What is this vine and how do I propogate it?

10 years ago

I've been looking for a good vine to grow along my fence. There's one vine that's quite popular in the area. It's got a nice green color and flourishes easily, but it's rather drab.

I've been hoping to find something better, and today I drove past a house with this beauty growing all over an arbor. I knocked on the homeowner's door, and she said that she planted a couple bushes of it in fertilizer pads several years ago and it just took off from there. She didn't remember what it was, but she let me take a clipping for identification purposes. So, four questions:
1. Does anyone know what this is?
2. How well would this grow in slightly alkaline, moderately rocky soil? (It seems like if it did well in my neighbor's yard, it would do well in mine, but you never know. Hers might only be flourishing because she spilled some peat moss there years ago and just doesn't remember it. LOL.)
3. What's the best way to propagate it?
4. Is there a better (more beautiful, fragrant, fruiting, or rapidly growing) vine that would do well along the fence-line in rocky, slightly alkaline soil? Mostly, I just want to cover my sad little chainlink fence with something beautiful s quickly as possible. The more quickly and more beautiful the better.

This post was edited by leggs on Wed, Sep 4, 13 at 15:24

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Comments (7)

bogturtle
10 years ago
Caution. That beautiful vine is a true menace. I have several, but two were in places where their powerful invasive natures made them a terrible choice. Bignonia radicans or hybrids, commonly called Trumpet Vine. I cut one down when the stem was over two inches thick, drilled holes, poured in herbicide, to kill it. Two years later I still see little start-ups 15 feet away. I knew, and always pulled off the unripe seed cases, but that cannot be if the vine gets too high. Seedlings will show up everywhere. The other was killed when an addition was put on the house,but I still see seedlings.
Since I wanted a vine on a fence around a raised deck, I replaced the one I killed with modern climbing roses that have bloomed all Summer. Almost no diseases and they stay in place.
GardeningHeidi
Original Author
10 years ago
Yowsa! Thank you for the warning. I guess I'll stay away from that one, then. It's a shame because it's so lovely.

I've been researching alternatives. What about honeysuckle? From what I read, Japanese honeysuckle is quite invasive and shouldn't be planted, but supposedly the American hybrids grow well but not invasively and are attractive with a nice though mild scent. Does that choice sound reasonable?
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florauk
10 years ago
Campsis radicans rather than Bignonia radicans but its nature is the same whatever one calls it.
lisanti07028
10 years ago
I have a native honeysuckle - lonicera sempervirens (I forget which cultivar) - and I love it. It's well-behaved but very full and boy does it flower! From May to November. We don't have many hummingbirds around here, but that honeysuckle draws them in. Really no fragrance, which is a bummer, but it's a wonderful, colorful vine.
dianeb1964
10 years ago
When this goes to seed I would love some if possible I know its aggressive but I have the perfect spot for it
beautiful color
GardeningHeidi
Original Author
10 years ago
Darn it! This isn't actually my plant and I'm not even sure where the house was. Shucks!
bogturtle
10 years ago
I have honeysuckle, Lonicera 'Mandarin', L. periclymenum, L. sempervivium (of several sorts), L. tragophylla, and find none invasive or overwhelming. Some are fragrant and some recurrent blooming. My zone is 7A.
The form of our native Kentucky Wisteria blooms well, in Spring, and occasionally, and is non-invasive. 'Blue Moon', I think.
Equally monstrous with Campsis are Passiflora incarnata, Amelopsis (porcelain vine), Akebia and Ivy.
Schizophargmae 'Moonlight' has been good.
Clematis Montana and Armandi, as well as 'Polish Spirit', 'Ramona' have been wonderful.
The Crossvine seems like it will be grand, but is slowly gaining.
But that is in my zone 7A. Of course I love I love it when people view my blog.