Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
laurelzito

Can someone suggest a vine like a sweet pea?

Laurel Zito
13 years ago

I have a lot of trouble with sweet peas. They grow too big and too aggressively. Once they get to the top of the fence they annoy the neighborhoods by creating a huge lump of tangled vegetation, which then begins to sag. Even I do trim them back. I had a nice vine, that was a type of sweet pea once, but they don't sell it anymore. I would like to find this again or another annual vine. I do have Clematis already. I want something big on flowers small on the vegetation, and not too tall, or too multiple branching. This link is to the photo of the plant I want to get again. I tried this year with another type of perennial sweet peas, but the vine was just as aggressive and the flowers were not even noticeable as flowers. If I can not get this same one I am open to other types of vines that fit my needs. The black eyed susan vine does not get blooming until the season is over and then it dies right away, so I need something a little faster.

Here is a link that might be useful: Annual sweet peas

Comments (9)

  • christine1950
    13 years ago

    Have you looked into Morning Glory's? Just a thought :>)

  • Laurel Zito
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I have trouble with invasive morning glory (bind weed) from other yards. I don't want to get confused, I pull up every morning glory I see sprouting. But, they do look nice or moon flowers also.

  • karyn1
    13 years ago

    There's loads of annual vines and in your zone some may be perennial. Maybe you could mix some early and later flowering varieties.

  • Laurel Zito
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I planted these seeds last year in July and it took them forever to start to bloom. The bloom, I saw was not a flower, but some kind of colorless inflorescence. The vine looked like regular sweet pea vine, and it was very thick. It was shading out light to over plants. It also required constant tending tying and restaking. When I look at the seed package picture (see the link below), I was like this is not what I wanted at all. I don't know if the nicer flowers were coming later,(as pictured) but I had to remove the vine. It had all the bad things about sweet peas, but none of the good things as in flowers. I am looking for an annual vine, because I want something fast growing to take out or change every year. My soil is rich and that is part of the problem. It may have been better for a poor dry soil, and then we had an El Nino this spring, so it got too much water.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Sweet Pea Perennial Blend Seed

  • Laurel Zito
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    I wish I could fix this now. I meant to say it blocked out light to "other plants", not "over plants". But, it did tower over other plants and blocked the sun light.

  • karyn1
    13 years ago

    Perennial sweet peas can be monsters, especially after a few years. Mine get huge but the blooms are gorgeous. Mine will begin flowering in a couple weeks and will continue until the first freeze. You could try scarlet runner beans, Spanish Flag, cobea scandens, flame vine. There's so many that will grow well in your zone. Many that are annual here might be perennial in your zone.

  • Laurel Zito
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    Thanks for those ideas. I am still confused as to why my perennial sweet peas only had insignificant flowers.

  • karyn1
    13 years ago

    Mine have been in the garden at least 5 years. I can't remember how many blooms they had the first year but it was nothing like it is now. The vines get bigger every season and the flower stalks get longer. It's gotten to the point where I've been cutting them back and even digging some up and mine die back in the winter. I can't imagine how big they might get in a frost free zone. If you give them a couple seasons the blooms really are beautiful but I wish they had a scent like the annual sweet peas.

  • Laurel Zito
    Original Author
    13 years ago

    We did have some kind of freeze last year on Dec. 7, and I lost a bunch of plants, that were not adjusted to colder temps. Although it did not actually freeze, I had death of plants that were supposed to take 20 degrees. I was like 35? I don't really know, but the damages was extensive and across the board on most plants. Once the plants are made to go dormant they can take more cold I guess, because mine were not dormant therefore, they just died.

Sponsored
Zanesville's Most Skilled & Knowledgeable Home Improvement Specialists