Vine Plants

Vegetables

• Common garden vegetables that grow on vines include cucumbers, vining squash, peas and pole beans, which grow along the ground or require the support of a trellis to produce a healthy, continuous crop. Even though they are grown underground, sweet potato plants form a dense, spreading ground cover of leafy vines that are edible when cooked.

Fruits

• Grape vines can be trained to grow along arbors, fences, buildings and trees. The mature grapes are picked for wine production, while the immature grape leaves are commonly used as edible food wrappings. Besides grapes, kiwi, passion fruit and luffa also grow on vines. Luffa vines produce fruit, which form natural luffa sponges when dried.

Ornamentals

• Common ornamental vines include wisteria, sweet pea, trumpet vine, morning glory, clematis, Boston ivy, English ivy, climbing roses, bittersweet and climbing hydrangea. Ornamental vine plants are usually grown on garden walls or rocks to add an impression of height among shorter plants.

Invasive Vines

• Invasive vine plants, such as Kudzu may grow 1 to 2 feet per day, overtaking gardens and wildlife habitats. Other invasive vines, such as poison ivy, Japanese knotweed and Virginia creeper, are considered minor nuisances to most yards even though poison ivy causes skin irritation in highly sensitive individuals.