Hire a Vine, They Work Hard
the climbing hydrangea. This is the aristocrat of shade bloomers. You definitely have to want a long-term resident to choose Hydrangea anomala petiolaris. Its establishment period is almost as long as its name, but once it is well-established, it speeds up. As it grows up the face of the wall and the stems mature, they develop handsome cinnamon-brown, shaggy bark to go with the glossy dark green leaves. The blooms are the typical lace cap type with fertile flowers surrounded by showy sterile flowers. Look at this picture of a mature vine doing its thing. The east facing masonry wall is necessary because the plant needs the protection offered by the heat sink it provides. My vines had their third summer season last year and began to accelerate their growth. I am hopeful that I will be blessed with some bloom this summer.
Should blooming not be essential to you, there are wonderful vines with other qualities applying for the job, too. Some have blooms that are not remarkable, but lead to remarkable fruits either edible or decorative. For fall, you can't beat bittersweet, Celastrus scandens. The glossy, dark green summer foliage turns yellow, then falls revealing the beautiful orange and red fruits that make superior autumn decorations inside and out. Again, in warmer parts of the country, this plant can become a large nuisance, but here it is easily kept in bounds with a routine annual pruning. What they work hard to achieve in Williamsburg with this plant can be done in zone 4 too. Remember that bittersweet is one of those plants that have separate male and female plants. If you want to have the berries, and why would you not? You must have one of each. If you have one and never get any berries, go to a garden center or nursery that sells them in spring when they bloom and examine the flowers of both so you will know which you have, then purchase the other.
One that I want to try is the 'Arctic Beauty' kiwi, Actinidia kolomikta 'Arctic Beauty'. Kiwi vines are either male or female like bittersweet, but in this case, the male is the more beautiful of the two. The bright green leaves are splashed with white and even pink in the right amount of light. This variety of kiwi produces smaller fruit (about 3/4 inch in diameter) than the kind sold
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