Have Cats Claw - Looking to Replace It

Good Morning!

DH and I have a big cinderblock wall - last fall we planted some Cats Claw to grow on it, which it's now starting to take off.....However after reading more about it I'm seeing that it's a horrid thing and very invasive, and we are going to pull them up. We bought them from Lowe's, and being new to gardening I figured that if they sold it, it would be ok to grow here. (Now i know better lol!)

Anyway - I'm looking for something that we could grow on our wall that will look nice (hopefully colorful) and will not overtake everything else. We live on Southern California - our back yard gets really hot dry winds in the summer, and we had frost a few times last winter. The zone maps say we are an 8, but I see other people in our area on this site say we're a 9.

Thanks so much for any help!
Hugs,
Erin

Erin, I want your CC vine - dmail me and we will finalize a trade. Thanks!

Erin-
you are wise to remove the cat's claw. It suckers and also roots like crazy. It would have become a beast! The only vine that is worse is campis radicans!...and the box stores sell it, too!

As for something that will do well on a hot dry wall...most plants that will tolerate that kind of heat, will also be aggressive growers.

Are you wanting something self-clinging? Or, do you have a trellis of some kind for it?

Also, which direction does this wall face? Is is a hot south wall, ...or?

Can you post a pic?

I have several vines in mind, but I can be more helpful if I knew those few things first :0)

-T

T,

Thanks so much for your help. We are going to rip out the cats claw and put them in containers and see what happens. I thought maybe we could put something in it that they could grow up on.

The wall is cinderblock, and it is a south facing wall. We've been having 100+ days here, and we get tons of wind in our backyard. I was looking for something self climbing, but not if it's going to be something super aggressive.

I'll have my hubby take a pic of the wall so you can see what I'm dealing with. Thank you so much!

Hugs,
Erin

I think if you wanted to keep the cat's claw in a container, you might be able to manage it. You would just have to keep it trimmed kinda small like a shrub, and also watch out for seeds pods, that will release hundreds of little papery seeds, that will land wherever the wind blows :0)

Also, the roots will sneak out the bottom of the pot on you, so be sure the container is on a plant saucer, plant stand, or on pot feet on a patio or something...not sitting where it can reach soil ;0)

Bougainvillea loves a hot windy wall, but it has thorns. Roses do too, but climbing roses would look lovely.

Some other heat lovers to consider:
grapes(fantastic heat tolerance and great coverage, and fruit to boot)
bauhinia vine(delicate looking, but tough as nails)
distictis(purple or red)
phaseolus caracalla(this would do great there, and bloom non-stop, but can grow monster size if not trimmed)
port st. john's creeper would look nice, but bloom period is short.
passifloras, but some are quite invasive with suckers. I've found lavender lady to be quite behaved.

I'll be looking forward to seeing the picture, but in the meantime, I was thinking maybe you could put up some cattle panel with a few mason screws and hooks. It would be a nice sturdy frame for anything, and the spacing is large enough for you to get your hands in and out of, while training your vines.

It is also hardly noticeable, and quite discreet...unlike a very noticeable wood trellis, that will break in no time.
-T