hello. i have had my vine for three years. i does not have a "sizable" trunk, but many smaller "branches." it is a bit bushy at the base while those younger ones develop. i think you could keep it sufficiently pruned. i also assume, that as with climbing roses, if you pinch back the growth tip, it will grow more side shoots. i assume b/c i have read that on roses and am trying it with mine.

i am liking this vine more and more b/c it grows leaves earlier than i can get any annual to cover! i would have to go look, but i don't think i spirals quite as much as some vines. mine is weaved through a trellis on my shed.

imo, the blooms aren't very impressive. we will see how showy the berries get this year!

I think this is another vine that tends to thrive in a colder climate zone. I grow three including a male variety which promptly
gave up once the weather got above 105. Just like a man ;-] Em... maybe I haven't got the hang of growing it yet!

{{gwi:12058}}

hmmm, male? the info i have read says they are-oh, what is the word?- self fruiting anyway. so, i assumed the sexes were on the same plant. i would love to hear your thoughts and experience on this!

I think you have to have both a male and a female plant to get berries, and you'll only get them on the female plant.

There is a self-fertile cultivar called Eastern Prince or something like that.

The flowers are about dime sized (maybe smaller) something not mentioned in advertising about the plant (or maybe mine were just especially small as this is the first year for it).

~Chills

chills, i agree, to all of your above. :)
perhaps mine is eastern prince, or whatshisname...

grrrrrrrr, upon visiting my vine this morning, i am missing my green, unripe berries! i'll never get to try them. i don't get it. i did find two of the "droops" that seemed all dried up. very strange. i can't help but point fingers at my ongoing earwig armies. i can think of no other reason for their demise.

I'm betting the earwigs thought it was a clematis. I hate the little buggers!

~Chills

i second that, chills! lucky for me my clem bloomed earlier this year. well, lets just say i have no blooms now.

I have a single female that I planted perhaps ten years ago. It has required no care at all, and while we don't see 100+ degrees here on the Chesapeake Bay, high humidity is ours 9 months it has fruited amply for about 6 years. The vine has a bushy lot in the first 3 feet and is 20 feet up my radio tower. It's a little over 3/4" in diameter. I have propagated it quite easily by seed and cuttings. Stuck 'em in the ground and they grew (seeds) and rooted cuttings and then transplanted them.
The fruit gets about the size of holly berries, it actually twines around my Scarlet Goumi berry bush, and has to be constantly pointed in the right direction.
The seeds are about the size of a small grape seed and there are one and sometimes two per fruit. (I wouldn't advocate eating the seeds). The pulp in each berry is minimal and I've only used them for eating out of hand. The flavor is quite dramatic (per berry) and the taste is certainly tart, bordering on slightly bitter although I don't find it unpleasant at all.
I don't seem to have any insect pests that have interest in the vines (or the fruit) and for that matter, only minimal interest from the bird community.
jccampb