Are you taking advantage of the many interesting, dramatic effects you can achieve in your garden by using annual vines?
If not, you overlook one of the easiest and least expensive ways to lift your garden out of the ordinary by giving it the third dimension—height—which too many gardens lack.
Even on the smallest home grounds, there are opportunities for employing annual vines.
In fact, it is mainly in the small place that annual vines are most effective because they take up so little ground area in proportion to the display they provide.
And for the new garden, they are all but indispensable, for they give in a few weeks’ time effects that are very satisfactory substitutes for hardy vines and shrubs which require several years’ growth and cost, initially, 10 to 20 times as much.
Annual Vines Uses
Among the many ways in which annual vines can be used in the garden are:
- As an accent at the rear of the flower border where it will add height
- As a screen for undesirable views
- As a covering for arches, trellises, and arbors
- As a frame for windows
- As a covering for walls or banks
Color that is placed well above ground level always provides a dominant accent:
- A single climbing rose, or even one tree rose, will dominate a whole garden full of rose bushes
- Tall-growing flowers such as hollyhock or delphinium will likewise dominate a long border of perennials
Similarly, an annual vine or two growing up a post will give the needed lift to the flower border.
Using Support For Annual Vine Training
If there is no fence or wall against which the annual vines can be trained, support may be provided by a light trellis (preferably stained leaf green, not painted white) or by twiggy brush, such as is often used to support peas.
Annual vines that will grow well on a trellis include:
- Tall single or double nasturtiums
- Thunbergia
- Sweet peas
- Morning-glories
- Canary-bird flower (Tropaeolum peregrinum)
- Scarlet runner bean
Annual Vines For Screening
Any artist or photographer knows that what he leaves out of his picture is quite as important as what he puts in.
The landscape architect eliminates undesirable objects or views by screening them off with suitable groups of shrubs or trees.
Annual vines are an indispensable aid in the home garden, especially in one that is being newly planted.
Quickly-grown screens can be added wherever needed, either to serve temporarily while hardy plants are developing or to be planted each year as desired.
For screening purposes, the fast-growing and fairly dense vines are the best. Examples are:
- Scarlet runner bean
- Balloon vine
- Japanese hop
- Morning-glory
- Moonflower
Arbors, arches, and trellises, if carefully placed, can be very attractive, even in a small place.
Too frequently, however, they just look stuck in, as though they were accidentally left behind by the builder.
A climbing rose may require 2 or 3 years to cover a pergola or an arch.
An annual vine, however, if started early and set out later in the garden, will make a presentable sight in a few weeks.
If trained with care, it will not interfere with the climbing rose which is growing slowly up the arch.
Cobaea scandens, morning-glory, and moonflower are all good for covering arches and pergolas.
Excellent Backgrounds For Annual Vines
Walls of brick, wood, or stucco make excellent backgrounds for an annual vine.
Usually, a support made of rough twine held in place by metal holders (available at most garden supply stores) will be required.
Cobaea scandens clings to a relatively rough surface. I have frequently had it reach a height of over 25’ feet with no assistance other than a bit of brush to give it a start.
With its delicately cut foliage and peculiar canary-colored flowers, the canary-bird flower is excellent for small wall areas. It is also the cypress vine with fern-like leaves and starry scarlet, white flowers.
Like cobaea, cypress-vine and canary-bird flowers will tolerate a considerable shade and are good for north or a west wall.
Annual Vines For Framing Windows
An annual vine may also be used to frame a window. It may be grown in the soil below the window, in a good-sized pot, or even in a window box.
I have seen second-story windows growing in a window box framed by a vine. The effect is very lovely, the feathery frame being as charming when seen from the inside as when seen from the outside.
Plants of moderate growth are best for framing windows.
Thunbergia, with its simple orange to buff, dark-eyed little flowers—somewhat Iike oxalis—is quite ideal.
Annual Vines For Cutting
One does not ordinarily think of annual climbers—except for sweet peas—like flowers for cutting, yet most of them are excellent for this purpose.
The culture of annual vines presents no difficulties. However, they can be given a strong head start if seeds are started early indoors.
Sow the seeds directly in 3-inch clay or composition pots and later thin to two plants per pot.
Most annual vines will flower through the summer and autumn.