any experience with Emerald Gaiety euonymus as a vine?

13 years ago

I'm not sure where it is appropriate to post this question - here or the Vines forum - so I'll post it both places...

A winter garden project here is to prepare a maintenance manual for this garden. That has turned into a review of the plantings too. The iron arbour in the front garden has undergone several changes in plantings since it was installed in 2003. The current planting is honeysuckle and clematis. The honeysuckle has turned out to be Hall's I think! So I'm giving serious thought to removing them. We have been keeping them closely clipped to the arbour; I'd like whatever grows on there to end up looking a bit like a hedge with an arch cut in it - in other words, I want it densely covered.

So I'm trying to think what would be a good replacement for the honeysuckle....? In the first few years, we tried clematises on their own for color. Of course the cursed vines didn't turn out to be what their labels said they should be (a chronic problem with clematis I find!) The color were wrong for what I had planned. And then several up and died and the rest wilted every year! So I tried honeysuckle. Several died and the surviving ones appear to be Hall's. I'm thinking of trying to grow 'Emerald Gaiety' euonymus, train it up the arbour and keep it closely clipped.

The pro's as I see it would be:

- evergreen

- there is a 'Carol Mackie' Daphne behind and to the side of the arbour on the left and a variegated weigela behind and to the right; there are 'Emerald Gaiety' euonymus in the nearby front porch bed and also in the 'moat' bed behind/to the east of the bed where the arbour is, so there would be continuity in both the specific plant and in the variegation.

The con's and doubt I see are:

- will it grow tall enough? Most sources say 4-5', but a neighbour has completely covered a 6' wooden fence with it so the fence looks like a hedge. Will it grow to the 7'+ I need for the arbour?

- the risk of euonymus scale killing it. At least, since it would be accessible on all sides, it would be easier to spray with dormant oil if need be.

Your opinions? Could it work?

Pictures:

The arbour as it was this summer:

{{gwi:240568}}

The arbour in relation to the bed it is in:

{{gwi:240569}}
(The variegated shrubs I referred to are too small yet to be visible in the above picture.)

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Comments (4)

User
13 years ago
Woodyoak,
I have the vine you are asking aobut as a ground cover out back. I am 3 zones warmer than you, and it receives part sun because it is planted on a hill under trees.
This is not a fast growing vine.
It is evergreen, but I can't see it climbing your arbor the way you want it.
I have an arbor like yours, in part shade on the other side of my yard. I planted wisteria on it, blue moon, and it has sun in the morning, shade from trees also in the hot afternoon.
Why do you not like that honeysuckle?
It looks nice on the arbor. Is it taking over your yard? It doesn't look like it.
Clematis can take full sun also, it will take about 3-4 years to cover that arbor the way you want it to though.
You could try Emerald Gaiety on that and see if you like it.
I just have a feeling you might be disappointed in the rate of growth and coverage of that arbor, it might take quite a few seasons.
woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
Original Author
13 years ago
I haven't checked in here in a while...

The honeysuckle is nice but needs a lot of clipping to keep it tight to the arbour. And I suspect it's Hall's honeysuckle, which is considered invasive in a lot of places (although I gather it's not quite as invasive in colder areas like here, but it's considered iffy to plant it...)

There is already clematis on the arbour too as you can see in the picture. I would continue to grow clematis there too if I plant the euonymus. I have Emerald Gaiety several other places in the yard, including along the front porch. I have to regularly clip it back there because it tries to climb up higher than I want it to, so I know it will climb, but I'm not sure how high. I'm pretty sure it + clematis would be less work than the honeysuckle + clematis. Since the arbour is quite attractive even without any plants on it, I'm not too worried if it takes the euonymus a number of years to get tall. But I like the honeysuckle flowers for their scent and color. I still haven't decided whether to replace it or not....
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gamekeeper
13 years ago
Do the honeysuckle draw the hummers?
woodyoak zone 5 southern Ont., Canada
Original Author
13 years ago
I've never seen hummingbirds around it. In fact, I rarely see hummingbirds at all. When one does appear, it's the butterfly bushes that they tend to be attracted to - they only ever seem to appear when te butterfly bushes are in bloom.