Climbing the Charts Vines and Other Climbers Get a Grip on More

Climbers MAY05: Climbing the charts Vines and other climbers get a grip on more gardeners By Tracy Ilene Miller Climbing plants and vines are still an expanding niche market. Gardeners are designing vertical elements in smaller spaces, and development of unusual varieties is just hitting its stride. Gardeners buy climbers to create flat, growing screens, to spruce up spring-blooming shrubs, to train up obelisks or posts for a focal point or even to train down as ground covers. A clematis, for instance, can be placed against a fence and take up little room, said Dave McCoy, co-owner with wife, Chris, of McCoy Family Nursery Inc. in North Plains, Ore., and Clematis produce a lot of flowers — something for which many gardeners yearn. The demand for spring-flowering plants, Clematis in particular, is always high, said McCoy, because customers tend to buy what they can see — blooming plants. He sometimes wishes it were different. “There are some really nice summer bloomers that haven’t really caught on because the foot traffic in the garden center has decreased by that time.” Two Clematis that customers always ask for by name are the old reliables C. ‘Jackmanii’ and C. ‘Nelly Moser.’ But clematis sales are burgeoning in new directions as breeders in Europe and other countries continue to push the envelope to produce large-flowered varieties with long- lasting blooms. C. ‘Barbara Harrington’ has been sold in England for more than three years but is new to the United States, said Darlene Wilmes, co-owner of Champoeg Horticulture in Aurora, Ore. “It is a prolific summer bloomer, with 3-inch blooms and a free-flowering habit.” Perhaps its most attractive feature is the color. “There are few Clematis that bloom red during summer,” she said. “Most reds are spring and fall bloomers.” Red is a very strong seller right now, as are other bold colors — purple, blue and orange. Also new to the U.S. market are some of the evergreen cultivars. The glossy, dark leaves of C. cirrhosa var. purpurascens ‘Freckles’ will last all year, and the early blooms are white bells with reddish-brown flecks. The plant’s year-round good looks have earned it the Award of Garden Merit from the Royal Horticultural Society. C. ‘Blekitny Aniol’ (Blue Angel) from Poland “produces flowers like I haven’t seen before, where you can’t see the foliage,” McCoy said. It starts blooming in June in a light crepe paper blue from almost ground level to the top of its 6- to-8-foot vine. “I wish they all could bloom that heavy,” he said. “Longevity of bloom is a priority with breeders,” Wilmes said. “They’ve figured out everblooming of hydrangeas and they’re trying to do that with clematis. The number one question from buyers is, ‘How long will it bloom?’” Americans like their clematis flowers as big as possible, which may explain the cooler response to the shorter clematis varieties coming out of Europe that tend toward smaller flowers, McCoy said. Nonetheless, C. ‘Piilu’ is a shorter plant, at 3 to 4 feet, that is so unusual, both McCoy and Wilmes think it is a winner. The prolific bicolor blooms are wavy and puckered in mauve with a red central bar that contrasts with the bright yellow stamens. English breeder Raymond Evison has also released the Patio Clematis Collection from Hines Horticulture as the first clematis specifically bred for containers. Compact and showy, these free-flowering clematis bloom vertical columns of colors spring through fall, ranging from wine red (‘Versailles’) to violet (‘Cezanne’) to pinkish-red with contrasting yellow (‘Picardy’). With a major focus on planters and baskets, a plant that received attention last summer at the 2005 trials at Al’s Garden Center in Woodburn, Ore., was Thunbergia alata ‘Apricot Smoothie,’ said production manager Paul Fukasawa. Perfect for free-flowering arrangements and training on structures, ‘Apricot Smoothie’ shows off a bright apricot bloom with a dark burgundy center on plants that can be trellised 6 to 8 feet. Lophospermum Great Cascade ‘Wine Red' is a vigorous, 7-foot climbing vine developed by Suntory with spectacular red, tubular flowers similar to snapdragons. Although it has tendrils, it doesn’t spiral as heavily as other vines, and it may need to be tied, Fukasawa said. Two other choice clematis selections are C. ‘Alionushka’ and C. x durandii, the former for its two-and-a-half month blooming period of pendulous rose-red blooms, and the latter for its drought tolerance and long-lasting indigo-violet blooms. “The clematis are easier than wisteria because they don’t end up ripping off your gutters; they are smaller,” said Karen Hopson, nursery manager at Garland Nursery in Corvallis, Ore. “We can’t keep any of our wisterias in stock,” Wilmes said. Wisteria isn’t new, but it never goes out of style. Champoeg began selling it three years ago and is still expanding the inventory. Wilmes buys her liners from Rippingale Nursery in Boring, Ore., and says, “I can tell you, anything they have left, we can’t keep in.” As important as everblooming Another big push in vines is getting more evergreen varieties to market. “Anytime you have an evergreen vine, they are in demand, because there are so few that are hardy in our area,” Hopson said. Still growing in popularity are Hydrangea integrifolia, H. seemannii (evergreen climbing hydrangea) and Billardiera longiflora, an evergreen vine with large purple berries, from bright yellow flowers, and tiny leaves on an unusually lightweight vine that tops out at 6 feet. Billardiera vines have been available for three to four years at Garland, and as soon as they come in, they are sold “in a flash,” says Hopson. Garland has also experimented with the hardiness of evergreen Bignonia capreolata ‘Tangerine Beauty’ (crossvine), a relative of Campsis radicans (common trumpet creeper), for the past five years, as it has become available. Hopson says it survives Willamette Valley winters nicely. It is hardy to minus-10 degrees F and frequently has continuous orange-red blooms spring through summer. For fragrance, Holboellia coriacea (China blue vine) is a sprawling, vigorous evergreen with small highly fragrant white flowers that yield dark blue fruit, and the deciduous Lonicera fragrantissima (winter honeysuckle) satisfies for its scent as well as its February blooms. “The fragrance has a way of bringing back memories, which is the reason people buy jasmine as well,” Hopson said. Jasminum nudiflorum (winter jasmine) blooms in the dead of winter; Jasminum x stephanense (pink jasmine) can last as long as two months; and Jasmine polyanthum (Chinese jasmine) is marginally hardy with lacy leaves and large clusters of “incredibly fragrant” blooms. “With that kind of fragrance and prolific bloom, gardeners just let it go if it doesn’t make it through the winter,” Hopson said. Mandevilla sanderi ‘MonProud’ (Strawberry Lemonade) and Mandevilla x amabilis ‘Magic Dream’ (Crimson Jewel) new tropicals from Monrovia could be annuals in colder climes. Strawberry Lemonade foliage emerges in four colors, from mint green to white, and Crimson Jewel blooms with the bold color gardeners are looking for, starting out deep crimson and fading to deep fuchsia. Back to the future The interest in vines has led to an increase in sales for plants that two or three years ago were practically ignored. Wilmes said she always grew some Campsis radicans and Hydrangea anomala ssp. petiolaris (climbing hydrangea) and had them in the greenhouses, but they were hardly a focus. Last year and this year, however, the two completely sold out. C. radicans has been around for a while, but the big orange bloom is beginning to attract attention. “People are again seeing it as different,” Wilmes said. A similar trumpet-shaped vine with large white flowers and equally large fragrance is Mandevilla laxa (Chilean jasmine). Akebia quinata is another old-timer gaining attention for its distinct form. The blooms are fragrant, and the fast-growing 15- to 20-foot vines are semi-evergreen and easy to grow. Of course, nothing beats media coverage for a plant. “A lot is driven by magazine articles,” said Hopson, “and grape has received a lot of media coverage lately, as has passionflower (Passiflora spp.). Customers are asking for them by name.” Vitis spp. (grape), bears large silver fuzzy leaves in spring, with spectacular shades in fall “that are just gorgeous,” Hopson said. “The vine has a nice sculptural quality and fabulous leaves. We’re selling three to four more times than past years. It definitely covers all seasons.” To play up their year-round interest, vines are being marketed for their ability to intertwine with other plants for a continuous display of flowers. At Champoeg, a new cross- merchandising plan for 2006 combines climbing roses with clematis in 10- to 15-gallon pots, to show the climbing rose as a finished product, in part to better display the vines more attractively. “We think it will increase our sales and the sales of rose growers,” Wilmes said. “The garden centers are excited about the help with cross merchandising. By putting roses with clematis, it gives the buyer a different idea.” Hopson said roses may require more maintenance, but people want the height and, in some cases, to create “gorgeous, secret little gardens.” Two repeat bloomers in the Easy Elegance line from Bailey Nurseries Inc. could do just that. Tahitian Moon in the Lifestyle Garden series has clusters of yellow fully double blossoms, and Sierra Skye in the Garden Jubilee series has fiery orange, fully double blossoms with thick petals that yield 1-inch hips for fall and winter interest.

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