Gold Coast Gardener

August 13, 2006

By Gene Joyner, Extension Agent
Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Service

If you have an area that you want covered quickly, there’s no plant that does the job quicker than a fast growing vine. Vines often are capable of growing 50 feet or more in a single growing season so if you have a large stretch of fence or you want to blot out an unsightly view in your neighborhood, you can construct a trellis or arbor, plant a vine at the base and in one season have it completely covered.

Vines for the most part are tropical in nature and must be protected from freezing temperatures although there are some cold hardy types. Because of that, depending on where you live, you have to choose your vines carefully. If you’re close to the salt water, too, some vines although they grow well don’t like salt spray so they need to be sheltered from the direct exposure to salt winds.

Some vines have colorful foliage or produce attractive flowers, too, and that’s an added bonus. As you go to local nurseries to seek out vines you’ll be amazed at how many different types are available. Some also have very fine small foliage, while others may have foliage that gets one to two feet long or bigger.

Remember that many vines can’t be confined in very tiny spaces because of their rapid growth and will quickly overtake nearby ornamental plantings or invade your neighbors property next door. Vines do require trimming on a regular basis to keep them confined to the desired area, but if you do that they can form a very important useful portion of your landscape.

Some examples of vines commonly used in our area include the following:

Bougainvillea with it’s colorful bracts of various colors is very popular for the fall and winter season when it blooms the heaviest.

Seasonally blooming vines like Confederate jasmine with white fragrant flowers in the spring or flame vine with tubular 2 ½ inch flowers in late winter are also favorites.

Bell shaped two inch yellow flowers characterize allamanda vines and they also come in brown, raspberry and other colors as well.

The beautiful passion vine comes in dozens of colors and the flowers can range from 1 ½ inches to over 4 inches, many having a very delightful gardenia like fragrance.

If you want to keep butterflies happy in your landscape, put in a Dutchman’s pipe vine with it’s beautiful flowers which come throughout much of the year.

Also another vine which is very popular is the sky vine or Thunbergia and it’s beautiful blue or white flowers are produced most of the year.

If you’d like to see examples of vines check out your local retail nurseries and also visit the Mounts Botanical Garden at 531 North Military Trail in West Palm Beach to see some in an established landscape setting.

If you have questions about vines, the Palm Beach County Extension office has free publications on vines for our area. You can also get advice on vines over the telephone by dialing them during normal business hours. Call 233-1750 in the north and central county area or 276-1260 in the south county area.