18 Valuable Vines to Plant in Your Garden

Hard-working vine plants do it all. Plants that climb over pergolas offer a shady place to sit when they leaf out. Morning glories, mandevillas and honeysuckles have beautiful blooms and make colorful plants for a trellis. Fast-growing vines can hide your neighbor's overgrown yard or make your own yard feel more private. Try vines for walls to cover up damaged spots. (Just be sure the vines you choose won't actually cause damage. Ask your county extension service agent for advice if you're not sure.)

Consider flowering vines for year-round color or easy-to-grow annual vines for vertical interest and height in your garden. It's easy to learn how to trellis your plants and flowers and give them plenty of support. Flowering plants will be easier to see, and vine plants like sugar snap peas and pole beans will be easier to reach. Check out our ideas for more plants that climb.

Wisteria’s fragrant, white or purple-blue racemes are stunning in spring. Give the deciduous vines a sturdy structure to hold their weight or let the flowers drape over an arbor. Wisterias grow 25 to 35 feet in full sun and moist, well-drained soil. Some varieties are invasive, so check with your local extension service or garden center before you plant. 'Amethyst Falls' is a popular, non-invasive American wisteria (W. frutescens). It's hardy in USDA Zones 5-9.

Showy Carolina Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens) is a twining vine that can grow to 20 feet. Its fragrant, yellow blooms open in late winter to early spring; depending on where you garden, the plants may be evergreen or semi-evergreen. Give them full sun to partial shade and moist, well-drained soil. If you prefer, let the vines trail over the ground to cover a bank or slope. They're hardy in Zones 7-9.

The spring air smells sweet when honeysuckles (Lonicera periclymenum) open their white and yellow blooms. Hardy in Zones 4-9, these 8 to 10-foot climbers need full sun and average water and adapt well to most soils. 'Scentsation',’ shown here, is a non-invasive honeysuckle that’s lovely when trained on fences or trellises. Trim the vines, if you like, but pruning isn’t really necessary.