Well, I live in Massachusetts and what you describe really sounds like a Climbing Hydrangea, sold in our area so my guess is sold in yours to! It has glossy heart-shaped leaves and cinnamon colored stems with exfoliating bark. It can grow to 50-80 feet tall, and the trunk can be as big as a tree!

It's not invasive. It climbs with tendrils and will produce large lacy white flowers in early summer. Unlike say, a morning glory that wraps itself around objects, or a Clematis whose leaves wrap around objects (hence they need wire fence, fishing string, etc to climb) the Climbing Hydrangea has little tendrils that have a gluey substance and will stick to anything like superglue and unlike the other two vines mentioned it can climb straight up walls with it's clinging tendrils without any aid.

The problem is, if it's on your house pulling it off get ready for a surprise. Those tendrils are a permanent fixture attached to your house. I went through removing a tendril vine from my fathers house and found that out. Carefully pull the vines off the house, breaking each tendril which reamins stuck to your house, don't pull too hard you don't want to wreck the shingles, use a putty knife to help and as far as I know there's no way to get those tendrils to release. Then you have to carefully sand the siding to flatten out and remove the tendrils and paint. It will look terrible after you're done removing the vine and having all those millions of tendrils attached to your house... be prepared for shock.

Big pain, hope it's not attached to the house. Maybe there's a new product that you can spray that will release the tendrils, but from what I can tell they're superglue. Just hope it's not attached to your house.

Anyhow it's not invasive, cut the trunk, it will die, there's nothing else you can do besides just cut the vine up and pull it off piece by piece.

Thanks, That helps a lot.

Luckily it is not attached to the house, it is growing around my fence on the other side. I did cut up the trunks on a few I could reach, I tried spraying round-up and brush killer doesn't have a lot of affect on it.

I will keep cutting them down. They caught me by suprise, They all grew to 6ft+ in few weeks.

regards,

I did an online search on Climbing Hydrangea , the pictures don't seem to be the same as mine.

Mine the leaves are big the size of my palms, no flowers, just one straight vine, no branches.
The water beads of the leaves. No bark either, does have the maron tint on the stem when it is new and then it turns green as it gets bigger.

I suggest you post this on the name that plant forum. It may not be native. Can you get a picture or scan one of the leaves to show?

Sounds like Japanese Knotweed, commonly called "bamboo." It's pretty invasive, and you'll just have to chop, mow, spray, dig . . . Supposedly if it's deprived of leaves for two consecultive seasons it will die out. Supposedly.

Phil

The maroon tint on the underside makes me think of pokeweed. It grows very long like a vine and very quickly, but I believe it is an herbacious perennial. Do the older ones have berries at the end?

I've heard the leaves are delicious, but not too many of them! It can be poisonous!

No Berries, It does like son as it grows straight up behind the fence.
Thanks folks