At the Corner of (Holly)Wood and Vine —

Groundcovers, it’s clematis. “I can’t seem to get enough Clematis terniflora

Of course it’s beautiful in flower, but the dried seed heads and foliage offer a very unique texture in the winter garden. I love the plant’s form. We do our best to train it onto a plane where it can twine freely.”

Trellis panels work well especially in small gardens where space is limited. “When I was growing up, every house had an inexpensive white fan-shaped trellis,” said Hans Hansen, plant breeder extraordinaire at Walter’s Gardens in Zeeland, Michigan. “I tend to enjoy the common things in other people’s gardens, but I like climbing hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala subsp. petiolaris). I like the bark and the flowers and it’s underutilized.”

There are natives, like Lonicera reticulata (grape honeysuckle), that Hansen admires. “The flowers are not significant but it looks like silver-dollar eucalyptus.” While flowering vines are eye catching, Hansen has trained a weeping larch along the rail of his deck. “Weeping cedars can be trained too, but they’re just barely hardy here.”

Marya Padour, head gardener at Camp Rosemary in Lake Forest, combines honeysuckle and clematis vines together at the bases of a long pergola. Careful pruning opens up the plants and allows air to circulate and encourages flowering.

Pruning clematis, however, can be very confusing and it’s determined by when the plant blooms. Clematis in Group 1 are spring-blooming vines that flower on old growth. Group 2 are repeat blooming vines that flower in late spring or early summer and sporadically on new and old growth. Group 3 are summer and fall-flowering vines that flower on new growth.

But what if you don’t know the cultivar on the site and it’s a tangled mess of live and dried stems? The leafy spring growth from the buds indicates a vine