12 Climbing Plants To Grow In A Pollinator Garden For Blooms (2024)

Climbing plants to grow in a pollinator garden can turn your fences and structures into vibrant havens for bees, butterflies, and more. This post will explore the top vine varieties that provide continuous food sources through multiple seasons of colorful blooms, from spring through fall.

By choosing the right combination of climbers, you can attract pollinators year-round to your green sanctuary while beautifying your outdoor space.

Climbing Plants to Grow in a Pollinator Garden Sanctuary

1. Morning Glory

Morning glories are among the most popular flowering vines in the sweet pea family. Their rapid growth and profusion of beautiful trumpet-shaped blossoms coming in blue, white, and purple hues make them beloved annual climbers.

Morning glories produce weakly stemmed vines that twine around structures seeking support, blanketing trellises, arbors, and fences with large funnel-shaped morning glory flowers. The fragrant blooms open in the cool of the morning and fade as the day warms, giving these vines their common name.

Morning glories thrive in full sun and fertile, well-drained soil. The vines benefit from sturdy supports their tendrils can firmly grasp, helping the plants climb high enough to maximize flowering and visibility. Morning glories generally grow fastest during cooler periods in spring and fall.

After the vines finish flowering in fall, gardeners can cut them back to the ground or pull entire plants to make room for next year’s plantings. Leaving the dead growth over winter provides some shelter for beneficial insects.

The ephemeral daily blossoms that unfurl face the sun and then fade encourage appreciation for each glorious moment. Their generous, cheerful exuberance, blooming anew day after day, offers gardeners constant delight, making morning glories beloved workhorses in the garden.

2. Sweet Pea

Sweet peas are beloved for their beautiful, sweetly scented flowers and delicate foliage. The blooms come in lovely hues like purple, pink, blue, and white.

Sweet peas grow swiftly up trellises, fences, and cage-like structures where their fragrant flowers hang down like bells waiting to be enjoyed. The lacy pattern of their bright green leaves and their charming habit of twining around any support add grace and charm to any garden.

These climbers produce large clusters of flat-faced, pea-shaped blossoms on wiry stems that trail down from above. The old-fashioned flowers give off a sweet, pungent aroma loved by many gardeners.

Sweet peas thrive in full sun and fertile, moisture-retentive yet well-drained soil. They benefit from sturdy supports to climb, reaching several feet in height. During bloom time, they require regular watering to maintain productivity.

Deadheading spent blooms encourage repeat blooming throughout summer until the plants naturally taper off in fall. At season’s end, gardeners can cut back the vines and add the leftover foliage to compost piles.

The softening effect of sweet peas, with their lilting stem habit, delicate textured leaves, and gently drooping blooms in shades of transparent color, brings grace and romance to the garden. Though short-lived, their beauty, fragrance, and simplicity of character make sweet peas perennial favorites for those who appreciate the finer things in the garden.

3. Black-Eyed Susan

Black-eyed Susans get their name from their sunny yellow daisy-like flowers with a dark brown central disk. They are easy-to-grow annual climbers that produce abundant cheerful flowers throughout summer and fall.

Black-eyed Susan vines scramble and twine up trellises, fences, and other supports, reaching heights of four to six feet. Their golden yellow blooms attract beneficial pollinators like bees and butterflies to the garden.

4. Nasturtium

Nasturtiums are charming annual climbers known for their brightly colored edible flowers and round leaves. They climb by winding their stems around any available support. Nasturtiums produce abundant, beautiful blooms in shades of yellow, orange, and red.

Every part of the plant, from the flowers to the leaves, is edible and has a peppery flavor. The circular leaves and colorful pendulous flowers soften the edges of trellises and fences, making nasturtium vines an easy and attractive choice for beginning gardeners.

5. Scarlet Runner Bean

Scarlet runner beans are a fast-growing annual climbing plant that produces beautiful scarlet red flowers followed by tasty green bean pods. The mature runner beans have striking scarlet red pea flowers with white streaks. The leaves are dark green and compound with three leaflets on each leaf stalk.

The vines of scarlet runner beans can quickly climb and cover trellises, arbors, and fences due to their long tendrils, making a stunning display with the red blooms and foliage. The fresh bean pods are edible when young and tender, adding a bounty of fresh produce to the garden. The young bean pods have a crisp texture and mild flavor when harvested around four to six inches long in late summer.

More significantly, mature bean pods become fibrous and lose their delicate flavor. Harvesting the young bean pods regularly during the producing season encourages more flowers and bean production. The climbing nature, vivid blooms, and ease of cultivation make scarlet runner beans a favorite bean among gardeners looking to grow both edible and ornamental plants.

6. Vine

Cypress vine is a fast-growing annual climber known for its fern-like foliage and airy habit. The vines climb using tendrils, quickly covering an arbor or fence with lacy green leaves. Cypress vines produce hanging clusters of small star-shaped pink, purple, or white flowers throughout summer and fall. The delicate frond-like foliage and loose sprays of blooms make cypress vines an enchanting choice for draping over walls, arbors, and fences in the garden.

Cypress vine weaves delicate beauty into gardens with its lacy green foliage and airy blooms. Native to tropical regions, it thrives climbing fences or arbors in full sun to partial shade with consistent moisture.

Light green, feathery leaves emit a soft, fern-like texture. Throughout summer, clusters of tiny white or pink flowers resembling bottlebrushes emerge, perfuming the air. Individual blooms have four downward-facing lobes.

As a vigorous twining vine, cypress can quickly cover large vertical areas in gauzy greenery, reaching 20 feet annually. Prune after frost to shape. Treat it as an annual in colder regions, or bring it indoors before the first freeze.

The cypress vine brings ethereal charm to any garden with its wispy habit and graceful blooms. Ideal for softening walls, arbors, or trellises with living lace, it also adds lovely motion when swayed by warm breezes. Low maintenance and heat tolerant, cypress vine elevates tropical vibes wherever it grows.

7. Spanish Flag

The Spanish flag is an annual climbing vine known for its brilliant red, yellow, and orange bicolored tubular flowers, resembling the Spanish flag. The vines climb using tendrils and can quickly cover an arbor or fence with stunning tri-colored blooms.

Between the colorful flowers, the lacy compound leaves provide a lovely backdrop of green foliage. Spanish flag vines are perfect for adding a festive splash of color to the garden’s patios, arbors, and trellises.

The Spanish flag vine cascades over walls and trellises in an explosion of tri-colored blooms. Its trumpet-shaped flowers appear en masse, surprising the eye with a sudden shower of vivid red, orange, and yellow hues.

Though an annual with a short lifespan, the Spanish flag vine crowns retaining walls and columns with ephemeral beauty. Its festive blooms imbue arid structures with color and life, if only for a fleeting moment.

The abundance of flowers, followed by the vine’s swift decline at the season’s end, reminds us of life’s transience amid stonier permanence. The Spanish flag’s brilliance teaches us to celebrate each momentary blossoming, even while aware of its fragile nature.

8. Cobaea Scandens

Cobaea scandens, or cup and saucer vine, is a fast-growing climbing annual known for its large funnel-shaped purple and white flowers. The vines climb fences, trellises, and walls using tendrils. The leaves are palmately compound with five to nine leaf-like divisions.

In summer, the vines are covered in large cup-and-saucer-shaped flowers resembling bells. The delicate, lacy foliage and hanging clusters of blooms make a cup and saucer vine an enchanting addition to the garden.

The cup and saucer vine quickly cloaks fences and walls in curtains of lacy foliage dotted with bell-shaped blooms. Each flower’s purple and white petals cascade open like a spectacular firework, a flash of color amid green tendrils.

Though short-lived as an annual, the cup and saucer vine fills the warmest weeks of summer with abundance and delight. Its tumbling bells remind us to pause and celebrate nature’s fleeting gifts. The vine’s rapid growth and bloom, followed by a swift decline at the season’s end, teach precious lessons about life’s impermanence.

9. Purple Bell Vine

Purple bell vine dazzles gardens with lavish curtains of bell-shaped blooms ranging from vivid violet to soft mauve. A vigorous vine native to Asia thrives climbing trees, fences, or arbors in full sun with regular water.

Heart-shaped leaves emerge on twining stems reaching 20 feet long. From summer through fall, showy blooms dangle playfully in clusters, buzzing with nectar-hungry bees and butterflies. Individual flowers resemble inflated rubber gloves with ruffled edges.

Individually non-invasive but capable of covering large areas unchecked, purple bell vine multiplies to cloak its support in dense, dramatic color. It remains evergreen in mild climates. In colder areas, prune stems back each winter.

Perfect for creating privacy screens, hiding unsightly areas, or softening large vertical structures, this vine brightens sunny spots with colorful, prolific blooms. Unusually, bell-like flowers and lush appearance make purple bell vine a standout choice for cottage, tropical, or wildlife gardens.

10. Trumpet Vine

Trumpet vine is a fast-growing climbing annual vine valued for its profusion of tubular scarlet red flowers and sizeable decorative foliage. The vines climb fences, trellises, and walls using tendrils. The leaves are palmately compound, with five to seven heart-shaped leaflets reaching up to eight inches long.

From summer into fall, the vines produce clusters of tubular scarlet red trumpet-shaped flowers that attract hummingbirds and butterflies. The oversized leaves and drooping trumpets of scarlet flowers make trumpet vine vines a dramatic and eye-catching addition to the garden.

The trumpet vine ascends walls and fences in a fanfare of large leaves and vivid blooms. Its clusters of tubular scarlet flowers trumpet the pleasures of summer and autumn, animating the garden with color.

Though short-lived as an annual, the trumpet vine fills the warmest months with exuberance and grace. Its vivid blooms remind us to pause and celebrate nature’s fleeting gifts.

The vine’s rapid growth and bloom, followed by a swift decline at season’s end, teach precious lessons about life’s impermanence. While the trumpet vine clothes the walls momentarily, its dramatic flowers help us remember to cherish each delicious season, even while holding a more significant awareness of time’s imperatives.

11. Hyacinth Bean

Hyacinth bean, or lablab bean, is a fast-climbing annual vine grown for its striking inflated seed pods, colorful flowers, and bold foliage. The vines climb fences, trellises, and walls using tendrils. The leaves are pinnate and comprise three to six pairs of elliptic to oblong-shaped leaflets. During summer, the vines produce clusters of purple and white flowers followed by showy, inflated purple-colored seed pods.

The bold leaves, colorful blooms, and ornamental seed pods of hyacinth bean vines provide striking visual appeal in the landscape. Hyacinth bean instantly transforms gardens into fanciful jungles with towering vines cloaked in flowers. Native to tropical regions, it thrives climbing poles or fences in full sun with moisture-rich soil.

Heart-shaped leaves are a backdrop to voluptuous blooms emerging in clusters like dangling lanterns. Shades range from porcelain white to vibrant magenta, with some varieties bearing dual-colored blooms. Fragrance sweetly permeates the air.

Vigorous vines may stretch over 20 feet annually, bursting with blooms from summer through fall. Hyacinth bean is not winter hardy and should be treated as an annual. Though individual vines are non-invasive, this bean can quickly fill its allotted space.

With its dramatic scale, intense colors, and intoxicating aroma, the hyacinth bean is a headline in ornamental bean displays or screening areas. Its bells mesmerize butterflies and hummers, adding lush romance to hot tropical-flavored spaces. Abundant flowers also attract beneficial insects for nearby plants and crops.

12. Bougainvillea

Bougainvillea is a popular flowering vine for its colorful three-dimensional bracts, dramatic thorns, and glossy foliage. The vines climb walls, trellises, and fences using thorns. The leaves are alternately arranged and compounded with three leaflets.

In summer and fall, the vines produce showy bracts in hot pink, purple, red, and white shades. The papery, colorful bracts resemble flower petals but are modified leaves. The striking bracts, spiky thorns, and shiny foliage make bougainvillea vines a dramatic and colorful addition to any landscape.

Bougainvillea erupts in vibrant blooms, draping gardens in colorful drapery. Native to South America, it thrives climbing walls and arbors in full sun with well-draining soil. Glossy, puckered leaves are the backdrop to the showy bracts that appear like delicate colored paper. Shades range from hot pink to sunset orange, depending on the variety. Some cultivars display bicolor blooms.

Vigorous vines may stretch over 30 feet annually; blanketing supports in ornamental chaos. Bougainvillea is semi-evergreen in frost-free zones but elsewhere loses leaves and goes dormant in winter—pruning thereafter speeds re-bloom.

With its riotous blooming, bougainvillea injects bold pops of color where needed. Perfect for screening, highlighting architectural details, or softening harsh lines. Nonstop blooms persist through heat waves, attracting hummingbirds. Low maintenance once established, bougainvillea is ideal for patios, courtyards, or mixed containers. Its vivid tropical flair enlivens any landscape from spring to first frost.

Conclusion

Climbing annual flowers can transform an otherwise ordinary garden into an overflowing abundance of color and life with little effort from the gardener.

• Thunbergia alata, also known as black-eyed Susan vine, is a fast-growing trailing annual climber.
• Cypress vine is a fast-growing annual climber known for its fern-like foliage and airy habit.
• The trumpet vine is a fast-growing perennial vine valued for its showy clusters of orange, red, yellow, or white trumpet-shaped flowers that bloom throughout summer and attract hummingbirds and butterflies.

Climbing annual flowers offers a considerable payoff for minimal effort. Give some of the recommended vines a try and watch as they quickly climb their supports and fill your garden with months of colorful blossoms.