Invasive and Noninvasive Flowering Vines

Fast-growing vines are a great way to adorn a large trellis or fence, but quick-growing plants often turn into out-of-control ones. Some vines are so invasive that they can be challenging to get rid of once they’ve taken over. Before making a final decision on a climbing plant for an outdoor trellis or pergola, make sure the species you select isn’t going to turn into a high-maintenance nightmare.

An invasive plant can be defined as any plant that grows where you don't want to and does it in a way that makes it hard to control. It doesn't have to be a weed, and invasive plants are by no means always ugly specimens. A lot of it depends on the setting. For example, bittersweet vines in some settings can be quite beautiful and desirable, but if they take over your woodland garden, they are a nuisance indeed. And some plants begin as perfectly desirable landscape species that you plant deliberately, such as obedient plant (Physostegia), only to prove their invasive nature in a year or two when you discover their rampant growth characteristics.

FMM: I have found three vines that that I planted and thought were invasive, or at least undesireable. I would not plant them again, at least in a small backyard garden:

• Trumpet Vine - This vine has some of the most beautiful flowers, but after a year or two, it started to sprout up all over the place between the patio bricks. And this was many feet away from where it was planted. I gave Susan a cutting, which she planted over ther trellis covering the front porch, and whe found it growing out of the light switch inside the front door as well as down in the basement!
• Silver Lace Vine (China fleece, or silver lace vine (Polygonum aubertii)) - This vine grows extremely fast and it was always a pain to get it cut back. One year we did not get to it, and by next spring, it had covered an evergreen tree and killed it. The flowers were beautiful, but they came so late in the year that it was too cold to sit outside and enjoy them. Needless to say, I got rid of it.
• Euonymous, fortunei (I believe) - I had this vine for many years before it begain to grow so fast and so much that it was hard to keep up with keeping it cut back, both in the spring and the fall again. Its trunk was as big around as a smaller tree and it was absorbing all the water in the soil around it making it hard to grow anything there. I really enjoyed it for many years, but just found it to be too much as it (and I) got older. I also have it planted in a pot out front where it crawls up the wall and covers the electrical wiring on the outside of the house. The problem there was that the roots completely take up all the space in the pot and is completely pot bound. I did get an awful lot of compliments about it, and one publication asked if they could take a picture of it as an example of how people could grow plants outside of a row home.
  Euonymus fortunei, commonly called wintercreeper euonymus, is an evergreen perennial vine that was introduced as an ornamental groundcover. It is native to China, Japan, and Korea. Winter creeper is a vigorous vine that can grow to 40 70 feet and can invade forest openings and margins. It grows across the ground, displacing herbaceous plants and seedlings and climbs trees high into the tree canopy by clinging to the bark.

Invasive Species (also see Noninvastive Species below that warn of species in the same genus that are invasive)

Oriental Bittersweet

There are three "bittersweets," and it is important to distinguish between them: oriental bittersweet (Celastrus orbiculatus), American bittersweet (Celastrus scandens), and bittersweet nightshade (Solanum dulcamara). It is the Oriental bittersweet vine that is sure to make most lists of worst invasive plants in North America. The other forms can also be invasive but are less so than oriental bittersweet.

Oriental bittersweet is invasive vine that is native to China, Japan and Korea. It was introduced to the United States as an ornamental plant around 1860. This deciduous, woody, twining vine can climb on trees, shrubs and anything else in its way. The leaves are alternate, glossy and finely toothed. They are usually rounded, but there can be variation in the leaf shape. 

American bittersweet is a climbing vine that also twines around its support. Its attractive feature is its autumn fruit, a yellow-orange three-lobed capsule with showy orange-red seeds. For fruit, American bittersweet needs both male and female vines and should be sited in full sun and pruned in early spring. American bittersweet has more elliptical shaped leaves, rather than the rounded of the Oriental bittersweet. The fruit of the native vine appear as single clumps at the tips of the branches, compared to fruit of the non-native vine appearing up and down the stem. Although American bittersweet is also a vine and climbs on nearby vegetation, it does not appear to grow as rapidly or as large as oriental bittersweet.

To add to the possible confusion,the two different species in the same genus (Celastrus) are crossing and producing plants that sometimes have characteristics of both the native and non-native species. Yikes!

 

Clematis

This flowering climber is a popular trellis plant because it grows quickly and easily grabs hold of surfaces with its clingy tendrils. It’s also unlikely to grow out of control. Bonus: Clematis is available in many bloom colors, so you can find an option that matches your tastes or outdoor decor. Careful, while most clematis varieties are a safe bet, steer clear of Sweet Autumn Clematis (Clematis terniflora), which grows rapidly and readily self-seeds. Keep clematis in full sun for the most vibrant blooms, but mulch the plant at the base to keep the roots cool and moist.

Reviews on Sweet Autumn Clematis are mixed. Some people love sweet autumn clematis and the delightful scent that it emits during the evening. But others are annoyed that the plentiful flowers, so beautiful to many, are the source of equally numerous seeds that will germinate all over the garden to produce seedlings. For gardeners who do not mind weeding chores, it might be a perfect vine.  Clematis paniculata is sometimes sold as sweet autumn clematis, but this is a less invasive vine that comes from New Zealand. It is C. terniflora that you need to be careful with.

American Wisteria

It’s best to stay away from invasive Japanese and Chinese wisteria because the vines can actually damage structures around your property. Even though the wisterias are rather gorgeous when in full bloom, they tend to become invasive. It has the ability to form new roots at each node and will do so wherever it touches the ground, allowing it to spread further. The Chinese wisteria spreads its seeds by flinging open their pods and shooting out the seeds. The sound can be quite loud. The Japanese wisteria does not flower as well as Chinese wisteria does, but is similarly invasive. One way to control spreading is deadheading so no seeds are created.

But the American wisteria (Wisteria frutescens) is a safe bet for the garden because it’s less aggressive and not prone to overgrowth. The perennial vine produces ethereal, wispy-looking blooms and needs plenty of sun and water. As a cultivated plant, it is suitable in USDA zones 5 to 9. It is a deciduous vine that may grow up to 30 feet (9 m.). This rambling beauty has delicate pinnate leaves divided into 9 to 15 leaflets.

Pruning is still a crucial part of American wisteria care. In areas where it is grown over a structure, prune it hard annually after flowering to keep the vine in check. On horizontal surfaces such as fences, prune in winter to remove side shoots and keep the plant tidy. With proper care and attention, this can be turned into a plant that is more like a shrub.

The problem with the American variety is that it does not flower in the shade. Chinese wisteria, on the other hand, flowers beautifully in the shade, but gardeners risk dealing with its potential invasiveness.

Bougainvillea

When looking for an alternative to roses, bougainvillea comes pretty close. Like roses, the sturdy plants have spiky thorns, so take care when pruning the vines. The plants can have many different colored blooms and are hardy enough to handle a fair bit of light frost. Still, bougainvillea grows outdoors year-round in the warmest zones only (9 to 11). Make sure you put it in a spot with lots of sun to get the most flowers.

Butterfly Vine

Butterfly vine (Mascagnia macroptera) is the perfect climbing plant to attract—you guessed, it—butterflies! But it’s so-named not because of its pollinator-attracting abilities, but for its butterfly-shaped seed pods. Butterfly vine grows as a perennial in warmer climates, but northern gardeners can successfully grow it as an annual. While the petite yellow flowers will be more abundant in full sun, the climbing plant also tolerates partial shade.

Honeysuckle

The honeysuckle may be the queen of flowering vines, twining with abandon around arbors and archways, trellises and tree trunks, filling the air with their intoxicating scent. Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica) is an attractive perennial vine for shade—but the rampant invasive nature of this exotic makes it a plant to avoid at all costs. The good news is that not all species and varieties of honeysuckle are created equal; some are not invasive at all and have become quite the popular landscape plant.

An equally showy alternative to this annoying plant is the non-invasive trumpet honeysuckle Lonicera sempervirens (12-20 feet). This semi-evergreen twining climber—great for arbors and trellises – is native to the United States and hardy in zones 3-9. Though not as fragrant as its Japanese cousin, the vine’s most popular feature is its clusters of bright red or orange tubular flowers that bloom from late spring to mid-summer, drawing a constant buzz from hummingbirds and butterflies.

The honeysuckle variety native to the eastern U.S., Lonicera sempervirens, is, unfortunately, not a vine for shade. Although the common name for Lonicera sempervirens is "trumpet honeysuckle," do not confuse it with trumpet vine (Campsis radicans). It is known to occur and be invasive in the east from Maine to Florida and westward to Wisconsin and Texas. Keep noninvasive honeysuckles in full sun, but don’t worry too much about soil quality, since they’ll thrive even in poor soil.

Prune and thin the vines yearly to keep them from becoming too overgrown and to disable a build-up of dying stems beneath. Regular pruning and shaping will also encourage good flowering. Honeysuckles typically bloom on new growth.

Trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens, USDA Hardiness Zones 4-8, 12-20 feet) is a native vine that bears clusters of orange, red, or gold trumpets in summer. It can be found across the eastern United States in meadows and open woodlands. It has been heavily bred for cultivation. Some of the best varieties include ‘Major Wheeler’, a profuse, summer-long bloomer with large clusters of orange-red trumpets. The yellow-flowered ‘John Clayton‘ is such an impressive bloomer, it can flower from early summer to frost. The extra-large, yellow-throated, red trumpets of ‘Blanche Sandman‘ are very colorful and maintain the same manner of bloom–nonstop through summer–as do the large, coral-red blooms of ‘Honey Coral‘.

Brown’s hybrid honeysuckle (Lonicera x brownii (L. sempervirens and L. hirsuta), Zones 4-9, 10-20 feet) is a vigorous flowering vine with flared tubular blooms. The best-known variety is the prolific ‘Dropmore Scarlet‘ with its orange (not scarlet) tubular blooms, blue-green foliage, and appealing red berries that follow the flowers and are eaten by songbirds.

Scarlet Runner Beans

Plant these, trail them on a pretty trellis, and make a meal out of it! Scarlet runner beans (Phaseolus coccineus) produce edible pods or shell beans, and are equally valuable as ornamentals. They’re an excellent choice for compact trellises and produce fiery, red blooms. The fast-growing vines are typically grown as annuals and won’t invade your yard.

Climbing Hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala ssp. petiolaris)

You’re probably familiar with hydrangea, but did you know there’s a climbing variety of this popular garden plant? The perennials grow slowly and take several years to establish themselves, so they’re unlikely to make a mess of the garden. Like its nonclimbing sibling, climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala petiolaris) produces show-stopping puffy white blooms that attract various pollinators.

Climbing hydrangea can grow as tall as 60 to 80 feet if it has a wall, fence, or large tree for its aerial rootlets to cling to. Unlike other aerial-rooting plants, climbing hydrangea grows slowly enough that controlling it is not very difficult. This is a good plant for shady locations, and it will tolerate full sun only if the soil is kept very moist. The flowers bear a resemblance to those of shrub hydrangeas, and the dried flower heads and peeling bark give the plant good winter interest.

Star Jasmine

Star jasmine, or confederate jasmine, is a woody perennial that fares well in containers, making it a good choice for small-space gardens. The plant has fragrant white blooms that stand out among the jade-colored foliage and can handle a lot more shade than other flowering vines. Additionally, this jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides) attracts bees and is even suitable for indoor growing.

Nasturtiums

These plants don’t adhere to or damage surfaces, and many varieties have a vining growth habit. Many people grow these annuals in garden beds, but they’re also a great choice for trellising or hanging containers. However, they are very susceptible to frost damage and grow as annuals only in all but the warmest USDA zones (9 to 11). The delicate edible blooms make an impressive, attractive garnish and attract hummingbirds. Nasturtiums do best when watered consistently.

Climbing Roses

We couldn’t finish this list without including climbing roses. These classic ornamental climbers are available in a rainbow of colors. They're also much easier to manage than most other climbing plants. Because they don’t stick to surfaces like vining plants can, climbing roses need a trellis or fence to hold on to. Look for “climbing” or “CI” before the rose name. Just watch out for the thorns when pruning!

Climbing roses are actually just large rose shrubs with long canes (stems) that are trained to grow up a trellis or other support structure. Varieties include 'New Dawn', 'Don Juan', and 'Lady Banks'. Once you have the support structure in place, the training process is quite simple. Tie the canes to the structure with strips of cloth as they grow, gently bending them to cover the structure. Try not to prune the plant until the canes have grown long enough to cover your structure unless you need to remove a misshapen, broken, or diseased portion.