Thank You Pam and Travis for your feedback.

After reading your msgs these newbies decided that we made a mistake
getting these vines excatly for the reasons that you stated in your
feedback about them. I guess the thing that stood out about the vine was
the hummingbird part of the name and we do want to put some type of
vine/vines along the chair link fence. We are out here in the Portland
Oregon area and we are now looking for new suggestions for vines to
plant along the fence.

Any suggestions??

Thanks again for the feedback

Don


"Don W" wrote in message
...
Hello

We got 3 hummingbird vines in the mail today and at the moment they are
on the pretty small side. We plan on planting them in front of a chain
link fence and since we are new to this we were wondering how far from
the fence should we plant them. We do plan on having the vines on the
fence but i wasnt sure how far to plant the vine near the fence. A few
inches from the fence...a foot away...?

Thanks

I know of at least a couple plants commonly referred to as 'hummingbird
vine' but as one is an annual (Ipomoea quamoclit), I am assuming you mean
Campsis radicans or trumpet vine. This is a big, aggressive vine that
develops a heavy and very woody trunk, so make sure your chain link fence is
sturdy enough to support it. You can plant as close as you like or as is
convenient, assuming the fence is not set into a concrete curbing. This
plant doesn't actually vine as such - no curling tendrils like clematis,
honeysuckle or grapes - but it does need a support. It will typically grow
to the top of the support - the fence in this case - and then spread along
the top.

I'd second Travis's comment about it being invasive. I've been trying to get
rid of mine for years. It will send up shoots from the roots a considerable
distance away from the mother plant. Not a huge problem if it is a lawn area
that gets mowed frequently, but a real bother in a planting area, or in my
case, a paved patio. The hummers DO love it - I just have other, more
manageable plants to offer them.

pam - gardengal