EDMONTON - In our old greenhouses, a walk down the aisles in mid-May would be accompanied by the rhythmic, and rather annoying, sensation of trailing vines from overhead hanging baskets brushing against my hair. The only saving grace was I always knew which trailers were the most vigorous plants and most likely to drag across the top of my head. Despite these close brushes, I absolutely love them in containers and wouldn’t dream of planting a container without some. Fortunately, there’s a long list to choose from, each with its own charm. To make the task of choosing yours a little less onerous, here are half a dozen that I think are particularly terrific for containers.
To start, it helps to divide trailing plants into two somewhat broad categories: those planted primarily for their foliage and those planted primarily for their flowers. Regardless of which type catches your fancy, trailers eliminate that harsh delineation between plants grown in the centre of a container and the container itself. The waterfall of colour provided by trailers makes the transition from plants to pot beautifully seamless.
In the foliage category, sweet potato vines are at the top of my favourites list. They grow quickly, and there are lots of different colours and leaf shapes to choose from. ‘Marguerite’ with its broad, heart-shaped, lime-green leaves is our most popular variety and is perfect with purple-flowering petunias. For a reverse look, opt for ‘Ace of Spades,’ a purplish sweet potato vine that complements yellow flowering plants. Both vines do well in full sun or partial shade and, in a typical season, will trail a couple of metres. If you want a warmer palette, try ‘Refried Beans,’ which has a multitude of coppery tones set on lobed leaves.
Another foliage trailer I love is purple heart (Setcreasea). This tropical plant has narrow purple-and-pink streaked foliage that’s stunning, and even produces a few small pink flowers. It looks incredibly striking paired with yellow-foliaged plants and is the least aggressive of all of the trailers. Expect a metre or less of growth.
Not to be forgotten in the foliage category is an old standby—English ivy. The classic look of ivy works well in virtually any container and is easy to grow. There are several different varieties of English ivy and, although they are rarely labelled, each is easy to recognize. Solid green ivy and the white or yellow variegated types are most common. Under optimum conditions, English ivy will grow just over a metre in length and does well in full sun to part shade.
In the flowering vine category, calibrachoa can’t be overlooked. This member of the petunia family produces masses of miniature petunia-like flowers. There are scads of varieties of calibrachoa in a rainbow of both solid and variegated coloured blooms. One of my favourite varieties is ‘Catwalk Perfect Purple,’ a very floriferous variety living up to the plant’s common name of million bells. For the best floral show, grow calibrachoa in full sun and expect about a meter and a half of growth.
Staying with the petunia theme, I also like the trailing-type petunias. The Easy Wave series includes over a dozen great selections and all are great performers. I absolutely love the ‘South Beach Mix.’ The combination includes vibrant pink, red and purple petunias that provide a real blast of summer colour. Be warned, you may need sunglasses if you put these together in one pot. Easy waves will easily grow a couple of metres and do best in full sun.
Last — but certainly not the least of my favourites — is bacopa. It’s rather subdued, but still very pretty. Bacopa is available in a several colours, although white continues to be the most popular choice for many gardeners. One variety that’s tough to beat is ‘Savoir Faire Ultimate White,’ which has a ton of small, pure-white flowers. I like white-flowered bacopa because it works well with all colours and creates a nice traditional look. So, if your tastes shift to the more conventional, bacopa is an excellent choice. It trails about a metre and does well in full sun to part shade.
Honestly, a container can be transformed from good-looking to absolutely stunning with the simple addition of a few trailers. So don’t forget to add some to yours.