Can You Grow Flowering Vines in Spokane?

Spring

• Chinese wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) provides a striking choice for Spokane's spring. Before its leaves appear, this vigorous grower bears large, pendent flower clusters that reach up to 12 inches in length. The blooms range in color from shades of lavender and violet to white and pink. Chinese wisteria is suitable for USDA zones 5 through 8. Five-leaf akebia (Akebia quinata) offers dainty spring clusters of purplish flowers, attractive five-lobed foliage and purple-brown fruit in fall. Also known as chocolate vine for its chocolate-vanilla fragrance and chocolaty cast to its flowers, five-leaf akebia is suitable for USDA zones 5 through 8.

Summer

• By early summer in Spokane, the delicate, white flower clusters of climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala spp. petiolaris) crown its dark green, heart-shaped leaves. The fragrant, lace-cap flowers cover this versatile vine, suitable for USDA zones 4 through 8. In late summer, the brilliant blooms of trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans) attract attention they demand well into fall. The trumpet-like flowers of scarlet-red and orange measure up to 3 inches long and are admired by people and hummingbirds alike. A rapid grower, trumpet creeper is suitable for USDA zones 4 through 9.

Fall

• Autumn's arrival in Spokane finds silver lace vine (Fallopia baldschuanicum, formerly known as Polygonum baldschuanicum) already in full bloom. Panicles of fragrant, cream-white flowers blanket the vine right up until frost and attract both butterflies and birds. Suitable for USDA zones 4 through 7, this vigorous grower has an attractive reddish tinge on new foliage. Coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), suitable for USDA zones 4 through 9, adds color to a fall garden through its trumpet-like, coral-red flowers and brilliant red fall fruit. The showy flowers, particularly attractive to hummingbirds, are bright yellow inside.

Clematis

• When considering flowering vines for Spokane, clematis requires a category all its own. Hundreds of varieties provide choices for every season. Spring-blooming "Pink Perfection" (Clematis montana var. rubens "Pink Perfection"), suitable for USDA zones 5 through 9, brings forth a mass of fragrant, delicate-pink flowers reminiscent of anemone blooms. As summer progresses, the deep magenta, 4-inch blooms of "Ernest Markham" (Clematis "Ernest Markham"), suitable for USDA zones 4 through 11, add vibrant color. Suitable for USDA zones 5 through 9, sweet autumn clematis (Clematis terniflora, previously known as Clematis paniculata) fills the autumn air with profuse fragrance. As days grow short, beautiful plume-like seed heads replace the white, star-shaped blossoms. They serve as lovely reminders of the many dimensions that flowering vines bring to gardens in Spokane and throughout the world.