I agree about the porcelain vine. I had one at my last house,
and the variegation was great, and then the bonus of those wonderful
coloured berries each fall. It was a favourite. Took a couple of years
to get established but did perfectly fine. Was mostly shade and didn't seem
to mind at all. Hmmm - now that I have a very tiny garden, maybe it
can be a "vertical Interest"
Date: Sat, 14 Jan 2012 12:10:47 -0500
To: perennials@hort.net
From:
aete@northnet.org
Subject: Re: Ideas for an arbor
Don, one of my
favorite vines:
Ampelopsis brevipedunculata var. maximowiczii
'Elegans', which I simply call my porcelain berry.
I grow this
on an arbor at the entrance of my front walk here in northern NY zone 4,
though it is a zone 5--9 plant (I live right next to a river). The
leaves are gorgeous, variegated, deeply cut. The small greenish-white
flowers are attractive. The berries are amazing but not as nice as
they'd be with more sun than they get here. Grows 10--20 feet, but
only about 12' here. Having said all that, I'm sure this vine would be
even happier in your zone 5. It gets started later than the kiwi vine
across from it (which also gets some white and pink in its
leaves.)
Replying to your 5 points:
1. I love the look of your
non-'chateau'! Might it be an old Queen Anne Victorian?
2 &
3. My arbor has the same aspect as yours, but it does not have a house right
behind it. I have the following quote copied to my porcelain berry
culture sheet: "An attractive variegated form with white and pink splashes
on the leaves, tends to not fruit as well as the type and is less
vigorous." So far the kiwi has reached up and across the top of the
arbor while the porcelain berry is just beginning to reach over. The
kiwi takes constant pruning, the porcelain berry only needs
directing.
4 & 5. I've never had Akebia so can't compare it to
Ampelopsis. I have Campsis, Celastrus, various Clematis, Lonicera, Hydrangea
petiolaris, Euonymous -- and the Ampelopsis is one of my favorites.
Hmm, maybe there's a Clematis viticella for your situation? I have a
C. Hagley Hybrid that faces north on the front of a pavilion and has done
great for years, (unlike some of my clematis) however, it may not grow high
enough for your situation -- 8-10'.
6. My "less vigorous" Ampelopsis etc.
'Elegans' can take far colder temps than what is listed.
Let us know
what you finally choose! Hope we see a finished-project
photo.
Best,
Alyce Elliott
near Oxbow, northern
NY
At 04:24 PM 1/10/2012, you wrote:
I came upon the
following photo from a catalog:
http://www.tinyurl.com/7olll9t
This gave me
an idea to create an arbor over my rear door and small deck (the black
lines are for reference only):
http://www.tinyurl.com/6vw2kre
Issues
(construction and materials aside):
1. Obviously, I don't
happen to own a chateau at the moment.
2. The deck faces a
direction which is approximately East-Northeast and only receives a bit of
morning sun, although plants on the deck seem to do relatively well as it
is a bright shade.
3. The small patch of open ground
(indicated on the second photo) gets no sun at all, and so whatever I
plant won't get ANY direct sunlight until it gets above the level of the
deck.
4. I'm thinking some sort of perennial vine, probably
woody, but not so rampant that it will require constant pruning (so, no
Wisteria or Vitis). I’d consider Akebia quinata , but
I already have 2 of those (purple and white), and they do quite well along
the north side of my house.
5. I’d consider other species of
Akebia if they would look a bit different (trifoliata?) or even the
variegated A. quinata (does anyone know of a source of a nice clone of
this)?
6. I live in Milwaukee (Zone 5) and despite our very
mild winter so far, we can normally expect temps down to –10F (-25C) or
even lower.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions.
Don
Martinson
Wauwatosa, WI 53213
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