Gazing out my kitchen window, I can visualize the beautiful arbor that will someday shade a portion of my back patio. However, my construction crew consists of my husband and son-in-law. They keep telling me they are busy with other projects.

 

Alas, the arbor remains a figment of my imagination. But the delay in execution has given me the opportunity to research garden structures and the climbing plants that cover them.  

 

There are many reasons to create vertical or overhead structures in your garden. They can provide shade, define an outdoor room and expand your planting area and plant choices. They also add drama and a visual third dimension.

 

The most basic vertical structure is a trellis, which is simply a vertical framework to support plants. An arbor is larger and has an overhead portion. A pergola is freestanding and usually consists of parallel colonnades supporting an open roof of beams and girders. A loggia is a roofed open gallery built into or attached to the side of a building. And gazebos and belvederes are separate structures designed to command a view.

 

While a loggia sounds grander, my envisioned structure is not attached to the house and will be of simple post and beam construction. I think I need to call it an arbor.

 

Materials can range from the traditional wood and wrought iron to more rustic branches and twigs to industrial plastics and steel. Today you can even buy off-the-shelf structures, or have something custom built, as I hope to do, enlisting the talents of family members.

 

I envision a sumptuous display of flowering plants on my arbor. I want them to grow quickly and provide both color and fragrance. Fortunately, numerous plants meet my criteria.

 

One of my favorite combinations is climbing roses and clematis. When an overzealous ‘Mermaid’ rose devoured a section of my fence, I learned the importance of pairing the size of the structure to the ultimate size and weight of the plant. My structure will be large so I can go with a vigorous rose such as ‘Madame Alfred Carriere,’ a fragrant, pink- tinged rose; reliable white ‘New Dawn;’ or ‘Zephirine Drouhin,’ a fragrant deep red.

 

The best clematis to pair with climbing roses are those that bloom on new wood (Pruning Group 3), so you can prune them back to 12 to 18 inches from the ground in late winter when you prune the roses. Some good choices for large structures are the mauve-blue ‘Perle d’Azur,’ white ‘Huldine,’ and two favorite purples, ‘Etoile Violette’ and ‘Jackmanii.’ A wonderful fragrant choice is the white, evergreen Clematis armandii. It is a vigorous thug best grown alone on a strong structure.

 

Other deciduous flowering options worth considering are wisteria and trumpet vine (Campsis radicans). They are both vigorous and glorious in flower. However, keep in mind that they drop their huge flowers so can be messy on a patio. 

 

Fast-growing fruiting plants are another fun choice for vertical structures. Kiwi (Actinidia deliciosa) produces edible fruit in full sun and grows 10 to 15 feet a year. You will need both a male and female plant if you hope to have fruit.

 

Annual ornamental gourds (Cucurbita pepo) can grow 20 feet in a summer and will add quirky, bold shapes to your vertical garden. To delight children, consider planting bottle gourds (Lagenaria siceraria), which produce two-foot-long, exotic-looking fruits. And table grapes will quickly add dense shade and lovely fall color to an arbor.

 

To be successful with climbing plants, you need to understand how they climb and provide the appropriate structure. Twining vines such as honeysuckle (Lonicera) will wrap around almost anything fairly slender. But coiling vines such as clematis send out coiling leafstalks or tendrils that cannot wrap around anything larger in diameter than about one-half inch. I made the mistake of planting clematis on an inch-thick trellis and was forced to tie knotted fish line along the supports to provide a foothold for the tendrils. And clambering plants, such as roses, have no attachment method so you need to tie the stems to the support.

 

At last, I have done my research, chosen my structure shape and material. I have selected plants suited to the location and the structure. I have considered pruning compatibility and bloom season and am pleased with my color choices. Now all I need is a crew.