Good Climbers
Fill your bare trellis with blooms and vines that grow vertically. While perennials are best to keep the structure covered year-round, starting off with a few annuals can help fill in the blank spots until a couple of seasons have thickened up the permanent residents. Here are a few hardy scramblers to brighten up your lattice.
Clematis
Clematis montana
Perennial twiner that grows up to 30 feet. Blooms May to June for up to 4 weeks. Features 4 petals, 2 inches across and deciduous green leaves.
Needs sun or light shade; hardy in zones 6 to 9.
Moonflower
Ipomoea alba
Annual (in the North) twiner that grows up to 15 feet. Blooms summer to frost. Features fragrant, trumpet-shaped white blooms are 5 to 5½ inches across and unfurl in late afternoons for night bloom. Each blossom lasts only a day. Foliage is rich green with round or heart-shaped leaves.
Needs sun or partial shade; hardy in zones 9 to 11.
Sweet Pea
Lathyrus odoratus
Thick-flowering annual that grows up to 6 feet, with fragrant blooms in a variety of colors and small green leaves.
Needs full sun; hardy in zones 3 to 10.
Morning Glory
Ipomoea
Available in annual varieties and vigorous perennials bloom from midsummer to autumn. Grows up to 20 feet of pink, purple, blue, or white flowers.
Needs full sun; hardy in zones 3 to 10.
Bougainvillea
Bougainvillea glabra
Perennial that grows 15 to 25 feet and blooms summer to frost. Features three petal-like bracts surround tiny white florets that form in clusters at tips of stems. Evergreen green or variegated heart-shaped leaves.
Needs full sun; hardy in zones 9 to 11.
Bougainvillea
Carolina Jasmine
Gelsemium sempervirens
Perennial that grows 10 to 20 feet and blooms spring and summer. Features fragrant, pale to deep yellow trumpet-shaped blooms up to 1¼ inches long and evergreen glossy, lance-shaped leaves.
Needs full or partial sun; hardy in zones 7 to 9.
Climbing Hydrangea
Hydrangea anomala petiolaris
Perennial that grows up to 50 feet. Blooms 4 to 6 weeks in late spring. Provides winter interest with rough, peeling bark on stems. Features fragrant white lacecap flowers and green, finely toothed, heart-shaped leaves.
Needs full sun; hardy in zones 4 to 9.
Dutchman’s Pipe
Aristolochia macrophylla
Perennial that grows 25 to 30 feet. Blooms May and June. Features pipe-shaped but inconspicuous blooms with deciduous, dark green large heart-shaped leaves.
Needs full sun or partial shade; hardy in zones 5 to 8.