Climbing Hydrangea: The Best Perennial Vine for Shade Gardens

Can your garden use a high quality flowering vine, but you think shade limits your choices? Good news! You can have it all: the climbing Hydrangea (Hydrangea anomala subspecies petiolaris) is widely considered by garden experts to be the finest woody climbing vine and it brings to your garden just about every feature you desire.

The leaves are clean and crisp, dark green, and rarely bothered by insect or disease problems. In early summer large, creamy white flowers with a sweet aroma cover the plant. Fall turns the leaves yellow, and when they drop, the woody branches take center stage with their peeling, cinnamon colored bark. More winter interest comes from the interesting "3-D" twists and turns of the stems, adding light and shadow where others vines might grow on a flat plane. The now dark brown dried flower heads usually persist during winter to add even more detail.

The climbing Hydrangea adds value to your garden by giving four season interest. Many of us have limited space and it's important to use plants that yield maximum benefits all year around.

A little patience might be warranted at first. The climbing Hydrangea is sometimes slow to get established. An old folk saying about vines in general goes, "The first year they sleep, the next year they creep, the third year they leap," and this is no exception. But once it gets going, it displays lots to love.

Unlike some climbers that need staking, tying or training, the climbing Hydrangea grips its trellis or wall with small aerial roots clinging tight. If given free rein to clamber up a tree or house, it will eventually go to 80 feet. No pruning is needed beyond removing the occasional damaged or inconveniently located branch.

Moist, rich loam is an ideal habitat for the climbing Hydrangea, and despite being happy in shade, it will also do well in sunny locations. Pollution doesn't bother it either. Hardy in US climate zones 4 to 7, winter temperatures should be no problem in most areas. My garden endured one frigid blast of minus 22 degrees during the '90's and it never fazed the climbing Hydrangea.

About the only downside is that like all Hydrangeas, it's yummy to deer. When they are bold enough, deer will eat garden ornamentals in all seasons. If they chomp away in your garden during the winter and remove the tips of the branches, that summer's flowers will be lost.

Although the climbing Hydrangea is usually displayed to best advantage on some sort of trellis or allowed to climb a stone or brick building or wall, it can simply tumble over the ground as a ground cover also. Personally I feel this hides some of its best features and makes it slightly more prone to problems.

Another climbing woody vine known by the common name Japanese Hydrangea (Schizophragma) is somewhat similar, but lacks the three dimensional growth patterns and is slightly droopy in nature. Otherwise it shares many characteristics and is also a worthy garden addition. But as you can tell, nothing else earns the admiration I feel for the climbing Hydrangea.