Who doesn’t love vibrant vines? Plant vines to get color, pollinators as well as vertical coverage for your garden. There are so many beautiful flowering vines to choose from we thought we would point out a few of our favorites.
Mexican Flame Vine
Vines are wonderful assets to gardens and landscapes whether your ultimate goal is pollinators, screening or both. The Mexican Flame Vine has vibrant orange blooms which is sure to brighten up any area. Their bright orange flowers look like happy little suns and are favorites of the bees and butterflies.
These are fast growing vines and need a trellis to attach to. They will die down in the winter time after a freeze and come back in the spring.
Star Jasmine
The Star Jasmine is fast-growing vine. They have fragrant white blooms that resemble a star, having 5 white petals. These are excellent choice for a denser thicker look. These are generally considered evergreen in the Austin, Texas area. They are a popular choice as they grown into a dense mat making it popular to double as screening. The winter of “Snomageddon” here in Austin was particularly hard on these vines and many did not survive.
Passion Vine
The Passion Vine is a show stopping favorite of many. They have intricate unique blooms which the bees go nuts for. They are a host plant for the Gulf Fritillary butterfly. Do not be alarmed if one day you come out and most if not all your leaves are gone. No worries. It is the caterpillars loading up before they turn into beautiful butterflies. The leaves will return in no time.
Crossvine
The Crossvine is a beautiful Texas native vine. They have an orange trumpet-shaped blooms. The Crossvine are popular as they can grow in the shade as well as in the sun. Planted in the sun, the Crossvine will have a heavier bloom cycle. Having said that they will still bloom in the shade. These are an evergreen vine that does well in Austin, Texas and the Central Texas area.
Mandevilla Vine
The Mandevilla is tropical flowering vine. They are available in many colors- white, red and pink to name a few. They are a tropical vine here in Austin. If kept in containers, you can protect from the freeze. Planted in the ground here in Austin, it would be considered an annual vine. These vines bloom prolifically and are a favorite of bees and hummingbird moths.
Butterfly Vine
Last but not least we have the Butterfly Vine. The Butterfly Vine have yellow blooms and beyond that have unique seed pods. The seed pods are the reason behind the name of the vine. The yellow flowers look very delicate and lace like all clustered together. Once the blooms are spent the seed pods form. They grow and resemble butterflies and are chartreuse in color that turn brown and paper thin.
Regardless of which flowering vine you plant, you are sure to attract bees, butterflies. If you are lucky, hummingbirds too!
