Vines for Shade

Frank Lloyd Wright once quipped that “physicians can bury their mistakes, but architects can only advise their clients to plant vines.”

Vines make great screens, and are perfect for hiding architectural errors or for adding a much-needed vertical element to the garden. They’re fast growing for the most part, and can cover an arbor, pergola or outbuilding with a softening mass of leaves and beautiful flowers in almost no time.

Vines grow towards the sun, but even those vines that love full sun will usually tolerate some shade, albeit with less flowering and a thinner growth habit. But some thrive in shade.

These vines are perfect complements for the shady areas of a garden.

Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) ‘Star Showers’

This vine works well in the woodland, trained on a fence or as cover for an arbor. It’s a deciduous vine, with leaf color varying from green to silver to variegated. It’s also drought tolerant. It grows well from zone 3B to 10A. The foliage and purple fruit attracts birds to the garden.

Boston Ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata)

A vine that thrives in full sun or shade, Boston Ivy is usually grown for its attractive orange, purple and red fall color. Its flowers are inconspicuous, but attract bees. It climbs by means of adhesive disks, and will cover a wall, fence or arbor in no time. It’s best to keep it off of masonry walls, however, as the adhesive disks have been known to do damage.

Silvervein Creeper (Parthenocissus henryana)

Related to Virginia Creeper, this vine has beautiful silver-veined leaves and wonderful lacquer-red fall color. It grows well in full shade, but foliage and fall color will be more attractive in partial shade. Use with azaleas, hydrangeas and other shade-tolerant companions. Silvervein Creeper will grow to 30′.

Trumpet Honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens)

Not all honeysuckles are rampant invasive plants. This woodland native sends out coral-red flowers in early spring, perfect timing to greet the hummingbirds returning from their winter migrations. Flowering can persist throughout summer and fall. A perfect vine for mailbox or trellis plantings. May need tying to help it climb, so best used on low structures like fences.

Varieties: ‘Sulphurea’ – yellow flowers; ‘Superba’ – bright scarlet; ‘Magnifica’ – large, bright red flowers.

Carolina Aster (Symphyotrichum carolinianum)

This plant climbs up to 12′, and grows well from zones 6A to 10B. Blooms from late summer through late fall with delicate, pink and purple fragrant flowers, great for attracting birds, butterflies and bees. Good scrambling plant. Tolerates partial shade.

Canary Creeper (Tropaeolum peregrinum)

This delicate annual vine grows from zones 9A to 11. It has a petite yellow flower somewhat reminiscent of a canary in flight, but it’s mostly grown for its foliage. It will grow to 6′, making it the perfect vine for small spaces like balconies or courtyards. Propagated by seed – either indoors in winter, or by direct seeding after the last frost. Good for partial shade to full sun.

Hybrid Fatshedera Lieza (XFatshedera lieza)

Best for partial shade, but will grow well in full shade. Fatshedera lieza is a hybrid of Japanese Fatsia, a popular houseplant, and English Ivy var. hibernica (Irish Ivy). The plant has 5-lobed ivy-like leaves (larger than ivy, though, around 8″ to 10″). It loves partial shade and will tolerate full shade.

Fatshedera will grow up to 6′ high before falling over and will need to be tied in place on a trellis, as a lattice cover, on even as a container plant on a balcony, patio or in a small courtyard. Grows in zones 8 through 11.

Variaties: ‘Pia’ – wavy edged leaves; ‘Variegata’ – narrow, white leaf margins; ‘Anna Mikkels’ – yellow variegations.

Shade loving vines are workhorses in the garden, and are the perfect answer for an architectural element needing softening, or for screening out a neighboring view.

Sources:

1. The American Horticultural Society Encyclopedia of Gardening, 2003 DK Publishing, Inc.
2. Georgia Gardener’s Guide, by Erica Glasener and Walter Reeves
3. Horticopia Professional, 2004 Horticopia, Inc.