Do you know of any unusual (preferably flowering) vines that are great for zone 5 balcony gardens? I'll be moving to an apt. with a rusty balcony, so I was thinking that vines could between the metal bars and make the space more beautiful. I like fragrant flowers and was also hoping to grow concord grapes (the ones on Welch's grape juice), and wonder if those would grow well. Thank you :)
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Toronto
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Re: Vines
Sun, April 20, 2008 - 12:57 AMtrue honeysuckle (lonicera japonica)
shou wu (polygonum multiflorum) good tonic, but it will quickly and beautifully cover a balcony fast.
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Re: Vines
Sun, April 20, 2008 - 3:40 PMYou need to be careful if you're renting. Woody vines (like grapes) can cause significant damage to the structure they grow on, which landlors probably wouldn't be to happy with. I've never minded if I own it, but it's not fun getting a chunk taken out of a security deposit for planting plants. If it's yours, and you don't mind the potential for damage, I would suggest wisteria. Fast growing, fragrant, flowering, oh so elegant. For this year you should try a mixture of moon flowers and morning glories. they'll take over this year while the perennials are still growing, and put on a spectacular display. -
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Re: Vines
Sun, April 20, 2008 - 5:35 PMThats a great tip, I should stick to safer plants for the first year. The whole balcony is rusted metel, should i paint it first before planting? Oh, and are those plants like wisteria, moon flowers safe for kittens to be around?
Thank you :) -
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Re: Vines
Sun, April 20, 2008 - 6:28 PMshou wu is not invasive or harmful like that. you would love it.
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Re: Vines
Mon, April 21, 2008 - 5:41 AMClematis and canary creeper are two other quick and heary lovelies. Training vines can be very zen- a good way to bond with your new place. Pole beans and runner beans are fun too, but dolichos pole beans are poisonous, so beware with the kitties. -
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Re: Vines
Sat, April 26, 2008 - 9:24 PMa phillipine jade vine. i never seen a vine so colorfully intense. i took a picture from the botanical garden in Rio de Janeiro which i posted to this tribe
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Re: Vines
Sun, April 27, 2008 - 3:26 AMyou can just trellis the vines on their own lattice, and not involve the metalwork of the landlord. there are wonderful trellis set ups available from every nursery. -
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Re: Vines
Mon, May 5, 2008 - 9:52 AMI wouldn't recommend japanese wisteria, it's way too invasive and can actually bend metal. If you can find a tamer variety, it's really beautiful. But it IS toxic, so if your cats chew, maybe not a great plan.
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Re: Vines
Mon, May 5, 2008 - 10:25 AMhow's about seasonal vines that are food? scarlet runner beans, cucumbers, winter squash, peas, etc are fun to grow, non-toxic, not destructive to their supports, and taste great! the scarlet runners have beautiful flowers too! -
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Re: Vines
Thu, May 8, 2008 - 10:35 AMOn the topic of Vines I live in zone 9 or 10, the Phoenix Desert, I planted a wisteria last year and it took off, except it only grows on one small area of my outdoor portico, it wants to go the other way to go over my roof when I want it to cover the huge portico instead, Do you think it's just too hot that it doesn't want to grow there?
This year it had it's first blossom a white wisteria and I was so happy.
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