Many Vines Can Be Trained to Solve Problems

As long as there’s a place for them, plant vines, recommends Janette Mestre, a Newport Beach landscape architect.

They bring color to eye level or beyond; cover unsightly walls, fences or structures; and provide shade, especially when trained to climb up a pergola or trellis.

“Vines are an integral part of garden design,” she says.

Although Mestre occasionally selects spectacularly hued bougainvillea or fragrant wisteria, she prefers to use lesser-known vines like cat’s-claw or yellow trumpet vine (Macfadyena unguis-cati).

She’s also quick to extol the virtues of mattress vine or wire vine (Muehlenbeckia complexa). Mestre uses it when she wants to completely cover a chain-link or other unsightly fence because of its tendency to grow in a dense tangle.

Although this aggressive, rapid grower produces insignificant flowers, its value lies in its ability to form a dense green mat.

“Wire vine is a nice option to creeping fig,” Mestre says. “Although it does need support and can grow to 30 feet, it’s green all the time and is a good screen.”

Another vine that wins high praise from her is flame vine (Pyrostegia venusta). Fast growing to 20 feet, this showy evergreen vine produces clusters of vibrant orange flowers in fall and early winter.

“Although not every gardener likes orange flowers, this is a nice vine because it provides dramatic color at a time of year when many others plants stop blooming,” Mestre says. “It’s striking combined with yellow, blue and purple flowering plants.”

A stunning vine bearing purple flowers is queen’s wreath (Petrea volubilis). This evergreen vine blooms in early fall, although the best flower show is in spring when long, slender clusters of star-shaped flowers appear in great profusion.

The queen’s wreath is a favorite with Judy Wigand, owner of Judy’s Perennials in San Marcos.

Wigand has been growing and selling unusual perennials and other plants for more than a decade. Her nursery is also a display garden.

One of her show-stopping plants is a 20-foot queen’s wreath vine trained to cover a lathe house.

“This is such a nice substitute for a wisteria vine, which, although very beautiful, has such fleeting flowers and is very aggressive,” Wigand says. “I think Petrea belongs in many more gardens.”

Another uncommon vine that she would like to see more commonly planted is Zimbabwe creeper (Podranea brycei).

As the name implies, this fast-growing, twining vine is native to southern Africa, and it thrives in the heat of Southern California, especially inland. It produces large pink trumpet-like flowers summer through fall. The cultivar that Wigand grows is lesser known than its close relative pink trumpet vine (Podranea ricasoliana).

“Zimbabwe creeper is a deeper pink than pink trumpet vine,” Wigand says. “It’s spectacular.”

She grows her vine on an 8-foot rebar and regularly prunes it to form a cascade of pink flowers spilling back down to the garden.

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Mestre uses vines to camouflage a retaining wall. She plants the vines in the ground behind the wall, then trains them to cascade back into the garden by unfastening them from their support stakes, draping each vine over the wall and fanning them out.

As they grow, she prunes them occasionally to maintain the shape. As they reach the ground, she also prunes them.

The three varieties especially suited for cascading--other than the more common use of training to grow up vertically--are cat’s-claw, flame vine and orange clock vine (Thunbergia gregorii). Easy to grow, this showy vine produces tubular, bright orange flowers throughout most of the year.

“This is another vine that belongs in more gardens,” Mestre says. “It used to be very popular in the ‘40s and ‘50s, then went out of style. Now it’s starting to be used again.”

Most vines are easy to grow with sun, adequate water and occasional fertilizer. Most are disease- or insect-resistant.

The gardeners’ efforts are needed to shape or retrain the exuberant growth. Depending on the vine variety, Wigand manicures them once a month during their growing phases or once or twice a year. She also prefers to confine some vines in containers rather than give them free rein in her half-acre garden.

“I love the vibrant blue flowers of the perennial morning glory vine, but I have to grow it in a whiskey barrel or it would take over the whole garden,” she says. “The tendrils will root in soil, and I would be afraid to plant it in my garden because you can’t turn your back on it. For garden display, I use annual morning glory vines instead.”

Mestre also likes to plant a variety of vines in large hanging baskets and train the colorful vines to cascade.

“Thunbergia or Pyrostegia are especially good in hanging baskets,” Mestre says. “You have to secure the baskets to tall eaves or other high places to provide enough room for the vines to cascade.”

She recommends a 12-inch-diameter hanging basket. Use a commercial potting mix and plant a one-gallon-size vine in the center. Remove support and arrange tendrils around the basket. Fasten securely to eaves or overhang. The vine will mound and then cascade. Water regularly.

Trim monthly to maintain appearance and control growth. In a short time, you’ll enjoy a dense, colorful basket with at least an 18-inch diameter of dense green leaves and showy flowers cascading 12 to 18 inches around the entire container.

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Horticulture’s Vinest

Uncommon vines recommended by grower Judy Wigand and landscape architect Janette Mestre:

* Antigonon leptopus (coralvine, queen’s wreath vine)--Thrives in heat; especially suited for desert and hot exposures. Evergreen. Fast grower to 40 feet. Produces trailing sprays of small rose-pink flowers from summer to fall.

* Macfadyena unguis-cati (cat’s-claw vine)--Tendrils cling to surfaces. Tubular yellow flowers appear in early spring. Evergreen, but leaves will drop in cold winters. Fast grower to 40 feet.

* Mandevilla laxa (Chilean jasmine)--Deciduous. Very fragrant white flowers appear in clusters in summer. Better disease resistance than other Mandevilla varieties. Moderate grower to 15 feet.

* Petrea volubilis (queen’s wreath vine)--Originates in the West Indies. Thrives in heat. Evergreen. Blooms heavily in spring; lesser repeat in fall. Intense purple-blue flowers.

* Podranea brycei (Zimbabwe creeper)--Deep-pink trumpet-like flowers in summer through fall. Woody, shrubby vine produces 10-foot leaders in many directions. Needs support and training. Evergreen, with dark-green leaves that may drop in frost.

* Pyrostegia venusta (flame vine)--Evergreen to 20 feet. Bright orange tubular flowers appear in fall and early winter.

* Solanum jasminoides (potato vine)--Evergreen. Fast grower to 30 feet. Pure white flowers most of the year, especially heavy in spring.

* Thunbergia gregorii (orange clock vine)--Evergreen, with bright orange tubular flowers most of the year. Sprawls in circular pattern to 6 feet. Good in containers or as ground cover.