Building ideas

Plant Flowers to Climb Your Garden Obelisks

Annual and perennial vines have long been used to cover unsightly walls or structures in the landscape. The vines soften the hard architectural lines of fences and buildings. They create living sculptures of other structures, such as Garden Obelisks, ramshackle sheds, outbuildings, tree stumps, and assorted "cast-offs" given new life in the Garden.

Use Garden Obelisks to create a vertical growing space for annual or perennial vines where there is no existing structure for the vines to grow upon. Make them the centerpiece of a perennial Garden, line them up to define the border of an annual flower bed, or to separate Garden "rooms." Planted with brightly colored flowering vines, Garden Obelisks are an imposing presence in the landscape.

Grow these annual and perennial flowering vines on your Garden Obelisks:

Morning glories and/or moonflowers: Members of the sweet potato family, they open their blossoms only at certain times of days: the flowers of morning glories, Ipomoea purpurea, open in the early morning and close by midday. Moonflowers, I. alba, open in late afternoon, stay open all night and close shortly after dawn. Plant both kinds to climb up the same structure and enjoy blooms from late afternoon through mid-morning. Start seeds indoors for the earliest blooms.

Ornamental sweet potatoes: Distinguished by their colorful foliage, ornamental sweet potato, Ipomoea batatus, vines grow 12 feet or more in length over the course of a growing season. Available in varieties with foliage in red, bronze or various colors of green, including chartreuse. Their leaves look just like those of edible sweet potatoes. They are often included in container Gardens, Planted near the edge of the pot to cascade over the sides. Ornamental sweet potatoes will quickly grow to cover even the tallest Garden Obelisks.

Clematis and autumn clematis: Often called the queen of vining flowers, clematis, Clematis paniculata, produces light lavender blossoms on woody vines. Its cousin, autumn clematis, C. maximonowicziana, produces smaller, less showy, but more fragrant flowers in autumn. Both types of clematis prefer morning sun and protection from the afternoon sun, although autumn clematis is more tolerant of all-day sun. Mulch them well, they prefer their roots kept cool and evenly moist.

Honeysuckle: A prolific flowering vine, honeysuckle, Lonicera sempervirens, also called "coral honeysuckle," quickly grows to cover any Garden structure. It produces many tiny, trumpet-shaped, coral, yellow or red, fragrant flowers from mid-spring through autumn. Native to the Americas, coral honeysuckle grows best in sun to partial shade. Do not Plant Japanese honeysuckle, L. japonica, as it is a rampant, invasive vine that has escaped cultivation in North America.

Climbing hydrangea: A shade-loving flowering vine, climbing hydrangea, Hygdrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris, is relatively care-free. Its large, white flowers bloom in summer and look just like the flowers of shrub-like hydrangeas. The vines are woody and can become quite heavy on a large specimen; ensure any Garden Obelisks or other support structures it grows upon are substantial and secure. Mulch their soil and keep them evenly moist for the greatest number of flowers.

Covered with any of these flowering vines, Garden Obelisks become living art in your landscape.

Copyright Sharon Sweeny

Sharon Sweeny specializes in all things Gardening, as well as self-sufficient, do-it-yourself lifestyles. Read more about intensive Gardening at http://moxieGardener.com and decorative Garden structures at http://eGardenObelisks.com.