I live in northeast Texas, Zone 8. My property is surrounded by a wrought iron fence and I would like to have it covered with a climbing colorful plant or vine. Options I have considered include Boston Ivy Star Jasmine Viriginia Creeper Hydrangea
Have absolutely no experience in botany or gardening, and I would appreciate any suggestions.
Both Boston Ivy and virginia Creeper will not show any nice color until fall.. thenthey turn a gorgeous shade of red. they both climb by using little "feet" that develop along the vines and as such require a realativly flat surface on which to climb.
Star jasmine would be a nice choice for midsummer bloom and climbs with tendrils that wil wrap around the fence nicely.
Climbing hydrangea , like the boston Ivy and Virginia creeper, climbs by adhering to the surface. Climbing hydrangea also prefers a shady enviroment.
There are three other climbing vines that you may want to consider; Passionflower vines ( Passiflora), Clematis and climbing roses.
passionflowers are very hardy in your climate zone, come ina range of colors from a pale purple tinged white to a rich vermillion red.
Clematis is also very hardy in your zone, are widely available and have a wide variety of colors (except orange) There is also a variety of Clematis called "Sweet Autumn Clematis" that has tons of small white blossoms that favor the Star jasmine in appearance and scent. A very classy vine that would look very very nice against wrought Iron. All the clematis climb by curling its leaf stems around what it is climbing.
Climbing roses, well, there are so many of those to chose from, best I can say is pick a color you like. Climbing roses do not climb on their own, so you would have to secure them to the surfave they are on. All sorts of ways to do that.
I hope this is of use to you.
Others may disagree, Anthony B.
Clematis has been recommended to me by a knowledgeable person. How hardy is it? The fence upon which I want a climbing plant/vine to grow is not easily accesible to irrigation, so I need something that can last without regular irrigation.
RJS,
Like any other perennial or shrub, good watering the first season will be important, for it will take at least one good growing season for the plants to establish themselves. After that, occasional watering as needed during the heat of the summer will still mbe needed
The trick with clematis is that the rootzone needs to be nice and moist at all times... Some folks mistake this as being the same as keeping the roots cool. I have found this to be a misunderstanding.
The simplest way to keep the rootzone moist is a heavier than typical layer(4-6 inches) of a good mulch ( I like dark hardwood, but use what YOU like) and/or drip irrigation.
Clematis is relativly cheap on widely available, so if you accidentaly kill some off, should not be a point of financial difficulty.
Anthony B.
imho, the fastest growing vine for ANY zone/place would be "silver lace vine" or Polygonum aubertii(sp?)--pardon my spelling---it's been a VERY LONG time since i've written anything botanical. :o{
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