Native Plants

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?

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

1 rating

Saturday - June 21, 2008

From: Des Plaines, IL
Region: Midwest
Topic: Vines
Title: Vine for a trellis in Illinois
Answered by: Nan Hampton

QUESTION:

I live in Nortrhern Illinois and am trying to keep my garden as native as possible. I would like to grow something on a trellis in part sun. It looks like a regional clematis is a possibility, but do you know of any others?

ANSWER:

You can find a list of vines for your area by doing a Combination Search in our Native Plant Database and choosing 'Illinois' from the Select State or Province option and 'Vine' under Habit (general appearance). There are also other characteristics you can choose to limit your search results. You will find on the list that there are 5 species of clematis vines native to Illinois:

Clematis crispa (swamp leather flower)

Clematis occidentalis (western blue virginsbower)

Clematis pitcheri (bluebill)

Clematis viorna (vasevine)

Clematis virginiana (devil's darning needles)

Any, or all, of these would be beautiful on your trellis. Here are some other favorites that would go well there:

Bignonia capreolata (crossvine)

Centrosema virginianum (spurred butterfly pea)

Lonicera sempervirens (trumpet honeysuckle)

Passiflora incarnata (purple passionflower)

Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper)

Wisteria frutescens (American wisteria)