Need ideas for a perennial vine

[miraje]

Hi everyone! I'm putting in a veggie garden this fall, and I'm going to be installing 120 feet of three-foot-tall wire rabbit fence around it. I don't mind the rabbits that have made our yard their home as long as they stay out of places they shouldn't be. Anywho, we don't have a privacy fence or hedge or anything to hide our backyard from the

Comments

[rainarana]

Look at crossvine as well. I'll probably put it in to cover a chain link fence. It can take over but it's also easy to knock back. Not sure how drought tolerant it is but it grows wild here in Tennessee in the summer when it doesn't get much rain. Pretty orange trumpet flowers.

[miraje]

I'll definitely consider it! I like the cross vine flowers better than the honeysuckle, but a website I found also mentioned that it has root suckers. My garden beds will only be a few feet from the fence, so that might be an issue. :/

[nutmegdealer]

i suggest sky vine.

1. check
2. it did ok in hot ass n. florida, so you should be fine.
3. check
4, 5. it can potentially get to 20 feet, but you can just prune like you want it.

[miraje]

I love the blue flowers, but it looks like it's only hardy to zone 8. I'm not sure it would handle our winters all that well. :(

[nutmegdealer]

a handful of people on davesgarden.com grew it below zone 8, so you never know.

[moropus]

Honeysuckle is invasive. It took me forever to fight it back and get rid of it in SC. All from one cutting.

[leeneh]

Lots of non-invasive varieties exist now. :)

[rhodielady_47]

Well, if you're thinking of honeysuckle, I suggest you get some of the native RED honeysuckle. It produces masses of red flowers all spring and summer which are beloved by hummingbirds.

Another idea:
You could always grow your cucumber and green bean vines on the fence. My cucumbers always seemed to enjoy growing up rather than running along the ground.
At any rate, you could grow these on your fence that first summer while the honeysuckle settles in.
Hope this helps!
:)

[miraje]

I think I will do that at least in the initial year just to save myself from having to build the trellises right away. I just know that anything growing on the outside of the fence will be fair game for the rabbits. :)

[rhodielady_47]

I have a rabbit problem too. Good luck!
:)

[ursulav]

Obviously you'd want the native trumpet honeysuckle, not the Japanese kind, which is hellishly invasive, but you probably have that covered already. Crossvine would also be good--hummingbirds like it, but in my experience, it does take a little time to get established that will require watering.

Virginia creeper gets a bad rap for spreading aggressively, but compared to stuff like Japanese honeysuckle or trumpet creeper, it's positively tame and gives me no trouble, so I'm fond of it. You may not be.

Under no circumstances plant bouganvillea, as in a dry climate it will take off like a racehorse, big spiky bits, the horror, etc.