The Best Pergola Plants and Vines

Pergolas are beautiful additions to a garden, providing not only a strong vertical element, but also protection and shade. Add life to your pergola by covering it with a beautiful, suitable climbing plant.

photo by ukgardenphotos via flickr (cc)

 

The best plants for a pergola are ones that will grow rapidly to cover the structure and require minimal care. But lets not forget the design aspect – color and structure is important too. By choosing the perfect plant you can add color, fragrance and what is most important you can create a private shady area in your garden. You can even combine your favorite climbers to add even more color and structure throughout the whole year. For starters, lets see which are the best and most popular pergola plants and vines to use and make sure that your pergola is built strong enough to support whichever plant you choose.

 

 1. Clematis

Clematis is one of the most popular climbers and is widely used by gardeners mostly due to its beautiful flowers found in different colors and shapes. You can check our Complete Clematis Care Guide and learn everything you need to know about using this gorgeous climbers for covering your pergola.

Extra tip – combine Clematis with climbing roses for a quick cover.

 2. Wisteria

Wisteria is a woody, deciduous, perennial climbing vine with shiny green leaves and beautiful white, blue or violet flowers. They prefer moist soil and are shade tolerant. Although very popular climber, this fragrant beauty must have sturdy support.

Extra tip – seed pods that form in late summer can be toxic to dogs when eaten.

3. Jasmine

If you would like to use your pergola to create a private, shaded sitting area then using Jasmine to cover it is the perfect choice. This is mostly because of its starry flowers and wonderful scent. Jasmine is most definitely one of the most beautiful climbers out there, although it is not a typical climbing plant as it needs a good support. This plant is very easy to maintain and can grow well in sun or partial shade.

4. Trumpet vine

The Trumpet Vine is a beautiful trumpet that produces interesting trumpet-like flowers. It is a sun-loving deciduous climber that can tolerate partial shade as well. It flowers from late summer till autumn.

5. Bougainvillea

Plant Bougainvillea in the right climate and you will get colorful flowers for 11 months a year! This beautiful climber likes hot and dry places so it is most suitable for  hardiness zone 9 or higher. If you live in a colder climate you can still plant it in a pot and get it inside for the winter, but this isn’t very suitable if you want to use ti as a pergola coverage. If you are lucky enough to live in a warmer place, just choose a sunny spot for your Bougainvillea and provide rich, well drain soil.

Extra Tip: Water sparingly, fertilize regularly

6. Honeysuckle

Oh, the fragrance of the Honeysuckle – so inviting! Similar to Trumpet Wine, Honeysuckle produces trumpet shaped flowers that are popular because of their scent. No wonder they are magnets for hummingbirds. Make sure you choose a twining vine variety like the Trumpet Honeysuckle (L. sempervirens) if you’d like to use it for covering a pergola. Honeysuckle blooms from spring to midsummer.

7. Climbing Roses

Another popular choice for pergolas, even though they require extra maintenance and pruning. There are so many varieties to choose from – it all depends on your personal taste and preferred color.  Some of the best varieties to choose are “Joseph’s Coat” with multi-colored flowers, “Golden Showers” with  bright yellow, “New Dawn”  with lite pink, and “Fourth of July” with red and white flowers.

8. Passionflower

These exotic climbers (also known as Passiflora) produces purple and white flowers and will quickly cover your pergola. There are frost hardy varieties available for the northern garden. These vines is characteristic for its vibrant flowers and appealing fragrance. But they are one of the best pergola plants because they can reach 20 feet growth in a single season. They need full sun and drained soil.

9. Climbing Hydrangea

Here is a beautiful shade loving climber for your pergola! Although a but hard to establish, this shade-tolerant climber becomes vigorous. Just make sure you plant it in rich, well drained soil. The blooming starts in summer. Plant it if you want a deep, rich texture. It  is one of the best of the ornamental vines and useful because it will grow and flower even in a northern exposure.

Extra tip – Over-watering is a chief reason for losses.

10. Golden Hops

You want to brighten and quickly cover your pergola? Plant Golden Hops and you will get a great, colorful foliage in no time. They need rich, moist well-drained soil with regular watering and prefer full sun to partial shade.

Extra tip – For optimal leaf color, keep that soil moist!

The Best Pergola Plants and Vines

All You Need To Know About Growing Beautiful Zinnias

Perfect for beginner gardeners, zinnia flowers are a colorful and long lasting addition to your flower garden. When you learn how easy it is to grow these plants, you’ll instantly want to add this popular annual to sunny areas that benefit from their perky blooms.

They simply need full sun, warmth, and well-drained soil rich in organic matter. Zinnias have bright, solitary, daisy-like flower heads on a single, erect stem. The most common zinnia is “dahlia-flowered” and grows up to three feet. Other types are “cactus-flowered.” Use zinnias in an annual or mixed border. Smaller zinnias are also suitable for edging, window boxes or other containers. The narrow-leaf zinnia also works well in hanging baskets. Here is all you need to know about growing beautiful zinnias in your garden!

Planting

Zinnia flowers are planted from seeds. Seeds of zinnia flowers should be sown directly into the sunny flower bed, as developing roots do not like to be disturbed. In warmer areas with long growing seasons, sow zinnia seeds directly into the garden after all danger of frost has passed. In colder regions with shorter growing seasons, sow seeds indoors about 4 to 5 weeks before the last average frost.

Location

Full sun is essential with a minimum daylight temperature of 60 degrees F when planting zinnia flowers. Just cover zinnia seeds, and aim for a final spacing of 25-30 cm (10-12 inches) between plants.

Soil

Zinnias are adaptable but prefer fertile, humus-rich, well-drained soil. Keep the soil moist, but not soggy, for young plants. If soil is amended with compost, the flowers will grow more quickly.

Watering

You should water zinnias at the base of the plant. A soaker hose is ideal for keeping foliage and petals dry while providing much needed irrigation. The best is to water in the early morning, allowing the foliage and flowers ample time to dry off before nightfall.

Deadheading

Regularly deadhead or remove old flowers to keep plants attractive and encourage more blooms. Clipping the plant back often results in more abundant blooms. In addition, when learning how to grow zinnia, remember that pinching back results in a bushier and more attractive plant.

Pests

Zinnias can get bacterial and fungal spots, powdery mildew and bacterial wilt. Minimize wetting of foliage to avoid disease. Caterpillars, mealy bugs, and spider mites also cause problems. Avoid spraying and tolerate some leaf damage unless the situation is uncontrolled.

All You Need To Know About Growing Beautiful Zinnias

6 Amazing Drought Resistant Plants

 

With specialized mechanisms that allow them to survive without water during times of drought, these drought tolerant plants require little if any supplementary water. Although most can survive without additional water, they do need some water and/or shade occasionally, especially as seedlings or young plants.

Given additional moisture you may find they thrive for long periods in your garden or landscape. These plants are often opportunistic and will quickly bloom and produce seed during the rainy season followed by a period when they will either ‘senesce’ (die back) or remain in a non-flowering state.  We chose six of these amazing drought resistant plants that you can put in your garden.

 

Bonfire

Growing up to 3 meters begonia bonfire is a hardy dense that is an excellent choice for an informal screening in your garden. It has very fine, deeply divided leaves with lovely bronze colored new growth. It flowers heavily through-out spring with brilliant red, spider-like flowers that are attractive to birds.

Stonecrop (Sedum)

Perfect plant for any garden sedum, are often taken for granted , partly because they don’t bloom until the fall, but also because they require so little care from the gardener. Their thick, succulent leaves are able to withstand drought and rainy weather. The flower buds form early and remain attractive well in winter.

Canyon Penstemon

Canyon Penstemon has tall spikes of rose-purple flowers that attract hummingbirds in the spring. Triangular green leaves are fused at the base of the stem, and have serrated margins.  You need to plant Canyon Penstemon  in full sun to part shade and you have to provide excellent drainage.

Silvery Lupine

Once established this drought tolerant, perennial wildflower needs only little bit of water. Silvery lupine is  fragrant flower that will bloom in June with purple to white flowers in whorls up stem.  Needs full to partial sun, reaching up to 24 inches in height.

Manzanita

Manzanita or “little apple” because of  the small, round nutritious fruit eaten by bears, coyotes, foxes, quail, and other animals, including human beings. They are evergreen, colorful, and grow fast. Make sure you pick the right plant for your soil as some prefer sand and some clay.

Lomandra -Katrinus Deluxe

This cold hardy, drought tolerant, shade tolerant, heat tolerant,  pine-green fine foliage and weeping habit gives you the look and feel or an ornamental grass all year long.  Don’t cut it in winter because it won’t need it; evergreen even when temperatures are very low.  This is a great low maintenance choice where ornamental grass is desired.

6 Amazing Drought Resistant Plants

How To Propagate Boxwood

It is obvious that boxwood is not a cheap plant so knowing how to propagate it can be very useful and budget friendly. All you need is a little patience – it might take a year till your new plant starts to grow. 

During July/August choose some healthy boxwood twigs that are 10 to 15 cm long and don’t have any blooms on them. Remove almost all of the leaves, leaving just a few on the tip. Prepare the soil and make holes. Plant the twigs so that half of their length is in the soil. Cover the planter with foil. The soil should be moderately moist and when a root system develops on the twigs new leaves will start to show.

 

Important Tip: it is best to keep the new plant at the height of your hands. This way the pruning process will be much easier. Using proper tools will help you make clean cuts that will heal fast. If you don’t make a clean cut, fungi and other pests may inhabit your plant.

 

Extra Tip: Boxwood is an outdoor plant so it doesn’t require a warm spot for a successful propagation. Keep the planters with the new plants on your balcony, preferably in shade. You can also plant the young twigs directly into your garden. Just choose a nice shady, protected spot and plant the twigs in moist soil rich with limestone and clay.

How To Propagate Boxwood

Urban Vertical Gardens - Perfect For Small Spaces

With their simple and contemporary design, these planters with different shapes and sizes allow each user to create a mosaic of their own to decorate a wall and transform a room into a green oasis.

Vertical gardens were mainly located outside until Urbio created an innovative  concept – an urban vertical garden – the first ever magnetic wall-mounted vertical garden system. Urbio is an award-winning design

and manufacturing brand that focuses on creating well-designed organizational solutions for small-space

living. Their products are recognized for design, style and engineered for function, performance, and durability.

The vertical garden system consists of a white panel with holes that is attached to the wall. The pots are then attached to the panel. This is a very simple process which means you can easily remove the pots from the panel in order to water, re-pot, fertilize or prune the plants.

Small pieces of pumice are placed on the bottom of the pot in order to help the plants grow. This encourages water drainage , aeration of the soil and prevents rotting roots.

For proper planting, you should use small pieces of pumice (around 5 cm) and then fill the rest of the pot (2.5 cm bellow the top of the pot) with soil.

Urbio planters are lightweight, made from durable polypropylene which can be recycled and are available in different shapes and sizes, so users can make their personal mosaic in accordance with the plants they want to grow.  Designers have pointed out that one of the biggest advantages of Urbio’s vertical gardens is the fact that they will keep your space clean as the soil and the plants won’t make a mess even if you have light color furniture. There is no danger of scattering particles from the planters. Sounds perfect, doesn’t it?

Urbio planters would have been just a concept if it wasn’t for the team of designers who worked hard to bring us the final product. Beau Oyler and Jared Aller together with the Enlisted Design team are the designers that created these simple yet extremely useful hanging planters. Their experience was very valuable. Beau and Jared have worked on projects for Williams-Sonoma, Nestlé, Netgear and Clorox, and have won multiple awards for their designs. They constantly work on finding useful solutions, just like the Urbio indoor vertical gardens. Innovative, reliable solution for urban gardening and organization in small spaces!

 

 

 

Disclaimer: This text is our own opinion on the Urbio indoor vertical planters. We are in no way associated with Urbio and haven’t received any compensation for writing this post.

 

 

 

Urban Vertical Gardens - Perfect For Small Spaces

How To Prepare Your Geraniums For The Winter

Your Geraniums will bloom all over again next year if you just move them indoors before the first frosts. With a proper preparation, they can wait for the next spring placed in a bright spot in your basement or corridor.

 

Geraniums should be placed in a bright spot and temperature from 41F to 54F during the winter. As they do not need too much light placing them near a window will be sufficient. Once you find a perfect spot for your plants, water them moderately, as they have the ability to store water in the ticker stems. The soil should be just slightly moist. You don’t need to fertilize your Geraniums till March.

 

Geraniums often bloom in autumn, especially when the nights are pleasant. In late September you should remove all the flowers, both old and new, so the plant can save energy for the winter. Remove wilted leaves as well. Most of their leaves will fall through the winter. Just use your hands to remove all of the dead parts. Cutting them is a worse option as only short twigs will remain.

 

Pruning is very important for growing beautiful Geraniums. If you want dense plants full of flowers you should prune your Geraniums in March or October. You should do this by cutting all of the new shoots so only the main (old) ones remain.

 

 

How To Prepare Your Geraniums For The Winter

How To Prepare Your Geraniums For The Winter

Your Geraniums will bloom all over again next year if you just move them indoors before the first frosts. With a proper preparation, they can wait for the next spring placed in a bright spot in your basement or corridor.

 

Geraniums should be placed in a bright spot and temperature from 41F to 54F during the winter. As they do not need too much light placing them near a window will be sufficient. Once you find a perfect spot for your plants, water them moderately, as they have the ability to store water in the ticker stems. The soil should be just slightly moist. You don’t need to fertilize your Geraniums till March.

 

Geraniums often bloom in autumn, especially when the nights are pleasant. In late September you should remove all the flowers, both old and new, so the plant can save energy for the winter. Remove wilted leaves as well. Most of their leaves will fall through the winter. Just use your hands to remove all of the dead parts. Cutting them is a worse option as only short twigs will remain.

 

Pruning is very important for growing beautiful Geraniums. If you want dense plants full of flowers you should prune your Geraniums in March or October. You should do this by cutting all of the new shoots so only the main (old) ones remain.

 

 

How To Prepare Your Geraniums For The Winter