Hi M I,

I can recommend some fast growing vines, but Im not really sure you want to plant any of them!

Boston Ivy ("Ivy League" ivy), and Virginia creeper both grow very fast and should cover even a large structure within two seasons. TheyÂre both plain green leaves with no flowers, and they turn bright red to orange-red in fall before the leaves fall offÂbriefly very spectacular. BUTÂthey both sucker and will eventually spread all over the place, and will be VERY hard to get rid of if you ever decide you want to.

Then thereÂs Silver Lace vine. Also a VERY fast spreader, and this one gets "mounds" of tiny white, lacy looking flowers, but when I used to sell these, they seemed to attract a LOT of bees and other small, flying insectsÂsomething you probably donÂt want around your deck. AND they also sucker all over the place and will be virtually impossible to eliminate once theyÂre established.

The above three will "grow into" the wood of the pergola and be virtually impossible to ever completely remove if you ever need to paint or anything like that.

Another one would be trumpet vine. This is another fast grower, but another one that suckers and will be all but impossible to get rid of. The pros are that it get great orange-red trumpet shaped flowers that are perfect for attracting hummingbirdsÂbut the flowers could also be quite messy on the deck, and they would also attract bees.

One you might want to consider that will definitely be better behaved than the above is a climbing hydrangea. I saw this one in bloom once, and thought it was really pretty. I donÂt know a whole lot about it, but as far as I know it doesnÂt sucker, but I think it will also grow more slowly than the others. You might consider covering the top of the pergola with some shade cloth for the first summer and removing it before the winter snows start. And then again thereÂs the point that we donÂt usually have winters quite like this one!!! Thank heaven! (Are you east of Denver? You might be out there somewhere near jalirancher!) The link below has more info about climbing hydrangea.

Concord grape, as you mentioned, is another good possibility, and it wonÂt suckerÂand you have the added benefit of the grapes some yearsÂbut that could also be pretty messy over a deck. If you check into that further, there is a seedless Concord, but IÂm not sure if itÂs as hardy as the regular one.

Hops vines come in green and yellow, and could be real pretty mixing the colors, but I believe hops vines die back to the ground each year, so IÂm not too sure theyÂd be effective for covering a large area since theyÂd have to start over each year. I donÂt believe they sucker!

And honeysuckle can grow pretty quickly, but they have small leaves and donÂt tend to cover thickly for quite a while. The white honeysuckles, like HallÂs, are VERY fragrant, and would be wonderful to have around a deck (but bee possibilities). I used to recommend people plant a honeysuckle along with something else that would cover more thickly to get the fragrance along with the cover. I donÂt believe any of the orange or red honeysuckles have the great fragrance, but theyÂd be good for attracting hummers.

You could also consider an individual variety or a combination of varieties of clematis. These would take longer to cover, but could be spectacular when in bloom once they do cover. They donÂt sucker. Flower sizes can range from a couple inches up to 6-8 inches. IÂve never noticed clematis to attract a lot of bees.

And thereÂs climbing roses which would also take longer to cover and wouldnÂt cover as thickly, but it could be spectacular. Cons would be the thorns and bees.

ThatÂs all I can think of right now, but IÂm sure others will have more recommendations. Of the ones IÂve listed, IÂd go with the climbing hydrangea if I had to pick one. But IÂd probably mix a HallÂs Honeysuckle in with it for the fragranceÂwhich I absolutely love!

Welcome to RMG! WeÂre glad you found us!

Skybird

I have a large porch on the west side of the house with vegas (big 'ol beams) every 18" apart, it covers a 12 x 25 foot area. I have grapes and climbing roses. I used 60% greenhouse shade cloth for the first 4 years, and this worked very well. the pre-sewn ones come in a variety of sizes with grommets and stuff, and I used bungie cords to hook it down. The last summers, the grapes and roses were big enough to offer shade over most of this, and we didn't hook up the shade cloth. So I wouldn't worry about using one, it isn't that big a deal, easy to put up and take down in the winter.

For grapes, I have a huge seedless Concord, but knowing what I know now, I would have planted some of the very wide variety of table grapes, or wine grapes, that are available. Concord is just Welches Grape jelly. After trying some of the other ones, which I'd never heard of and got as freebies with fruit tree orders, I now have 3 different kinds started on the veranda and they will bear fruit in the next couple of years. I'll go find the tags sometime here and tell you what they are. The grapes do make a bit of a mess in the fall, but it isn't all that bad because it's so arid here they dry up quickly, and I just sweep them off.

So my advice would be to plant some really good grape vines, there are hundreds of varieties out there that all taste way better than Welches, and some are certainly suitable for where you live. In the few years that it takes to let them get big enough to do the job, use a shade cloth.

Thanks for the ideas, skybird. To answer you question, we live in Buena Vista, which is about 2 hours west of Denver.
Another question: would any of the vines that you all suggested grow in containers on the deck? The reason I ask is that our deck is surrounded by huge lilac bushes, roses, and lilies and it is hard to find ground space to plant large vines, especially invasive ones. Incorporated into the pergola plans will be large planter boxes, which will be from 4-5 feet long and 1-2 feet wide with some smaller ones scattered around. Will this be large enough for vines or not?
I appreciate your answers and I would love to get more input.
Thanks again!

Hi M I,

Ouch! You dont just live in the middle of Coloradobut in the middle of the mountains! Its definitely cold, but it sure is beautiful out there! I love the overlook just east of Buena Vista that faces the entire Collegiate Range, and I stop for the view whenever Im going by that way.

The planter boxes youre talking about would probably be big enough to plant vines in, but doing so would be pretty iffy, and I dont recommend it. The thing that kills plants over winter isnt the cold, its when they freeze and thaw and freeze and thaw over and over. And with ouror yourcold nights and then very warm, sunny days, the planter youre describing would probably be freezing and thawing repeatedly in winter, so you could never be sure they were going to come back the next spring. Watering in an above ground planter over winter would also be harder since it would dry out fairly quickly, but youd need to be sure you werent keeping it too wet either. Things planted in the ground have much more stable moisture conditions. Vines planted in the ground wont take up very much roomthe worst problem would probably be cutting through the existing roots to get them planted in the first place, but after that theyll just grow in around the roots of the other plants, and most of the foliage would be directed up onto the pergola. And I seriously dont recommend planting any of the invasive ones. I think youll regret it later if you do, and if theyre planted in among the lilacs and roses, it would be even harder to try to kill them off without damaging the "good" plants later. I would definitely recommend staying away from the first 4 I mentioned!

I didnt think there were any table grapes that were hardy to z4, but if Davids right, I think that would be a wonderfuland deliciousidea! And I completely agree about the "Welchs grapes!" Concord arent especially good for just eatingeven the seedless onesbut they used to be considered the hardiest ones, so I kind of assumed that would be your only choice if you went with grapes. Ill be anxious to hear what varieties you have, David.

And I didnt even know you could get shade cloth in pre-cut pieces, but I completely agree with David on using the shade cloth until your vines provide enough cover for you. Thats a much better idea than planting one of the "thugs" just to get fast cover. I can just about guarantee youll be MUCH happier down the road a few years if you do it that way.

Regarding the Wisteria, Id be a little bit leery of that one, because back when I was in the green industry we sold quite a few of them, and every single year wed have a bunch of people coming in and asking why their wisterias never bloomed. We never came up with a definite answer, but as near as we could figure out, almost every year we were getting a freeze just as the buds were beginning to formbefore you could even see themand that killed the buds. I dont remember anyone ever coming in during those years telling us about how nicely theirs had bloomed. One thing I do agree with Steve on is that when they do bloom, theyre absolutely amazing! Among the most beautiful vines Ive ever seen! I used to commute to San Francisco, and the girl I stayed with when I was there had one growing over a LARGE arbor type thing leading up to her front door, and every spring it was really indescribably beautiful, but I think youre in the wrong climate here. But, hey, weve got lots of beautiful things here toosome of them are called mountains! LOL And if the flatlanders down here in Denver cant get them to bloom, Id say its even less likely that youd be successful out there in the hills. If anyone knows of a wisteria that does bloom here in the Denver area, I sure would like to hear about it, because ever since I saw a picture of one as a little kid Ive wanted to have oneand then decided to not waste the time after hearing from so many customers about them. At least I got to "experience" one for a couple years out in San Fran.

Do let us know what you decide to plant when you finally make your decision,
Skybird

Well, I used those fancy, thin copper labels and tied them onto the stems of my grapes and fruit trees so that future generations, as well as myself, would be able to pontificate on the virtues of this or that plant, and I just went out and looked, and they ain't there no more. I'd swear one was called a black maluca or something, and the other a seedless Peron, but neither googles up to anything resembling a grape. I'll work on it. I linked below a list for zone 4 grapes. Wine grapes make excellent jelly, and for fresh eating, since you're out under the pegora, you can spit out the seeds on the lawn.

I would sure try to plant them in the ground, not boxes.

I have a wisteria, climbing up some enormous beetle killed pinion. I don't know where I read the trick on how to get them to bloom around here, but the idea is to heavily mulch the ground where the roots are so that they stay cold longer. This seems to work pretty well, mine has bloomed two years in a row.

Wow! Thanks a lot to both of you for your advice! Skybird, I wondered, if I were to "dig through the roots" of the lilac bushes to plant a vine, would it damage the lilacs at all? Also, our rose bushes are beautiful, but they are not doing very well and I wondered if we transferred them to large pots, would they die or not? I would put these pots in our garage where the frost wouldn't get them in the winter. I have researched heavily the subject of container grown roses, but none say anything about transferring from the ground to a pot.
David, I also have a question for you. This is going to sound pretty ignorant, but ow long does it take for grape vines to actually produce fruit. I have read that it can take 2-3 seasons. Especially up here where the growing season is soooo short, this worries me.

Also, has anyone heard of growing a honeysuckle vine in a large planter? Some of the other posts in the forum say that it is possible, but none give very specific details. Hmmm...
Thanks for the suggestions and keep posting! I appreciate all of the help!

Mission...there is a gal in Woodland Park that has a large/beautiful nursery. All of her plants have been propogated there or hardened for mountain gardening. Called "Diggin in the Dirt", near the golf course. She has many vines growing, specifically Clematis, one of which is very hardy and fast growing. It is bright yellow, with small leaves.

I would suggest a visit there should you be in the area, if only to see her place. Everything I bought survived beyond expectations.

In my experience, grape vines do take 2 or 3 years to bear fruit, and really come on beginning in year 4. No matter what the spring temp fluctuation, I always get a bunch of them, even if the first flowers freeze off, they'll pop a few more. Here, we run last week May - mid Sept for frost.

Lilacs are reasonably indestructible. I wouldn't worry about digging through some roots.

emanineer brings up a good point with clematis, they seem to do spectacularly well. Again they take 3 or 4 years to really get going.

Hi M I,

I knew there was a thread I was planning to come back to to answer something, but couldnt remember which one, and I just found it again!

David has already answered one of your questions! Cutting into your lilac roots isnt going to even phase them! Its going to be harder on yougetting through the rootsthan it will on the lilacs! And one other thing about lilacs! I dont know how old yours are, but if they already are, or ever get so old they just look bad or arent blooming well anymore, you can cut them all the way down, and theyll come back very nicely. Many years ago when we (had a husband at the time!) moved into a neat OLD house, there was a lilac in the yard that must have been almost as old as the house. It looked terrible, and hardly bloomed at all. We had heard that you could cut them down, and since we couldnt decide if we wanted to try to keep it or not, we decided to chop it offcut it down to about a foot above the ground. It took about 3 years, but it came back just as if it was a brand new bushexcept it was bigger because of the established root system.

Also, for the same reasons mentioned for not growing the vines in pots, I dont recommend putting your roses in pots. If theyre not doing well, try to figure out whats going wrong and correct it. Maybe they need to be moved to a spot with more sunor the soil where they are needs more improvement or something. Possibly insects or a diseasetheres a lot of possiblies! If you grow them in the ground somewhere, youre going to be happier with them in the long runand theyll be happier with you!

Happy spring,
Skybird