from limey, rocky places in southern Ten-nessee and northern Alabama where it willclimb to 16 feet and bear pretty pink-and-white bells.

Native to scattered locations in moistwoodlands in the Southeast and west toOklahoma, C. glaucophylla (Zones 6–8,8–5) has hot pink flowers that are pumpedout nonstop from June to frost, attractinghummingbirds. The flowers and showyseed heads, which appear simultaneously,contrast well with the vine's glaucous, or

blue-hued foliage. It grows to 10 or 15 feetin a single season but can be kept shorterby pruning. Provide part shade and regu-lar water during dry spells.

Clematis pitcheri (Zones 5–9, 10–5)grows to 13 feet, bearing pink bells thatopen to deep cherry from summer intofall. Its native range is from the Midwestto Texas and Arizona where it can befound on limestone outcrops. (For moreon American native clematis, view theweb special linked to this article on theAHS website).

PASSION FLOWER, MAYPOP(Passiflora incarnata)The fabulously intricate blooms of ournative passion flower, or maypop (Zones5–10, 12–1) are more than reason enoughto grow this vine, but the edible egg-sizefruits put it over the top. American nat-uralist and preservationist John Muircalled passion fruits “the most deliciousfruit I have ever eaten.”

One of the northernmost species in ahuge tropical genus, maypop is native fromVirginia to Florida and west to southernIllinois, Kansas, and Texas. It thrives in awarm, sunny location in the garden andappreciates winter protection at the north-ern end of its hardiness range. Passionflower dies to the ground each year, butquickly twines up again in spring, achiev-ing 25 feet in a single season on a trellis orother support. Its rambunctious natureand wide spreading habit—it can spread

20 feet per year laterally by undergroundrhizomes—has earned it the reputation ofa nuisance in many parts of the South. Toavoid its exuberant spread, grow it in alarge container. There is a pretty white se-lection, P. incarnata ‘Alba.’

GROUNDNUT, POTATO BEAN(Apios americana ) Groundnut (Zones 4–10, 10–3) is an un-commonly cultivated vine with gorgeousand fragrant pink to rusty red blooms—

like very upright wisteria flowers. As pret-ty as the flowers are, this nitrogen-fixinglegume produces edible beans and has longbeen grown for its tuberous roots. NativeAmericans ate them and taught the Pil-grims how to dig and cook “Indian pota-toes.” More nutritious than potatoes,groundnut tubers contain up to 17 percentprotein. Wisconsin forager Sam Thayer,author of The Forager’s Harvest (2006),wrote: “The flowers are fairly good raw orcooked, and the seeds are edible... I have

eaten the young, whitish shoots in thespring both raw and boiled, and havefound them passably good but nothingworth raving about.”

Groundnut vine grows vigorously toabout 15 feet, climbing over shrubs andsmall trees or sprawling into a dense tan-gle on the ground. Although the vine diesback in fall, the long chains of tuberousroots can be harvested at any time. Nativeto the eastern United States, groundnutgrows in moist sun to part shade. c

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CAROLINA JESSAMINE(Gelsemium sempervirens)When Carolina jessamine, also known asConfederate jasmine, (USDA HardinessZones 7–9, AHS Heat Zones 10–4), theofficial flower of South Carolina, starts tobloom, it’s a sure sign that winter is over.The fragrant yellow tubular flowers con-tinue into early summer and repeat spo-radically thereafter. Its shiny, light greenleaves are evergreen in its native rangefrom eastern Virginia and Tennesseesouth to Florida, the Gulf Coast, andTexas, turning purple in harsh winters.

A twining vine that reaches 10 to 15feet tall and up to 10 feet wide, Carolinajessamine’s smallish size makes it easy tocontrol. Pruning guru Lee Reich, authorof The Pruning Book, advises pruning“after flowering to get rid of dead andbroken stems” then shearing back the re-maining growth. Bushy and sprawling,this is the vine to cascade over a wall, fes-toon a porch railing, or camouflage achain link fence. Moderately drought tol-erant, it thrives in full sun and is adapt-able to a wide range of soil types.

Cultivars include ‘Pride of Augusta’,a double-flowered form, and ‘Margari-ta’, a hardy selection that has beengrown successfully in USDA Zone 6.All parts of Confederate jasmine arepoisonous if ingested.

LEATHER FLOWER, AMERICAN BELLS(Clematis viorna)Native to stream banks and under treecanopy in the American Southeast tothe Midwest and places in the Rockies,(Zones 4–9, 9–1), this gentle climberclimbs by tendrils up to 13 feet. It is theposter child of a group of native clema-tis, lumped together as the “viorna

group.” Members of this group are dis-tingushed from other clematis types bythe shapes of their flowers—typicallyurn or bell-shaped—and the restraintof their vines. Their flowers are com-posed of leathery sepals, fused at thebase, that turn up at their tips, varyingin color from pale lavender to vivid red-purple. Vines are easy to prune, saysReich—before growth begins, “top allstems back to strong buds within onefoot of the ground.” Leather flowersproduce seeds with long, hairy tails thatform showy seed heads.

Similar in appearance to leather flower,Clematis morefieldii (Zones 6–8, 8–1) hails

BY CAROLE OTTESEN

WHEN EVERY inch of the gar-den is planted and there is nowhere else to go but up, when

there’s something unsightly that needscamouflage—like a big, blank garage wallor a telephone pole in front of thehouse—or when shade is desperatelyneeded, consider planting a vine! Vines doit all. And native vines do it while nour-ishing wildlife.

Here is a sampling of native vines, se-lected from my own experience and those ofsome gardening peers around the UnitedStates. Among them are gentle bloomingtwiners as well as double-duty vines thatbear edible fruits after flowering. It includesinnocents whose reputations are tainted byassociation with exotic invasives, as well as afew that have earned their reputations hon-estly, but have merit in the right spot.

Clematis viorna

Passiflora incarnata

Make use of vertical space in

the garden with one or several

of these North American vines.

Native Vines forAmerican Gardens

Gelsemium sempervirensGelsemium sempervirens

Clematis viorna

Passiflora incarnata

Native Vines forAmerican Gardens

VIRGIN’S BOWER, WOODBINE(Clematis virginiana)Often mistaken for the highly invasivesweet autumn clematis (C. terniflora),the native virgin’s bower (Zones 3–8,8–3) “adapts beautifully to garden con-ditions in almost any situation, provid-ed it has sufficient moisture and light,”says Neil Diboll, chief executive officer

of Prairie Nursery in Westfield, Wis-consin. According to Diboll, the vine is“notable for its seeds rather than itsflowers. Profuse clusters of whiteblooms are upstaged by the silky silverseed heads in early fall.” The deep greenfoliage looks great all season.

Native to most of eastern North Amer-ica west of the Rocky Mountains, virgin’s

bower reaches 20 feet tall. Cut it back tothe ground each year and grow it up ar-bors, lamp posts, and pergolas.

AMERICAN BITTERSWEET(Celastrus scandens)American bittersweet (Zones 3–8, 8–1) isanother vine with an invasive relative,Asian bittersweet (C. orbiculatus). Nativeto a broad range encompassing most ofeastern North America, American bitter-sweet is attractive to songbirds because ofits decorative fall fruits. “The leaves falloff with the first hard frosts, leaving thetawny stems adorned with the brilliantred-orange, pea-sized seeds,” says Diboll.He advises cutting the vines in long sec-tions when the seeds are ripe and usingthem to make decorations for Thanks-giving and Christmas.

Because American bittersweet is dioe-cious, meaning male and female flowersare borne on separate plants, it’s importantto plant several vines if you want to ensurea supply of the fruits. Plant it in part shadeto full sun with support of a trellis, orallow it to clamber over early-bloomingshrubs. Diboll says that although the vinecan sometimes produce a dense cover onshrubs, it does not smother them.

PIPEVINES (Aristolochia spp.)Butterfly gardeners count on pipevine orDutchman’s pipe (Aristolochia macrophyl-s

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16 the American Gardener 17May / June 2012

‘ROGER’S RED’ CALIFORNIA GRAPE(Vitis spp.)The aggressive spread and rapid growthof wild grape may cause gardeners to shyaway from native grape vines, but Cali-fornia grape (Vitis californica, Zones8–10, 10–8) is considered suitable for do-mestication by western gardeners.

Californians Betsy Clebsch, author ofA Book of Salvias, and Bart O’Brien ofRancho Santa Ana Botanic Garden inClaremont, California, recommend‘Roger’s Red’, a hybrid between Califor-nia grape and a European wine grape. “Ithas brilliant red fall color virtually every-where it’s been grown—from the coast tothe deserts, and from north to south,” saysO’Brien. “It produces an abundance ofsmall grapes favored by many birds.”

Great on walls, arbors, and chain linkfences, it reaches 30 feet in part sun andlight shade and has need little water.

CORAL OR TRUMPET HONEYSUCKLE(Lonicera sempervirens)Say “honeysuckle” and for many garden-ers the first plant that comes to mind is thedreaded invasive Lonicera japonica. Noth-ing like its aggressive relative, polite coralhoneysuckle (Zones 4–9, 9–1) is the classicmailbox adornment. The gray-green leavesare perfoliate—the bases of each pair of op-posite leaves are fused around the stem—and they appear on a 10-foot vine thattwines counterclockwise around a support.Best in full sun, whorled clusters of tubu-lar coral flowers attract hummingbirds andbutterflies. Later, red berries are cherishedby finches and robins.

Native from the East Coast west toTexas, it is semi-evergreen in most regions.In the warmer zones, fully evergreen vinesflower as early as February and keep onblooming into June. Coral honeysucklehas a host of cultivars, including ‘Alba,’

with white flowers; ‘Cedar Lane,’ sportingdeep red flowers and narrow, blue-greenleaves; yellow-flowered ‘John Clayton’ andthe highly regarded ‘Major Wheeler,’ withextremely floriferous coral flowers and re-putedly mildew-free foliage.

AMERICAN WISTERIA (Wisteriafrutescens) and KENTUCKY WISTERIA(W. macrostachys)You will never discover a 25-foot-long stemof American wisteria (Zones 5–9, 9–6)snaking around from the side of the houseinto the front yard as you might with in-vasive Japanese and Chinese wisterias.

True, the flower clusters of Americanwisteria grow neither as long and loosenor as fragrant as the Asian species. How-ever, instead of producing its first flow-ers at 10 years of age or more, Americanwisteria blooms earlier—typically at fouror five, but as early as at one year. It willalso flower reliably because it bloomslater in the season, in May and June,thereby escaping late frosts. And flowerslast longer—up to a month or more—and blooms recur sporadically throughsummer.

American wisteria also supportswildlife as a host plant for butterflies, in-cluding the long-tailed skipper. Perhaps,best of all, it blooms on new growth ofthe season, making pruning (a mysteri-ous and frustrating practice with exoticwisterias) quite straightforward: Trimyour vine to four buds of last year’s newgrowth in early spring before this year’sgrowth begins. After flowering, trimlightly and new shoots will produce a sec-ond flush of blooms in summer. Ken-tucky and American wisterias grow toabout 25 feet in full sun or light shade.

Cultivars include ‘Amethyst Falls’,which is considered to be a dwarf with fra-grant lavender flowers, ‘Longwood Pur-ple,’ with deeper purple flowers, and‘Nivea’ with long white racemes. All threeare repeat bloomers.

Kentucky wisteria (Zones 6–9, 9–6)from the south central United States hasalso produced some showy cultivars.Among them is ‘Clara Mack,’ consideredthe most restrained of the native wisterias,with fragrant white flower clusters thatreach one foot long. ‘Blue Moon’ is sweet-ly scented and tends to bloom very early,at two to three years old.

HOW VINES CLIMBVines have different ways of supporting themselves, so it’s important to know what kindof surface or supporting structure is appropriate when choosing or planting them. Twining vines coil around their supports in a clockwise or counter-clockwise di-

rection; these vines need a sturdy trellis or network of wires or cables for support.Examples of twiners include groundnut (Apios americana), Dutchman’s pipe (Aris-tolochia spp.), Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens), honeysuckles(Lonicera spp.), and wisterias.Tendril climbers develop specialized leaf stalks that coil where and when nec-

essary. Train tendril climbers such as cross vine (Bignonia spp.), clematis, passionflowers (Passiflora spp.), and grapes (Vitis spp.) to climb on a trellis or arbor.Self-clinging vines such as Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) and

wood vamp (Decumaria barbara) have adhesive pads at the end of tendrils, allowingthem to climb on the surface of most structures without support. While they won’t dam-age brick or stone, the pads may leave marks on painted wood surfaces.Clinging stem vines have short, but vigorous adventitious rootlets that can burrow

into supports and loop through older stems—they may need initial training to ensurethey grow where you intend them to. Provide sturdy support such as a tree trunk orutility pole for these vines, which include trumpet vine (Campsis spp.) and climbingeuonymus (Euonymus spp.). —C.O.

Vitis ‘Roger’s Red’

Wisteria frutescens ‘Amethyst Falls’

Dutchman’s pipe has twining stems.

Vitis ‘Roger’s Red’

Wisteria frutescens ‘Amethyst Falls’

VIRGINIA CREEPER(Parthenocissus quinquefolia)Virginia creeper (Zones 3–10, 9–1) is a de-ciduous vine that grows in the wildthroughout the eastern United States andsouth to Mexico, It usually grows toabout 25 feet, but has been known toreach as much as 75 feet.

It climbs and holds on by little disks atthe end of short tendrils. These holdfasts,unlike those of trumpet vine and ivy (Hed-era spp.), are not harmful to masonry butwill disfigure the finish of painted wood.Its green palmate leaves turn red in the fall.

Insignificant greenish-white summer flow-ers give way to clusters of dark berries thatare eagerly eaten by many birds.

While some gardeners will shudder atthe idea of planting Virginia creeper, it hasmerit in the shady part of a naturalistic gar-den where few other vines will flourish.Leaves of the cultivar ‘Monham’ (StarShowers®) sport irregular splashes of white,and in cool weather, a lovely pink blush.

TRUMPET VINE (Campsis radicans)Some admire the red-orange flowers oftrumpet vine (Zones 3–9, 9–3) and the

hummingbirds that visit them; others con-sider this vine an invasive thug. No matterwhich view you hold, keeping this south-eastern United States native from becom-ing a 40-foot monster takes tough love.Rather than pruning the vigorous stems,cloaked in dark green compound leaves,Reich suggests just “whacking it back.”

Because it tends to send up root suck-ers in all directions, plant it where it can-not reach what you don’t want engulfed.Some possible locations for trumpet vineare at the base of a very large, dead tree sur-rounded by mowed lawn or on a chainlink fence in an area where its spread willbe limited by hardscaping.

Its spectacular show of midsummertubular flowers attract swarms of hum-mingbirds. Cultivars provide a range offlower colors: ‘Jersey Peach’ is a lovely palepeach, ‘Atropurpurea’ is a wonderful deeprose, and ‘Flava’ is a soft yellow.

Every garden has at least one unsightlyproblem spot. If you camouflage it with anative vine, enjoying more wildlife will bepart of the bargain. Just be sure to matchthe vigor of the vine you choose to the lo-cation and the size of the problem. �

A contributing writer for The AmericanGardener, Carole Ottesen gardens in Mary-land and Nova Scotia. Her latest book, Dy-ing for the Christmas Rose, a garden mys-tery, was published this spring.b

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la, Zones 5–8, 8–4) and its fuzzy-leavedcousin woolly pipevine (A. tomentosa,Zones 5–9, 9–3) as larval food sources forthe pipevine swallowtail butterfly. Dutch-man’s pipe is a hardy, vigorous, East Coastnative which when given a site in sun orpart shade and moist soil, will quickly growto 30 feet. Its small, purplish brown flow-ers—which bear a resemblance to thecurved, Calabash-style pipes that fictionalsleuth Sherlock Holmes is often portrayedwith—appear in early to midsummer.They are carried on old growth, so do notcut the vine back in fall.

While the flowers are enchanting (al-though some people consider their odor

foul), it is the huge, overlapping heart-shaped leaves—eight inches or moreacross—that endear this vine to gardeners.Because pipevines grow from fleshy rootsor rhizomes, they are best transplantedwhile dormant.

Woolly pipevine is native from theMidwest, south to Texas and Florida. Ithas slightly larger flowers than Dutch-man’s pipe but also grows up to 30 feet.Western gardeners can try California orSierra pipevine (A. californica, Zones7–9, 8–4), a northern California nativethat grows 10 to 12 feet tall. Its creamy,two-inch diameter flowers are highlight-ed by bright red markings.

CROSS VINE(Bignonia capreolata syn. Anisostichus capreolata)Cross vine (Zones 6–9, 9–5) is a favorite ofgarden writer Jan Midgley of Birmingham,Alabama. Midgley, author of SouthernWildflowers, especially appreciates its ac-commodating nature. “It will grow in partshade or full sun, in average moisture or ona rock outcrop. It is great for covering uglycement walls. If shade grown, it shouldhave a half day of sun in order to get bloomat a level where one can enjoy the show.”

The showy, fragrant flowers—stun-ning two-tone red and yellow trumpetsthat attract hummingbirds—appear inMay and June. Cross vine’s native range issouthern Ontario and the entire easternUnited States. Its compound leaves arefully evergreen in the southern part of itsrange, but the vine may die to the groundover winter in the north.

Midgley has seen cross vine used “ef-fectively around light poles in an upscaleshopping center in Birmingham.” Let“light poles” serve as the caveat here.Cross vine can climb by tendrils to 50 feetif given half a chance, and it is known tospread underground where conditionsare to its liking. Give it something tohold onto to get it started and then standback; it can be cut back hard if it out-grows its support structure. The cultivar‘Tangerine Beauty’ is orange-red with agolden throat. b

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SourcesForestfarm, Williams, OR. (541) 846-7269. www.forestfarm.com.Nearly Native Nursery, Fayettville, GA. (770) 460-6284. www.nearlynativenursery.com.Oikos Tree Crops, Kalamazoo, MI. (269) 624-6233. www.oikostreecrops.com.Sunlight Gardens, Andersonville, TN. (800) 272-7396. www.sunlightgardens.com.Wilkerson Mill Gardens, Chattahoochee Hills, GA. (770) 463-2400. www.hydrangea.com.Woodlanders, Inc., Aiken, SC. (803) 648-7522. www.woodlanders.net.

ResourcesArmitage’s Vines and Climbers by Allan M. Armitage. Timber Press, Portland, Oregon, 2010.Flowering Vines: Beautiful Climbers edited by Karan Davis Cutler. Part of the21st-Century Gardening Series from Brooklyn Botanic Garden, New York, New York, 1999.

MORE NATIVE VINES TO CONSIDERBotanical name Type Height/Spread Ornamental features/ Native range USDA Hardiness,(Common name) (feet) Site requirements AHS Heat ZonesAdlumia fungosa biennial 8–12/2–3 Clusters of pink flowers in late Canada south to 3–7, 7–3(Allegheny fleece vine) twiner summer/shady site with support North CarolinaAsarina antirrhiniflora annual 6–8/2–3 Tubular pink to purple flowers in Texas, Southwest 9–12, 12–1(climbing snapdragon) twiner summer/full sun, trellis or fencingCocculus carolinus perennial 12/2-3 Pale green flowers in summer, eastern U.S. 5–9, 9–5(moralbeads) twiner red fruits in fall/part shade to shadeDecumaria barbara perennial 15–25/2–4 Glossy green foliage, creamy southeastern U.S. 6–9, 9–6(wood vamp) self-clinger white flowers in late spring/site in

part shade, provide supportLonicera ciliosa perennial 5–15/2–4 blue-green foliage and orange British Columbia 5–8, 8–5(orange honeysuckle) twiner flowers late spring into summer/ south to northern

part shade, water in dry periods CaliforniaMenispermum perennial 10–15/2–5 pale green flowers in mid- to late eastern U.S. 5–8, 8–5canadense twiner summer, followed by black fruits*/(moonseed) part shade to shade

*The clustered fruits, which resemble grapes, are poisonous, so this is not a good choice for a garden frequented by children.Celastrus scandens

Bignonia capreolata‘Tangerine Beauty’

Celastrus scandens

Bignonia capreolata‘Tangerine Beauty’