Ladies with a green thumb, I need some suggestions

My DH just built a pergola and we want to put planters by the columns with some type of plant that crawls up it with flowers, but comes back every year.

Kinda like this:



Here is the pergola he built:





Any suggestions?

Message edited 3/24/2008 11:02:46 PM.

Re: Ladies with a green thumb, I need some suggestions

I don't have any suggestions about the plants but is that your DH celebrating a job well done with a beer in the background? I think that's great!



It looks beautiful!

Re: Ladies with a green thumb, I need some suggestions

how about wisteria, or climbing clematis, trumpet vines, honeysuckle or morning glory.
Check any of the mail order plant websites like Springhill nursery for great pics.

Re: Ladies with a green thumb, I need some suggestions

Vines you have to be very careful with. A lot of them, although pretty when you first get them started, will take over and become invasive.

I think out of the list Kelly posted, Clematis would be your best bet. They can be cut to the ground each year if you don't like the look of leafless vines in the winter and will come back. They can also grow in containers successfully and come in beautiful shades of pink, purple, blue, white...

Wisteria and honeysuckle you probably won't find in NY anyway because many kinds are on the Long Island invasive species list:

Japanese Honeysuckle (this is the most common one)
Amur Honeysuckle
Morrow Honeysuckle
Tartarian Honeysuckle
Fly Honeysuckle

Wisteria, although beautiful, takes a long time to establish and I've known people who waited 10 years and they still didn't get any blooms.

I've grown Morning Glory and they are very beautiful. But they drop their seeds everywhere and if you're trying to contain it to just the trellis, you're in for a challenge!

There's a cool trick I learned with vines too. They need something fairly slim to attach and wind around. So a big wooden post won't work. You can make your own design and control where they go by running clear fishing line from the pot to the top of the trellis.

Someone on GardenWeb did it, check this out:



By the way, your husband is very talented. It's just beautiful.

Re: Ladies with a green thumb, I need some suggestions

Morning Glory! I believe they are a native plant