Several summer flowering clematis, Trachelospermum asiaticum, Solanum jasminoides and S 'Glasnevin', a honeysuckle I took as a cutting from a wild one in my brother's hedge, another nameless honeysuckle going cheap at the supermarket, Clematis montana var. rubens and Jasminum officinale taken as a cutting from a holiday house in France, climbing Buff Beauty rose (cutting from an old neighbour of my Dad's), another unidentified rose from a cutting found on a walk by the Thames, Euonymous 'Emerald 'n gold' (housewarming gift), another nameless Euonymous from a cutting, Clematis cirrhosa balearica, wild ivy behind the shed and a giant Parthenocissus henryana up the back of the house (4 storeys).

There's little planning involved - I just like bargains and taking cuttings. My garden is miniscule but it is surrounded by stone walls so I have to garden upwards.

Semantic curiosity: in the UK these would all be referred to as 'climbers'. The word vine is reserved for grapes. Strange little nuance.

I've been adding more vines for the past couple of years - and wish I had done it sooner! I friend I met through GW got me hooked on clematis. And I LOVE my Chinsese wisteria 'tree' and am waiting for the Japanese one to bloom for the first time - maybe this year...? There are a few honeysuckles too. And climbing hydrangeas that got moved just as they were getting big enough to bloom so they got set back and are in a less suitable spot so I'm not sure if they'll ever recover...

Chinese wisteria - this is one of my favorite pictures from the garden:
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Vyvyan Pennell clematis on the end of the front porch:
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'Harlequin' honeysuckle and columbine in the north alley:
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flora - we were posting at the same time... Vine=grapes is one of those odd (? :-) Britishisms that took me a while to figure out when I started reading garden history/'old' British garden writings. The other one that puzzled me was Quick, which I first came across in William Robinson's The Wild Garden. I actually ended up e-mailing the RHS (I'm a member) to get them to 'translate' for me! :-)

Vines, have I got vines I know I've forgotten some LOL

Clematis (30 at last count)
Akebia quinata (3) two with variegated foliage
Honeysuckle (5) different varieties
Actinidia kolomitka
Periploca graeca (Silk Vine) an odd little vine with stinky flowers
Boston Ivy
Virginia Creeper
Passion Vine (note to self: must move)
Golden Hops

A sampling of my vines...
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Golden Hops

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Dr. Ruppel

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Montana wilsonii

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Graham Thomas?

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Late Dutch

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Actinidia kolomtka

And I've also have a lot of this pernicious little so and so that almost ate my rabbiting spade
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Annette

Wow, beautiful pics guys. Envious of your Clematis- haven't had much luck with them :-(

-Woodyoak, I love that Harlequin honeysuckle, especially the folaige! Might have to add that one to my list as well...

-Annette, I have been thinking of getting an Akebia quinata to put on the other side of the hops arbor. Is yours invasive at all? I have read several places that it is (not sure if it is rampant, has runners, or re-seeds).
CMK

I have a few. A jasmine that I'm not sure lived through the cold. Boo hoo - it smelled soooo good.

Mandevilla - got this as a present. Didn't think it'd winter over, but every year it dies down, then comes back!

Clematis - a few, which I neglect because I don't know enough about them to really treat them right. They bloom anyway.

Honeysuckle - the birds planted this and it is taking over the entire West side! But - I haven't tried to control it because it scents the entire air in the evenings and everyone comments on how good the 'outside' smells here. lol

Crossvine - my favorite, because it blooms when the hummers start migrating and I love to see them feeding on the blossoms.
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And - I plan to put moonvine up the columns of my back porch. I did this one year, and loved it. :)

Chris, I've had my green leafed Akebia for a long time, I wouldn't call it overly invasive but it will throw out some sneaky little whips that have a habit of hiding from eyes view. I just found one last summer, it had meandered from the below picture of the arch along the top of the latice through the rose and up one of the posts of the lathhouse. I don't find it hard to control, just check it out a few times through the growing season for the sneaky little bits.

I made a mistake when I planted this one, I planted it on the south side of the arch. It kept wanting to grow back on itself, growing towards the sun. I cut one of the whips that had layered itself along the ground, planted it on the other side of the arch and now the two duke it out topside. Another nice thing about this vine is the flowers are scented, said to smell like chocolate but I think it smells like black currant jelly. It can't be too invasive as I have planted two more of these vines. A great vine to cover fences and would make a great privacy screen.

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Annette - gorgeous pictures! Does the Dutch Late honeysuckle get mildewed badly for you? I bought one a couple of years ago; last year was its first real growing season. It bloomed nicely but by late suumer it was badly mildewed and lost most of its leaves.

Chris - I really like the Harlequin for its foliage too. It's an odd vine (climber...:-) because it doesn't twine - you have to tie it in to the support. I gather it can be pruned to grow as a shrub. I think it would look great draping down from a raised bed or terrace of some sort.

Re clematis - I've found that the ones that do best for me are the ones that are closest to a lot of concrete. I gather they prefer soil on the alkaline side so that is probably why they like concrete.

Woodyoak, I love that Wisteria.

Christin, planted a Poet's Jasmine vine last fall. Last spring, I had planted a packet of Cupani's Original sweet pea seeds from renee's garden. The fragrance made me think of night blooming jasmine meets orange blossom.

I have a Ramona clematis that I planted on my mailbox 3 years ago. Talk about a tough as nails vine!

This fall I'm going to plant an early and late dutch honeysuckle, and a whole bunch of clematis.

Oh yeah-- I know morning glory can be a pest, but there is a cultivar called 'Rose Silk' that is truly gorgeous.

Woodyoak, haven't had any trouble with mildew on the honeysuckle, when it's hot and dry I give it lots of water, that seems to keep the mildew at bay. I do have a problem with spittle bug on this honeysuckle, I take care of those little critters with a good blast from the hose.

I knew I forgot a couple of vines from my list
Silver Lace Vine (rambunctious) kept in line with the hedge trimer and a couple of Jasmines.

Annette

Woodyoak - fascinating isn't it? There're so many curious little things: courgettes, aubergines, secateurs, tilling, the word 'garden' itself, spading fork!!, dirt, amendements, herbs with no 'H' and on and on. It's one of the reasons I hang around here and not on UK forums. Much more fun!

You wouldn't be alone being puzzled by 'quick' (I assume you're talking about quick set/quick thorn hedges.) It's not a term in common parlance nowadays and only a student of garden/agricultural history would understand it even here. Most people would just assume you meant 'speedy'.

Yes, flora, the quick was in reference to hedging so I assumed it was hawthorne but nowhere in the book did he give the botanical name! Do you have pictures of you garden? You mentioned walls - that's the one thing I most associate with English gardens - all those lovely stone and brick walls...

I absoutely love vines. They are the best solution to when you don't have space because you can always just go up! Whenever I see a structure in a garden and there is nothing growing on it my first thought is wouldn't it beautiful if you planted a vine on that-what's wrong with them?!

I just inherited a Cofederate Jasmine, which I look forward to its sweet blooms. Probably my favorite vine is Blue Sky Vine Thunbergia grandiflora. I have had contained in a pot for about 6 years due to renting and this year I will finally get to plant and let it go nuts! Another one I currently have and love is Lady Banks rose a climber. I just left behind a Passion Vine 'Lady Margaret', which I will replace. I also like the Passiflora incense, but gotta keep it controlled. I do like cross vine it always looks nice in the summer. My heart will always love Wisteria of course. A couple annual vines I always grow from seed that I adore is Morning Glory (Blues/Purples) and Moonvine. There is a wild morning glory here that is a menace, but the ones I grow I have a hard enough to get them to grow, and I never see them reseed. I've also been thinking about incorportaing Dutch Pipe Vine, it's food for a rare butterfly. Great question!

You know in school I had to learn all of the different ways a vine will grow. It was one of my favorite lectures. Twining, winding, sprawling...

So far, all I have is one lone clematis, and it has yet to bloom. I'm really hoping it will finally bloom this year!

I'd love to plant morning glories along the back fence, since we can't really afford to do anything else back there right now, but I'm afraid that unless we got another nice rainy spring I wouldn't keep up with watering. Maybe I'll try it anyhow - I'm tired of seeing that chain link. Considering some of it is already covered by the compost, leaf heap, and a big crabapple, that only leaves about 2/3 of it to cover...

I forgot to mention my other honeysuckle, L. japonica 'Aureoreticulata'. Though it has never bloomed for me, the foliage at least has showy variegation- the veins are a yellowish color. Going to have to move mine out of part shade so the the variegation is stronger. This year I also want to try out a climbing Aconitum (Monkshood) or two. There are some real beauties out there, like one that is the color of red wine!

-holleygarden, love the hot color of that crossvine. Is it a perennial for you?

-Annette, thanks for the info and pic of the Akebia. Do you find your Variegated forms less vigorous? I am going to have to get an Akebia! Yours is lovely- even the foliage itself is nice looking!

-woodyoak, that is intersting that the Harlequin doesn't climb much. Is yours growing like a shrub, or do you like to prop it up?

-floweryearth, that must smell like heaven! Great idea to combine two scented vines.

-darstar, I also think it is neat how many ways different vines climb. The ones that I think are the most unusual are the ones that have suction-cups (like Boston Ivy), or twine in either a clock-wise or counter-clock-wise direction!
CMK

Chris - I tie the Harlequin in to the fence using black pantyhose! (cut 1/2" rings across the legs and then cut them open to make a nice, stretchy tie that is almost invisible.) Here is the long view down the alley with the honeysuckle on the right. There is also Sweet Autumn clematis on there to bloom later and the Late Dutch honeysuckle out of the picture on the right behind where I was standing to take the picture.
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Yes, the crossvine is a perennial here. When it blooms, it blooms all the way up - about 20' tall on the side of my garage. Love it.

Chris, my other two Akebias are babies. The one with the gold variegation I thought I'd lost wasn't to worried as it seemed to have lost it's variegation. Never say die, last summer it threw a shoot from the root and I see slight variegation on the new growth. The silver/white variegated I just planted last year, small plant but it has the silver/white variegation on it, this one I think is going to be very pretty on the back wall of my pool room if it keeps it's variegation. There's also Akebias with white and rose colored flowers if they are more in tune with the colors you like.
It will be deciduous in your zone, some years if the winter isn't cold here it hangs on to it's leaves. I don't really care I like the twisted, curly form of the bare vine, the birds love it too. We had Towhees nest in it last year.
I went out and took a pic of the silver/white variegation, isn't much of a pic but will give you an idea of what it looks like. These leaves are solid white but I'm thinking others will have more of a spattered effect.
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I tried. I planted 3 clematis last year. One didn't grow much, the other two died on the fence. They were either eaten by voles, or were broken off by the moles. I am hoping the latter and they will come back. I have wild honeysuckle growing in the wooded areas around my house. They are very pretty, but I haven't noticed a fragrance.

Jackie

Jackie - don't give up on them. My first clematis I planted didn't do much the first year, either. In fact, I thought it was dead. Then I realized that I had a purple flower growing and investigated. It was the clematis and it's been getting stronger with more flowers every year.

Thanks for the extra pic woodyoak. I just adore your pathway, it is stunning with all of the Columbine drifting gently over.

Thanks Annette! There was a white Akebia at a nursery last year, but I think I might like to try the dark one since the fence and arbor are white. Lol, but you never know, may end up with all of them some day ;-)

-Jackie, that is too bad about your Clematis. My neighbors have a huge old one growing wild and yet I don't have one ouce of luck with them. Are you getting the same wonderful sunshine on your side as we are getting over here in Spokane? Looks like spring is going to come early for us!
CMK

Woodyoak, thanks for posting that pic of your side yard. You gave me inspiration for mine. Even though mine is in a wooded area, it has a narrow strip of tall fescue and two empty planting areas on both sides. :)

CMK, we were getting sunshine, but at the moment it is pouring down rain. Free watering!!!
I really do love the vines. I have lots of chainlink fence. This is not the first time I have unsuccessfully tried vines. Next time, I will try burying them in a pot with lots of holes poked thru if it doesn't have to be huge. Our land is very rocky, and a pain to dig in. I love the different vines you have all posted. I haven't heard of most of them. They are so beautiful. Thank you.
Jackie

Thanks for the nice comments. The north alley is one of my favorite parts of the garden. It is 50'+ long and 8' wide and looks good all season. The link below shows the development of the alley if you're interested.

Clematis are one of those things that definitely takes three years before thes 'strut their stuff'! I'm an impatient gardener - I'd have more of them if they'd produce their show quicker!

Here is a link that might be useful: North alley

Woodyoak, your Bridalwreath Spirea knocked my socks off. Thanks to all of you for sharing pictures of your gardens.

How about a 360 foot long Algerian Ivy covered chain link fence? Ugh.

I grow star jasmine, which is extremely well-behaved. I have a viciously spreading Passion vine on an arbor to attract the Gulf Fritillary butterflies. A white potato vine covers my husband's office out back, climbing asparagus ferns are in the front, and Oregon grapes drape the back arbor. I also have a "Pinkie" climbing rose and I grow morning glories in the summer. Oh yes, and a white banks rose in front.

This year I'll take photos when they are in bloom so you can see them all.

Renee

Honeysuckle question: I dealt with mildew and aphids constantly on honeysuckle so I gave up on it. Are some more resistant to both problems? Everyone's pictures are making me rethink this vine.

Annette, surely you are feeding your vines steroids! How beautiful and lush they are.

Woodyoak, how often do you have to trim the wisteria to keep it in check? It looks like you have some sort of pole supporting it in the picture? Did you have to train it to be a tree and are there any tricks. I've seen you post pictures of it before and I am amazed every time I see it. It is outstanding.

I planted a climbing hydrangea about 8 years ago and am still waiting for a bloom! It climbs a tree about 30 feet yet still no flowers. I'm not giving up on it though! Funny thing is I planted 3 puny climbing hydrangea on my split-rail fence and 1 of them had blooms the following year. Go figure.

I really love sweet autumn clematis. The smell is just incredible and it gets huge. I don't have the best of luck with other clematis, but I wonder if my soil is too acidic. Woodyoak, what you said about the concrete is interesting. Maybe I'll try putting some lime on them this spring as an experiment. Anyone have any reason why I shouldn't? I'm curious now.

Thyme, when watering I usually give my honeysuckles a good blast with the hose, not when the are in full flower but any other time is fair game. Maybe that's why I don't have too many problems with them.
LOL, no steroids they've just got a few years under their belts like me :o).
Try putting a handful of dolomite lime in the planting hole for Clematis they don't like acidic soil.

Annette

Annette

Blanche Sandman honeysuckle is really beautiful but the last two years was attacked by aphids.

Orange trumpet vine, moon vine, Heavenly Blue morning glory, Grandpa Ott morning glory, burgundy mandevilla, hyacinth bean vine, three spring blooming clematis (the clematis are not all that spectacular).

Also a kind of trailing orange nasturtium that reseeds every year. It climbs on a burgundy virburnum and looks beautiful and even sends tendrils into our pond.

Renee - I LOVE Bridalwreath spirea and have three of them. I generally like things that have big, abundant displays of flowers - like the wisteria...

Thyme - Yes, the wisteria was trained as a tree and I'm currently training a young Japanese wisteria to be a tree. The Chinese one has a trunk that splits in two just above the graft union so there are two poles that supported it when it was young. The Japanese one just has one pole. During the growing season, pruning is sometimes a daily task! And you have to be vigilant about root suckers - they need to be removed as soon as they appear. Also all seed pods are removed in late fall after the leaves drop and you can see the seedpods. I did a germination test one year and about 25% of the seeds germinated, so I remove the pods to prevent seedlings appearing.

There are very detailed 'rules' for pruning wisteria - but I ignore them! What works for me is that everytime it puts out long whippy new growth, I cut it back to where I want the tree to grow - usually cut it back to 6-12" from the point of origin. One thing I have learned is that when I do that, about 10-14 days later, it produces a flower at that location! So the Chinese wisteria blooms all summer! Not profusely but it's nice to have it in bloom. It took about 5 years for it to produce its first big spring display but it did the summer bloom after pruning from the second year in the ground, so I knew it would eventually do a big bloom - May frosts sometimes prevents a spring bloom. We have long arm pruners to make it easy to prune the top of the tree. We'll likely keep it to the size it is now.

This picture shows both wisteria trees. The Japanese one is what is on the pole at the near end of the bed.
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This is a pichure from a couple of years ago that shows the summer bloom - this is July 18 2007:
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Great topic!

I have Confederate Jasmine and Akebia growing from opposite sides of an arbor gate. I also have the jasmine on an obelisk. Both are in the fragrance garden. I have debated pulling the akebia for fear of invasiveness, but it is staying in place as long as I cut off the whips. I'm not finding akebia appearing anywhere else in the garden or woods.

Out front, I have a yellow jasmine and several clematis. In the summer, I grow hyacinth bean.

Vines are one of the "scary" plants to try because of the potential to overtake fences and leap tall buildings, so this is an excellent topic. We had to remove our crossvine because it wanted to grow up underneath our cedar shake siding on our house. Loved it, but don't put it near something it can crawl underneath!

Cameron

I have gown a lot of different vines over the years - clematis, honeysuckle, climbing hydrangea, arctic kiwi, trumpet vine, jasmine, hops, sliver lace vine, Boston ivy. Of this assortment, my preferences are to the clematis (stopped counting at around 50!), the honeysuckle, hydrangea and the kiwi. Ones that I would NEVER plant again are hops, trumpet vine and the silver lace vine - all were very aggressive spreaders. Took years to remove all traces of the hops and trumpet vine!

My new garden has a wisteria, which is new to me. As well as a climbing hydrangea, a honeysuckle (I don't care for this selection and will replace it with L. periclymenum 'Serotina', my alltime fav honeysuckle) and about a dozen clematis I moved from my old garden. I'd add a few more but have serious space issues in my much smaller new place :-)