Vines and Climbers

I get a lot of questions from customers asking about unique and interesting blooms.  A lot of gardeners love to have centerpiece flowers that really draw the eye and make you want to lean in for a better look.  My first responses are usually flowering vines, particularly Passion Vine and various Clematis varieties.

Of course, despite my great love for them, climbers are not always the right solution.  Another of my favorite blooms that is both really unique and that you don’t see in a lot of gardens is Tricertys, common name Toad Lily.  The blooms of the Toad Lily are absolutely fascinating, and really invite you to stop, come closer, and give them a nice long inspection.  They do well in full and part shade, which brings out the texture and form of the flowers and lending a certain air of mystery to the rich colors.  We chose the Tricertys ‘Raspberry Mousse’ for inclusion in our catalog because its very nearly solid coloring (unusual among Toad Lilies) really brings out the best qualities of the almost alien form of these small blooms.  The flowers are small; just about an inch across, but they bloom all along the stems, so the size only serves to make them all the more interesting.  If you’re looking for a truly unique flower to star in your shady garden, you really can’t do any better than this Toad Lily.

Passion Flowers are some of my absolute favorite plants, and I thought that, it would be fitting to talk about them in honor of the early Easter.  The name for these unique flowers does not refer to romantic love, as the word "passion" is generally used in modern times.  The name for these flowers comes from the 1500's when Christian missionaries named the plant after the Passion of Christ because of its interesting Cross-shaped physical structures.  In much of the world these beautiful plants are called Clock-Flowers or Clock-Faced Flowers.

Almost all Passion Vines are tropical or nearly tropical plants.  Most cannot survive a hard freeze.  Because of this, there is a great demand for Passion Vines that thrive in containers.  When growing Passion Vine in a container, I usually recommend planting in Spring.  This give the plant time to establish itself before being cut back for winter.  Cut the vine back to about six to eight inches when bringing it inside for the cold season, and be sure to get it indoors before the first hard frost.  Keep it in a sunny window (they serve as a cheery little houseplant in the cold months) until the risk of frost is past.  A well-drained container is essential for Passion Flowers, as they can be susceptible to root-rot.

Our Passiflora 'Coral Sea' and Passiflora 'Sherry' were both chosen by Wayside Gardens not only because they are unusually beautiful Passion Flowers and bloom heavily, but also because they do exceptionally well grown in containers in Northern climates.  The brilliant deep red of the 'Sherry' can't be beat for intense color.  Grow this plant in some evening shade to allow the color to appear especially deep.  The 'Coral Sea' is an interesting pink shade that you won't often find on other flowers.  Try this one against a dark backdrop for greater contrast, to make the blooms really pop.

With all the interesting new choices we're getting this year, I find that I keep coming back to flowering vines as a topic.  Between my love of flowering vines and my almost compulsive fascination with unusual blooms, I don't see how I could not write often about some of these great new flowers.

Take these two new roses, for instance.  The Rose Climbing Night Owl is an amazing rich violet, the likes of which you rarely get to see in full sun.  However, this rose has an amazing resistance to fading, so you'll get to enjoy that color even in the hottest of areas.  The deep purple will just keep on coming, too, as this heartily disease-resistant rose is a strong rebloomer that will keep your trellis or fence in those interesting flowers all summer long. 

On nearly the other end of the spectrum is the bright, fun Rose Climbing Candy Land.  While it's just as disease-resistant and profusely blooming, the Candy Land is
certainly a far cry from the Night Owl in color.  These bright pink roses feature interesting white streaks that bring a double-take from anyone that sees them.  The overall effect makes the flowers look, frankly, delicious.  I can easily imagine a confectioner producing a candy that looks nearly like these blooms, though it seems unlikely that even the best candy-maker could produce anything so consistently perfect of form as this plant does.  Maybe the best thing about these new roses is how easy they are.  Rose gardening isn't just for gardeners with all the time in the world anymore, and these two incredibly easy to grow climbing roses are certainly no exception to that trend.  The only question for me this spring is which of these two will be going on my archway.

We are absolutely ecstatic to announce that this year’s Wayside Gardens Collector’s Edition is now available on our website.  Unfortunately, we no longer have any copies of this publication. We’ll keep you up to date throughout 2014 for any new additions. We got to work with the amazing Ken Druse (I listen to his podcast, Real Dirt, every Saturday, and so should you), which was a tremendous honor and pleasure for everyone at Wayside Gardens.  The collection includes some of the most amazing plants I’ve ever seen, both woody and herbaceous.  Some of these plants are truly unique, and beautiful beyond almost anything currently in my garden (I’ll be including some of this new collection in my garden this year, you can be sure of that).  With this great collection finally being released, I can’t help but take the chance to write about a few of my favorites.  Making the cover of our Collector’s Edition catalog this year is the Epimedium Ogisui.  It’s a stunning flower that, as a great bonus, will throw out those elegant blooms very early in the season.

It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of flowering vines, or that Clematis is one of my favorite flowers.  It should be no surprise, then, that the flower that excites me the most in our new collection is the Clematis ‘Haku Ookan.’  Besides producing blooms of an amazing purple reminiscent of the popular Clematis Bourbon, it is one of the most prolific bloomers we’ve ever seen.  It also has two blooming seasons, which is something that I can rarely resist.  Once a vine has stopped blooming in mid-summer, I almost never remember that it will start blooming again later in the year, making the second season a fantastic surprise.

With more and more gardeners becoming deeply concerned with the effects that their gardening have on the environment, planting native flowers is a great option for nearly everyone.  We are offering as part of this collection one of my favorite native
plants, Trillium erecta.  This flower’s stunning color and unique blooms make it a great accent perennial.  It could even hold its own as the centerpiece of most gardens.  It is actually a red flower with pale green sepals that make it seem like a distinctly two-color bloom.  It is native to woodland areas up and down the Eastern US, all the way from Georgia to Ontario, and I have often encountered these while hiking in the hills of Georgia and Tennessee.  I wondered for years what these great flowers were, and this year I’ll be planting some of my own.

Clematis Sweet Autumn is a wonderful treat for anyone who wants to extend the life of their garden. This fall blooming vine will reach up to 30 feet covering your garden with bushy white fragrant blooms. With silvery seed-heads and beautiful star-shaped flowers, this plants will really show out once it gets going.

It usually takes a couple seasons for Clematis Sweet Autumn to establish, but once it does, it is hardy and fairly low maintenance. It will perform best if the roots are shaded and the top part of the plant gets full sun. This will be the star of any garden from late summer to fall.