Host an Event Volunteer Join Tickets

Support the plant database you love!

Q. Who is Mr. Smarty Plants?

A: There are those who suspect Wildflower Center volunteers are the culpable and capable culprits. Yet, others think staff members play some, albeit small, role. You can torture us with your plant questions, but we will never reveal the Green Guru's secret identity.

Help us grow by giving to the Plant Database Fund or by becoming a member

Did you know you can access the Native Plant Information Network with your web-enabled smartphone?

Share

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants

Ask Mr. Smarty Plants is a free service provided by the staff and volunteers at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Search Smarty Plants
See a list of all Smarty Plants questions

Please forgive us, but Mr. Smarty Plants has been overwhelmed by a flood of mail and must take a break for awhile to catch up. We hope to be accepting new questions again soon. Thank you!

Need help with plant identification, visit the plant identification page.

 
rate this answer
Not Yet Rated

Saturday - May 24, 2014

From: San Diego, CA
Region: California
Topic: Vines
Title: Vine for yard with morning sun in California
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

Hi, What is a good perennial vine to grow on the front of our house? We would like a fragrant flower too. It will be on a wood support beam, helping cover some pipes we have there. It will be an east facing vine, thus only sun in the morning until noonish. Thanks.

ANSWER:

Here are some candidate native California vines that grow in or very near San Diego County.  They are all perennials, most have fragrant flowers and two of them have edible fruit.  The first three will grow in sun and part shade.  The grapes prefer full sun but if your area has close to 6 hours of sun, that will probably be adequate.

Clematis lasiantha (Pipestem clematis)  Here is more information from The Watershed Nursery.

Clematis ligusticifolia (Western white clematis) Here is more information from Yerba Buena Nursery which says that it is fragrant.

Lonicera hispidula (Pink honeysuckle)  Here is more information from Las Piliatas Nursery and Mostly Natives Nursery who say that it is fragrant.

Vitis californica (California grape) has fragrant flowers and makes edible fruit.  Here is more information from Las Pilitas Nursery and from Sonoma County Master Gardeners.

Vitis girdiana (Desert wild grape) also has fragrant flowers and makes edible fruit.  Here is more information from Las Pilitas Nursery and Theodore Payne Foundation.

 

From the Image Gallery


Pipestem clematis
Clematis lasiantha

Western white clematis
Clematis ligusticifolia

Pink honeysuckle
Lonicera hispidula

Desert wild grape
Vitis girdiana

More Vines Questions

Identification of a vine with thorns and blue berries.
April 22, 2008 - > Hello, > We have acreage in Butler County, PA. I recently discovered a vine that I can't identify. It's has many small spines all over the stem, then very large and stiff thorns. It has dark gr...
view the full question and answer

Front Door Vine in Alabama
March 02, 2013 - I live in Birmingham, AL in a large-scale, white brick, French-style home. I would like to have a vine over my front door. I don't want an invasive vine (seed pods that create new vines or attaches t...
view the full question and answer

Florida hanging vine with occasional red tongue-like leaves
December 01, 2011 - I live in south Florida and I used to grow a hanging vine that had green slender leaves and an occasional red leaf that looked like a tongue that protruded horizontally from the plant. do you know wha...
view the full question and answer

Non-poisonous, fragrant flowering plant and vine for Arkansas
June 17, 2009 - I would like to find a non poisonous flowering plant that smells good, that has small to moderate plant growth, that will do well in sandy soil area, shade to full sun either way. Also would like to f...
view the full question and answer

Stabilizing a shale slope in Virginia
April 08, 2009 - I have family members who recently built a new home in Virginia. The site required extensive excavation resulting in a large 30 foot, nearly vertical, shale wall behind the house. They now want to r...
view the full question and answer

Support the Wildflower Center by Donating Online or Becoming a Member today.