Discover the Best Pergola Plants for your garden and train these climbing plants on structures. They can also be grown in large containers!
There are many climbing plants that can be trained to climb over to get a welcoming shade in warm weather and colors, you can also use them to improve privacy and remove dullness from any outdoor space.
Check out our article on the best climbing houseplantshere
Best Pergola Plants
1. Rose
Botanical Name: Rosa
Roses are the favorite plants of most gardeners as they give out a feeling of warmth, tranquility, nostalgia, romance, and happiness. Climbing varieties are perfect for covering a pergola and arches.
Have a look at the best types of roses you can growhere
2. Clematis
Botanical Name: Clematis
Surely, one of the best pergola plants, Clematis is a spectacular vine as it blooms abundantly, flowering usually starts in spring. You can grow it easily and combine it with other plants. Here are its best varieties!
3. Honeysuckle
Botanical Name: Lonicera periclymenum
The fragrance of honeysuckle flowers is nostalgic and multiplies when dusk sets. It has more than 180 different species, and almost all are creepers. It is a huge vine that grows rapidly. A single honeysuckle plant can easily cover up a big sturdy pergola.
4. Passion Flower
Botanical Name: Passiflora
The passion flower is a fast-growing, hardy perennial in moderate and warm climates. The heady fragrance, colorful flowers, and edible fruits make it one of the most desirable climbing plants you can have in your garden.
5. Jasmine
Botanical Name: Jasminum
The intense fragrance of the flower can be smelt from far far away! In warm and humid climates, jasmine blooms all year-round. In cooler zones, grow it as an annual or transfer it indoors in winter.
Check out the best Jasmine varietieshere
6. Grape Vine
Botanical Name: Vitis
Truly one of the best climbing plants for pergolas, the grapevine will not only give shade and a bucolic sitting place but juicy grapes too.
7. Wisteria
Botanical Name: Wisteria sinensis
Wisteria is an aggressive grower, but it takes time to establish and it has a long life. If you have a large, sturdy pergola, it’ll look amazing on it. You’ll need to prune regularly to control its growth.
8. Trumpet Vine
Botanical Name: Campsis radicans
Each trumpet vine flower can appear in different colors (orange, yellow, or red). The blooms attract bees and hummingbirds. This plant looks great on the arches, pergolas, and trellises, but in favorable conditions, it can be invasive as well.
Another beautiful climber, its delicate bell-shaped flowers look great on pergolas. It is a fairly vigorous plant and tolerates mild to moderate frost.
10. Ivy
Botanical Name: Hedera helix
For the arbors, pergolas, and gazebos situated in the shade, Ivy is best, but it can be invasive as well. It is low maintenance, tolerates weather exploits, and provides a lush green color. To control it, you can grow it in large containers.
11. Bougainvillea
Botanical Name: Bougainvillea
The climbing varieties of bougainvillea are suitable for the pergolas, garden gates, and arches in USDA Zones 9-12. This plant loves a sunny position and heat and does not like wet feet. It comes in pink, red, yellow, and purple, along with many other shades.
12. Morning Glory
Botanical Name: Ipomoea
Morning glory vine is relatively easy to grow, and it perks up quickly—an excellent plant to cover up a pergola in a sunny position.
13. Kiwi
Botanical Name: Actinidia arguta
A kiwi vine takes a lot of space to grow. That is why it is one of the best pergola plants on our list. To get fruits from the kiwi plant, you’ll need to have both male and female plants for pollination.
14. Sweet Pea
Botanical Name: Lathyrus odoratus
Don’t grow bush-type varieties if you are growing them over the pergola. Plant sweet peas in the sun and provide well-drained soil.
15. Rangoon Creeper
Botanical Name: Combretum indicum
The sweet-scented flowers of this vine come in bright orange color that matches well with its bright green foliage. It climbs easily and does best in part or full sun. It also attracts pollinators!
16. Bleeding Heart Vine
Botanical Name: Clerodendrum thomsoniae
The tropical bleeding heart vine is native to Western Africa. What makes it perfect for pergolas is its contrasting combination of dark green foliage and exotic white-red flowers! It is one of the best pergola plants you can grow.
17. Butterfly Pea
Botanical Name: cl*toria ternatea
Butterfly pea flowers are the best food source for butterflies. The most attractive thing about this vine is its bright deep blue flowers!
A fast-growing vine that quickly covers up the trellises, pergolas, and arches. Golden hops can grow up to 15-20 feet long without any difficulty.
19. Climbing Hydrangea
Botanical Name: Hydrangea petiolaris
Growing climbing hydrangea vine is rewarding due to its glossy heart-shaped foliage and fragrant white flowers that appear in clusters from spring to summer. It is a slow grower and requires training and pruning.
Learn to grow Hydrangea from cuttingshere
20. Bower Vine
Botanical Name: Pandorea jasminoides
Native to Australia, this evergreen intertwining vine creates a dense mat of pink-white blooms and green foliage. It does well in full sun or partial shade in alkaline soil.
This vine produces one of the most exotic-looking flowers that look like Sherlock Holmes’ Pipe, the reason behind its bizarre name. You can also grow it in pots, it does best in partial sunlight.
22. Nasturtiums
Botanical Name: Tropaeolum majus
This climber grows up to 8-10 feet tall, and during summer and fall, it produces yellow, cream, orange, or a blend of apricot, salmon, peach, and scarlet blooms.Another interesting fact is both the leaves and flowers are edible!
23. Golden Trumpet
Botanical Name: Allamanda cathartica
If you like yellow flowers, then this is the vine to grow! It looks best on arbors and garden gates. For best growth, do make sure it gets bright sunlight.
24. Crimson Glory Vine
Botanical Name: Vitis coignetiae
The beautiful maroon-red foliage of the vine is a head turner! For the best color of the leaves, grow it in an area that gets sunlight all day long.
25. Flaming Glorybower
Botanical Name: Clerodendrum splendens
The red flowers of the vine match really well with its dark green foliage. Avoid keeping it in the harsh afternoon sun for long and choose a spot where it receives at least 6 hours of sunlight. It grows best in warm climates!
26. Tecoma Vine
Botanical Name: Tecoma
The fiery orange-red or yellow flowers of this vine can add a lot of drama to the space while bringing a tropical touch! Thanks to the vining nature, you can train it easily on the arbor for a wonderful display.
27. Black-Eyed Susan
Botanical Name: Thunbergia alata
While talking about aggressive vines, you just can’t ignore this one! The plant looks stunning with its yellow flowers on bright green foliage! It is quite easy to maintain, too.
28. Blue Skyflower
Botanical Name: Thunbergia grandiflora
The paper blue flowers of this vine look elegant with the light green foliage. To grow it well, make sure you provide it with the right support and plenty of sunlight.
29. Purple Hyacinth Bean
Botanical Name: Lablab purpureus
This vining annual is admired for its blooms, the purple hue embellishes the stems, foliage, flowers, and seed pods. It grows up to 10-15 feet tall and a 3-6 feet wide.
30. Scarlet Clock Vine
Botanical Name: Thunbergia coccinea
This beautiful vine looks amazing on pergolas with dark-green toothed leaves and bright red flowers hanging in clusters. The intense hue of blooms depends on the temperature.
31. Yellow Jessamine
Botanical Name: Gelsemium sempervirens
Yellow Jessamine is loved for sweet-scented canary-yellow blooms that appear from February to May. It has a moderate growth till established completely.
32. Queen’s Wreath
Botanical Name: Petrea volubilis
This charming climber has dangling long cones of purple-violet star-like flowers. The true purple flowers last for a couple of days and blue bracts stay for long gradually turning gray.
33. Mandevilla
Botanical Name: Mandevilla spp.
Also known as rock trumpet, this flowering vine shows off fragrant five-petal blooms, it grows up to 3-10 feet tall and 3-4 feet wide making it one of the best pergola plants.
34. Cape Honeysuckle
Botanical Name: Tecomaria Capensis
This perennial is an evergreen shrub, it has a climbing growth habit that makes it an apt choice for pergolas. It offers red-orange tubular flowers and glossy green foliage.
Clematis is arguably one of the easiest climbing plants to grow and offers large dramatic flowers; they climb almost anything, and the seed pods that develop after flowering offer additional beauty.
For a fast-growing, edible climber, look no further than the kiwi, Actinidia deliciosa. Its ornamental white flowers are followed by egg-shaped fruit. Grow the vigorous vine in a sunny, sheltered spot, up a trellis or pergola.
The Wisteria vine is my favorite fast-growing vine for privacy. It is a beautiful plant, and it will grow from 10 – 15 feet every year. This makes it one of the fastest-growing plants in the world. The flowers of the Wisteria come in several different colors, including purple, white, blue, and pink.
When planting, angle the climber towards the support, using small canes if necessary to bridge the gap.Secure vertical wires or wire mesh up the pillar and tie in shoots to these as they grow. To cover the canopy quickly, train the shoots straight up the posts.
So far as longest-blooming woody vines go, clematis is as good as any. Some of them can go for about 2 months and some also have two different blooms per season (the second one usually being weaker than the first).
Annual morning glory vines (Ipomoea purpurea) quickly cover a trellis with heart-shaped green leaves and bloom in blue, white, purple, pink and bi-colors. Perhaps the quickest-growing vine is scarlet runner bean (Phaseolus coccineus), which has large, heart-shaped leaves and coral-orange blooms.
Akebia quinata are one of the fastest growing flowering vines, adding 20 feet to its height every year. If these fast-growing flowering vines are grown in zone 6 or above, they are also evergreen making them a brilliant, permanent addition to the garden.
The best plants for arbors are climbing flowers such as honeysuckle, clematis, and climbing roses; these flowers are also hardy enough to thrive in most climate zones.
Honeysuckle is a heat tolerant plant that can grow almost anywhere. With dark green to blue-green leaves and sweet-smelling flowers, they grow as either far-reaching vines or arching shrubs.
Planting: Plant clematis in spring or fall. You can plant in summer, especially in the North, but you'll have to keep the new transplants well-watered and weeded.
Given warm, humid conditions, cuttings usually root within 6-8 weeks and will be ready for potting-up individually the following spring. Expect flowering within two years.
Prized for its intoxicating summer fragrance and dainty star-shaped flowers, jasmine is a valuable addition to any garden. It's a vigorous climber and evergreen types are used to soften boundary walls or fences all year round.
If planting against a solid structure such as wall or fence allow about a 45cm (18in) gap between the plant and the wall.Otherwise, a 20-30cm (8in-1ft) gap is sufficient. Some climbers (certain clematis for example) benefit from deeper planting.
Vines are among the best plants to cover walls, since they climb naturally. Some vines, like ivy, are true climbers that use aerial roots to hold on to surfaces. Others, like honeysuckle, twine their stems around hand holds.
Self-clinging climbers such as ivy and climbing hydrangea need no support at all and can support themselves. Some climbers are best for covering an unsightly wall or fence, training up a pergola or planting near an outdoor seating area.
Evergreen climbers, which keep all or most of their leaves year-round are particularly valuable for screening and interest. Advertisem*nt. Most climbing plants will need some form of support to grow on, apart from self-clinging types.
There is no reason why you can't plant honeysuckle and clematis together – these two climbers can work together to quickly (by gardening standards) cover a wall or trellis with foliage and flowers.
1. Marigold. You can bet on this bang-for-your-buck classic fast-growing annual. Bright blossoms of yellow, orange and mahogany that show themselves within eight weeks of sowing.
Trellises and cages are common plant supports used in vegetable gardens. Many varieties of peas and beans need something to climb. Vine crops such as squash, melons and cucumbers can produce straighter, cleaner fruit if grown on a trellis.
Climbing honeysuckles (Lonicera) are a classic climbers for a romantic cottage garden. Twining around pergolas and adorning walls, they are covered in clusters of tubular flowers in the height of the summer.
Plants like Boston ivy, Virginia creeper and English ivy stick to walls. These self-clinging climbers are very vigorous, leaving behind suckers or roots when removed. But they're great to use as a green screen on an ugly brick wall. The deciduous vines produce a stunning autumn colour show.
Grown in the ground, however, and clematis will grow to a much bigger size. It will also climb: a property that many gardeners put to great effect by training the plant to climb trees, fences, trellises, and all sorts of vertical surfaces.
Twining climbers ascend by wrapping themselves around poles, wires or trellis; examples include Honeysuckle, Clematis, Jasmine and Wisteria. These are not so adaptable so do need a framework or structure to which they can cling to and climb over. Wall shrubs, by contrast, do not naturally climb.
A native plant, trumpet vine (Campsis radicans) is a fast-growing beauty that scales an arch or pergola in a season. It's famous for trumpet blooms that unfurl in bold orange shades, although you can also find varieties with yellow or red flowers.
Wisteria. Wisteria is a lovely option for growing up a garden arch. In spring and summer, the scented, pendent blooms will hang over the archway, complemented by the lush foliage.
Installing Your Trellis for Wisteria. Choose a large wall that gets plenty of sun. Wisteria can grow very quickly—around 10 ft (3.0 m) a year. Because of this, pick a wall that is at least 7 ft (2.1 m) tall.
They can also be grown in containers. Using a Fence or Trellis – Honeysuckles take well to a sturdy fence, post, or trellis and will gladly cover even a very large trellis in a short amount of time.
The easiest Clematis to grow, because they need little or no pruning are Clematis montana, C.alpina and C.macropetala. One of the loveliest varieties, Clematis montana 'Elizabeth' has a beautiful vanilla scent.
The first widely grown hybrid between a herbaceous perennial species and a large-flowered hybrid, 'Arabella' is especially known for its very long flowering season starting in June, peaking from July to September, then continuing into October.
3 with added grit. The best time to plant clematis is in late spring or early autumn, when the soil is moist and warm, but not too hot. You can plant clematis in summer, but you'll need to water it more frequently to help it establish well. Avoid planting clematis in winter.
Clematis are climbing flowers similar to roses. With a little help, they can grow up and over your pergola too. The vine produces flowers in a variety of purples, pinks and whites, and enough leaves to shade you from the sun.
You can absolutely grow Wisteria on your pergola! Wisteria is a vigorous climber that will grow on basically any structure. However, you'll need to make sure that the pergola is sturdy enough to support the plant's weight.
Planting of wisteria is best done between October and April. Container grown wisterias can be planted at any time of the year, but are easier to care for in autumn or winter. Plant them in fertile, well-drained soil. Wisterias flower best in full sun so choose a south- or west-facing wall or pergola.
The best plants for arbors are climbing flowers such as honeysuckle, clematis, and climbing roses; these flowers are also hardy enough to thrive in most climate zones. If you're ready to add one of these elegant structures to your outdoor space, check out our arbor buying guide to find the style best for you.
A native plant, trumpet vine (Campsis radicans) is a fast-growing beauty that scales an arch or pergola in a season. It's famous for trumpet blooms that unfurl in bold orange shades, although you can also find varieties with yellow or red flowers.
The best roses for archways are climbing roses, which come in several varieties including Crimson Glory, Constance Spry, Dublin Bay, and Lady of Shalott. Their lush blossoms and heady fragrance will turn your garden into a rosy dream.
Blooming continuously from midsummer to early fall, this large climber has a stiff, upright growth with almost thornless stems and glossy, dark green leaves.
Installing Your Trellis for Wisteria. Choose a large wall that gets plenty of sun. Wisteria can grow very quickly—around 10 ft (3.0 m) a year. Because of this, pick a wall that is at least 7 ft (2.1 m) tall.
If you wish to cover a pergola, the best effect will be obtained by Wisterias with long racemes. Wisteria floribunda (Japanese Wisteria), which has the longest racemes of all the species, provides a dramatic display on garden structures such as pergolas where the racemes can hang free, unimpeded by branches or foliage.
In addition to providing shade, vines emphasize the shape of a pergola or arbor, whether it's arched, flat, or some other configuration. Living, growing greenery can also soften a structure. Know that these vines are easy to grow, like full sun, and are drought tolerant once they are established.
To begin training a new plant onto a pergola or arbor, allow two or three young shoots to twine loosely around each other and the post as they grow. This will help to provide added interest to the plant's structure, since the woody stems become contorted and picturesque with maturity.
Wisterias symbolize romance in most cultures where the plants are native. In Korea in particular, the Wister flower carries the meaning of devotion that transcends death. The Japanese also consider Wisteria a symbol of good luck, success, and longevity.
Wisteria rewards well, a beautiful climber flowering between April and June, and sometimes a second flush in August. Wisteria floribunda (which twines clockwise) is originally from Japan, and w. sinensis (twines anti clockwise) is from China and is the more vigorous of the two.
Introduction: My name is Margart Wisoky, I am a gorgeous, shiny, successful, beautiful, adventurous, excited, pleasant person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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