OK, I'm a complete newbie. I hope someone can help me with a few plant choices. I have a north-facing balcony (in Vancouver) that is in complete shade. I have some hanging fuschias that are doing quite well. I would like to cover up some of the stuccoed walls, though. I would really like to have honeysuckle, but am unsure whether there is a variety that will do OK in complete shade, and whether it will be happy in a (large and deep) pot. Failing that, is there a climbing vine that will look attractive and smell good in the evenings? Am I limited to climbing hydrangeas in this kind of environment?
Parthenocissus [Virginia Creeper] It grows quite fast, and has incredible fall color. Attach to structures by themself, no additional support needed. Could be a problem if you ever wanted to remove it from the wall.
Plant 2 climbers in the same planter for a 3 season display: Lonicera henryi, an evergreen climber with decorative leaves, and Lonicera periclymenum 'Graham Thomas' a fragrant honeysuckle with large white booms.
Nothing grows with no sunlight, but balconydweller would like to grow honeysuckle and those two are probably the best to try for shade tolerance. If fuchsias do well there, the honeysuckles might do well. Note spelling: fuchsia named after German botanist Leonhard Fuchs
I dont know about the no sun thing. We've had no sun for oh, 6 months now? And I've grown about 15 pounds. Ugh. :-) :-P
The sun is up there it is just heavily filtered! Well, in retrospect it is probably not even accurate to say "no sun" as in "total darkness" here. Species of Monotropa and Allotropa (maybe other genera?) do not contain chlorophyll. Maybe they can grow in total darkness. I don't know if they need light to trigger growth.
Beware of any climbers that that adhere to the stucco - Virginia creeper and ivy, for example. They can be a serious problem, and potentially an expensive one, once established.
Silver lace vine gets to 30' or more and is considered invasive in many areas. Here's an interesting conversation. http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/vines/msg050018574487.html Newt
silver Lace is certainly a pretty vine. I would like to try it in a zone 4 or 5. Is it hardy enough to withstand our freezing winter weather?
Micki, it's rated hardy to zone 4. http://www.ces.ncsu.edu/depts/hort/consumer/factsheets/vines/polygonum_aubertii.html Newt
I bought the two honeysuckles suggested by a Hortline poster here , but I'm not sure how to prune them. I'd welcome suggestions by the original poster or anyone else with experience with Lonicera henryi or Graham Thomas. Please see my posting [thread]36423[/thread] under vines.
