, sweetly scented white flowers. You use this low-maintenance vine in the north as a patio plant that doesn't mind spending the winter indoors in a cool location.
Season of Bloom: Seasonal bloomer
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 20 feet tall
Zones: 10-11
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Mandevilla
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Add a touch of the tropics to your porch or patio with mandevilla vine. This heat-tolerant vine comes in single and double white, red, pink, and red-and-white flowers. Mandevilla thrives in hot weather and makes a top-rate container plant, growing on a low trellis or tripod. This low-maintenance climbing plant can brighten your porch, patio, deck, or balcony.
Season of Bloom: Summer
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 10 feet tall
Zones: 10-11
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Morning Glory
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A fast-growing flowering vine, morning glory (Ipomoea purpurea) will climb trellises, railings, and other supports with ease. Available in a wide range of colors and bi-colors, this annual is a snap to grow. It gets its name because its 4- to 6-inch-wide blooms open during the early hours of the day, closing up by afternoon. Morning glory often self-sows prolifically, but unwanted seedlings are easy to remove.
Season of Bloom: Summer to fall
Growing Conditions: Full sun in moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 10 feet tall
Zones: annual
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Passion Vine
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Support pollinators by including passion vine (Passiflora spp.) in your garden. Butterfly species such as gulf fritillary and zebra longwing use it as both a host and nectar plant, while other species only feed on the nectar. Gardeners enjoy this vine's beautiful flowers, too. The petals are white and purple with a darker purple crown and yellow center.
Season of Bloom: Summer
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 8 feet tall
Zones: 5-9
In some areas, certain passion vine species can spread aggressively, so always check local lists of weedy species to avoid before planting.
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Purple Bell Vine
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Usually grown as an annual in frost-prone areas, purple bell vine (Rhodochiton atrosanguineus) is a fast-growing perennial vine that’s known for its heart-shaped leaves and unique, dangling flowers. With just one look at this vine’s dark violet-pink blooms, you’ll be drawn to the deep maroon clapper-like petal tubes that hang from its bell-shaped calyces. While purple bell vine plant thrives in full sun, it’s also one of many flowering vines that grow in shade. Grow purple bell vine from seed, and train it up a wall, trellis, or pergola as it develops.
Season of Bloom: Late spring to fall
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 10 feet tall
Zones: 8-10
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Scarlet Runner Bean
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Easily create a beautiful decorative screen with scarlet runner beans (Phaseolus coccineus). Whether you want to grow this annual vine on a trellis, an arbor, or a lattice privacy screen for your deck, you’ll have an abundance of scarlet-orange flowers that will take your vertical gardening to a new level. In addition to its showy flowers that attract hummingbirds, it also produces edible flat pods that can grow more than 10 inches long.
Season of Bloom: Summer to fall
Growing Conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 12 feet tall
Zones: annual
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Star Jasmine
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The creamy white flowers of star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides)
will lure guests to your yard with their sweet fragrance, star-shaped blooms, and shiny dark green leaves. Commonly called confederate jasmine, this climbing vine attracts pollinators and is easy to grow up a trellis or train over a pergola. It grows well with clematis and is not poisonous to dogs or cats. If the plant starts to outgrow its allotted space, prune it soon after it flowers.
Season of Bloom: Late spring to early summer
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and moderately moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 6 feet tall
Zones: 8-10
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Trumpet Vine
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A vigorous clinging vine, trumpet vine (Campsis radicans) is perfect for covering a large surface like a fence or pergola. Trumpet vine develops attractive, finely divided foliage covered by funnel-shaped orange, red, or yellow flowers in midsummer. Over time, this woody vine can become quite heavy, so be sure to grow it on sturdy support that won't topple under the vine's weight.
Season of Bloom: Spring
Growing Conditions: Full sun to part shade and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 40 feet tall
Zones: 4-9
Although native to the southeastern U.S., trumpet vine can grow and spread aggressively, smothering other plants. It's best planted where you can keep it contained.
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Wisteria
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As fragrant as it is colorful, wisteria makes an excellent choice for large arbors, pergolas, or porches. This classic beauty can also be trained into a tree form, where its bumper crop of impressive white, purple, or lilac flowers can be easily enjoyed in early spring. Be sure to plant the native species, Wisteria frutescens, commonly called American wisteria. Steer clear of Wisteria sinensis and Wisteria floribunda. These Asian species are invasive in several areas of the United States.
Season of Bloom: Spring
Growing Conditions: Full sun and moist, well-drained soil
Size: Up to 30 feet tall
Zones: 5-9
