It’s About Thyme
by CHRIS WINSLOW
For a screen, shade on an arbor, hiding a fence, or for attracting hummingbirds and butterflies, nothing beats a vine.
Fortunately, Hays County gardeners have a world of vines to choose from. Here are some of my favorite annual and perennial vines:
Annual vines (replant each year)
• Cypress vine (Ipomoea quamoclit): this vine has tiny red flowers with delicate fern-like leaves. It produces hundreds of flowers and thousands of seeds, which insure its return next year. The red flowers bloom all summer and attract hummingbirds.
• Morning-glory (Ipomoea): these vines also bloom all summer with trumpet-shaped flowers three to four inches across. They come in a world of colors, from reds to blues.
Perennial vines (these come back year after year)
There are three different patterns: herbaceous, deciduous, and evergreen.
Herbaceous vines:
• Coral vine or Queen’s Crown: a beautiful, vigorous vine that can grow 20 to 30 feet in the summer season and can be found in coral and white. They return from tubers in the spring. Butterflies love coral vine.
• Passion vine: a beautiful and aggressive perennial vine that blooms spring and summer with lavender to blue flowers. It is a host plant for many butterfly species. It is not uncommon to have the vine eaten back by butterfly larvae (caterpillars) overnight!
Deciduous perennial vines:
• Chinese Wisteria: a popular spring bloomer, it produces blossoms before foliage appears. Its large clusters (racemes) of flowers can be found in purple, white, blue, rose, and mauve. Be sure to look for a grafted plant because seedling-grown plants rarely bloom.
• Trumpet vine: a very aggressive, rapidly growing vine that can attain a height of 30 feet. It blooms in clusters of trumpet-shaped, reddish-orange flowers that are popular with hummingbirds. This vine has a quite the reputation for wanton destruction of wood fences and trellises, so I suggest that gardeners choose the slightly less rambunctious form called ‘madame galen.’
Evergreen vines:
• Honeysuckle comes in a great variety of colors including coral, white with yellow, purple, and pink. They all are great vines because they are evergreen, have great drought tolerance, bloom more than one season a year, are deer resistant and attract wildlife. Possibly the most popular is Texas Coral honeysuckle because hummingbirds love it and it attracts birds as well. Best to keep this vine in the sun; too much shade can bring on powdery mildew.
• Crossvine is a tendril climbing aggressive vine that comes in tangerine, red, lavender and purple. The variety known as Tangerine Beauty has bright coral blooms that are very popular with hummingbirds. Crossvine can grow in full sun and occasionally can be found in very shady locations.
• Carolina Jessamine blooms a golden yellow in late winter to early spring. Its fragrant flowers attract hummingbirds and its dense foliage makes a great screen. Sun to part shade is perfect for this South Carolina native.
• Confederate Star Jasmine produces masses of sweet smelling, white blossoms in the spring with glossy dark green foliage as a background. Star grows in sun to part shade and is often found in full shade.
Two advantages to evergreen vines are they provide screening throughout the year and they do not have to be cleaned off the fence or trellis after they freeze back.
If you have a question for Chris, send it via email to [email protected]. Or mail a postcard to It’s About Thyme: 11726 Manchaca Road, Austin, TX 78748 www.itsaboutthyme.com.
