What Are Good Vines to Grow on a Trellis in the Pacific Northwest?

Annual Vines

• Use annuals anywhere in the Pacific Northwest for a quick, effective trellis cover in the warm months that then lets sunlight through to warm the area in winter. Morning glories flower abundantly and attract hummingbirds. "Heavenly Blue" (Ipomoea tricolor "Heavenly Blue") has 6-inch-wide sky-blue flowers with a white throat and grows to 10 feet tall. Black-eyed Susan vine (Thunbergia alata) comes in white, yellow and orange-yellow cultivars, all with dark throats. It grows to 8 feet tall.

Evergreen Vines

• Hardy in USDA zones 7 through 9, evergreen clematis (Clematis armandii) has abundant star-shaped, fragrant white flowers in spring on a vine 20 to 25 feet long. The large, leathery green leaves make a good privacy screen. Secure the vine firmly to its trellis, since growth can become heavy. If you need a combination barrier and screening vine, consider Cherokee rose (Rosa laevigata). Native to China, it grows in USDA zones 7 through 9 and grows 12 feet long or more when trellised. Thorny canes have glossy green three-parted leaflets, single white 4-inch-wide flowers in spring and ornamental red rose hips in fall.

Showy Flowers

• Native to the Eastern U.S., wild passion flower (Passiflora incarnata), also called maypop, has a showy, intricate white-and-purple 2 1/2-inch-wide flower in summer. An oval, green fruit ripens to yellow in fall and is edible. Hardy in USDA zones 5 through 9, the vine covers an 8-foot-tall trellis. It can become woody in mild-winter climates and is deciduous in colder climates, regrowing from a perennial root. Scarlet clematis "Duchess of Albany" (Clematis texensis "Duchess of Albany") has teardrop-shaped 2-inch-wide flowers from early August into autumn on an 8- to 10-foot vine. It grows in USDA zones 4 through 11 and may be killed to the ground in colder zones. It readily regrows in spring with prolific bloom on new growth.

Fragrant Flowers

• For intense fragrance, grow common jasmine (Jasminum officinale), also called poet's jasmine, hardy in USDA zones 7 through 10. White to pink flowers occur in early summer to autumn, attract hummingbirds, and can perfume the whole garden. Vines can grow 20 to 30 feet long and 15 feet wide. Cultivars include "Affine" with maroon new growth, "Aureovariegatum" with yellow and green leaves and coral new growth, and "Inverleith," with dark red new growth, red flower buds and claret red fall leaf color. Fiveleaf akebia (Akebia quinata) has bluish-green leaves and dangling clusters of deep purple, fragrant flowers in spring. Fast-growing, 20- to 25-feet-long vines are hardy in USDA zones 5 through 9.