I need some thoughtful advice ...

I have a bit of a dilemma and am wondering what everyone here would do ...

I just completed an arbor and fencing around my backyard patio. The main reason I decided to do this is ... to grow vines all over the fence and arbor. Here is what the area looks like.

Here is my dilemma ... I want to plant MGs to grow up the fencing and arbor. I don't know whether to grow I. purpureas, I. nils, or something else like the Setosa (which would certainly look cool!). Or do I plant a mix all around the fencing? Would that make it look too busy (or look like MG heaven)? Or should I stick to one or two cultivars of MGs with complimenting bloom colors?

Another concern ... I am seeing rust come back on some of my vines. Perhaps I. purpurea would be the better choice since it is more resistent to rust? But do they grow well and bloom profusely in hot summer months like I. nils do?

Here I have a great area to grow out more MGs and I have come to a complete STOP now because I don't know what cultivar(s) to plant in that area.

Any suggests??? I'd truly appreciate some honest and objective perspectives. Thanks in advance! ~Becky~

Here is the view looking through the arbor entrance into the next garden room. I am growing all different colors of plants in the large bed there. My main yard theme is red and purple. And y'all know I love the butterflies and hummingbirds that come and grace my gardens. So? What would some of you plant in those empty beds around the fencing?

Oh wow, empty canvas (rubbing hands together) What you've got looks great so far.

i planted my circle iris bed with a spiraling rainbow color scheme, starting on the outside "corner", from deep red to red/orange & browns to tan/yellow, then white, lightest blue & lavender to mid range purple/blue then darkest blue on the other end. It may not emphasize each single flower as much as it does the bed as a whole. (though I tried to put the special ones with unusual patterns etc. between similar color solids to emphasize & "ground" those within each color section.) Your decision can be based on your favorite view. And whether you want formality or whimsy or wild.

I also put irises of the same color family, say blue, with ice blue clematis as a climbing backdrop on the solid cedar (orangeish) fence behind the irises. Above those with window boxes on the fence with blue dwarf ensign MGs trailing dow to meet the clems! So you see I love beds of all variations of a color theme. My favorite combo is blue/yellow. I have beds like that too.

I also have sections of all candy colors: irises & daylilies. I have special butterfly attracting flowers in the herb garden. Also there are random mixed beds. I'm working on an earth tone iris bed now. I think of each section as a little art installation (yeah i went to art school).

I usually do not go random. I generally choose to "ground" the wild heat colors and frame them with something similar in hue yet softer or more neutral while keeping the backdrops (walls, fences, buildings) in mind. Ex: Grey house, good with reds, yellows. Orange fence, great for blue. White is good for anything. It is a already a gessoed canvas.

Think of color as value, how light or dark things will flower at the top and how that will relate to what's happening on the bottom. Oh and timing is important. Wanda on the iris forum has a single bed that is all cool blue/purple colors in the spring (mostly irises & other perrenials, and then becomes all hot colors (late iris & daylilies etc...) in late june/july. coolest thing ever.

good luck. I know it's hard. I hope I helped a little. If you told me what you're starting with, then I could suggest what to add. I like garden crossings website. When you search a plant, they do you like amazon and list complimentary plants down below.

Becky, do you have I. indica (Blue Dawn)? I had the same type of arbor in CA and I had the 15 Gallon pots on each side of the Arbor with I. indica... this will give you optimal coverage almost all year in FL. BUT, you have to train and cut it all the time, making sure it doesn't escape out of the containers thru the top, sides and bottom. It is just gorgeous.. I don't know if you want to deal with all the runners all the time though. I. indica, three species of it grew on one of my dead trees and at night it looked like a monster tree with the runners hanging down from the tops and dead branches in the shadows..

Then there are climbing roses, but almost anything you put that climbs or vines, needs trimming on an arbor. I just got up (and have to go out).. It will be interesting to see what other options people come up with.. I have three climbing Roses that need to go in also this week, but I wanted to find another arbor, so I'm not sure where to put them now.

Good luck and I can hardly wait for the ideas to start coming in.

A.

also the foliage on the Montana Clems, though it only flowers in the spring is beautiful year round and they grow fast and more abundant every year. Mgs twining with those would be pretty.

i hate that problem gourd. I now have two gates and an arbor that I changed my mind on and now have to relocate as though I planned for them to go there all along....

My advice on rust is to go hunting for it and pull every bit of rusty plant out. Check and see in moist places around your house and see if there are any weeds that have rust. Elliminate every piece of plant material that has rust. Put all of it in a garbage bag and throw it away along with your diposable gloves. If you find vectors or weeds that have it in the perimeters of your house and yard than you can possibly hand pull go buy some weed killer and get aggressive spraying and elliminating anything having rust on it including JMG volunteers. The earlier in spring thi sis done the better and follow with maintenance keeping these same areas clean of any offending weeds.

Next, use antifungal spray such as is used for roses ortho insect and disease control to spray your plants every 10-14 days to Prevent rust After you have elliminated it and continued with a weeding program. The spray does not work so well on a infected plant and you must begin pulling leaves and throwing them in the garbage much like treating roses.

I hope maybe this could help.

Karen

I read in Mike McGrath's Compost book that if you use a good quality compost mulch, 2-3 inches deep, around the plants, this will keep the rust spores from splashing up onto the leaves of the plants from the soil after a rain.

Well, as to the color of blooms, i would use brighter and lighter tonoes as you havea darker brick house, but if you get a bloom that is too light it may dissapear into the white paint of the fencinga nda arbor, which is great BTW, I am envieous, lol. Seriosly look at it from the distance or if there is a road ou ther in front think what will "pop" as people drive by...
thats my 2 pennies...
fernman23

Becky, do you have any updated pictures?

jlp222 - Well ... I never made up my mind which vines to grow permanently along the fence and arbor. I decided for now to just grow out a variety of MGs. It doesn't look bad at all, but I consider it probably one of many, many trials of what to grow along the picket fence.

It has been windy and raining a lot here, so the rust is back and my vines aren't looking as nice as they did. I really, really think that it is impossible to be rid of rust here in Florida. So I may grow something other than my beloved MGs in that area. I am trying Clematis for the first time. I bought liners for 3 different Clematis and they are growing unbelievably well. I even got blooms on one of the tiny vines! Ha! They are growing out in full sun, so that may be my answer to growing a lovely vine along the picket fence and arbor. The Clematis are also perennials. So ...

Here is "Kohkan" MG vine growing up the arbor. The blooms are beautiful and the size of a Hibiscus bloom! But alas, the leaves are showing signs of rust and not a beautiful as this photo taken 2 weeks ago. :-(

Very pretty!

And this is a photo looking at the fence and arbor from the back screen door. A lot of bright bloom colors ... that's for sure! LOL!

jlp222 - Thanks for the compliment on that Kohkan vine! I just love it! Too bad it isn't fungus resistant. :-(

Yes, that's no fun. Fortunatley MGs grow fast. Could you plant some more seeds soon? You could have more blooms this year.

jlp222 - Yes, that is one of the great qualities of MGs! Fast germinating, quick to grow, and lots of blooms! I usually do plant several grow-outs of MGs throughout the year. So that is what I shall be doing soon ... collecting seeds of the current vines and starting new vines!