Most of the vines I am reading here are for warmer climates, what can I plant, it does not need to have flowers but should be a perennial in my zone? It is to be planted on top of three railroad ties to hide them as they grow down. A lot of snow will cover it due to plowing.
Perennial Vines
OK...sounds like if there's going to be snow piled up from plowing, there will also be salt in the snow from the road? Be careful with that. Some plants don't like it :)
There are tons of vines you can grow. Sounds like you want something that's going to creep along the ground? Maybe some groundcover will work out for you too? For vines - Ivy (but I wouldn't, personally...because it can run wild - but this would be considered a ground cover too), clematis, climbing hydrangea, climbing or rambling roses and honeysuckle. For groundcover - creeping phlox, sedum, dianthus, cotoneaster, soapwart. My favorite is the creeping phlox. It will spread and fall over the ties if that's what you're looking for. Something like this picture...
If you need something more agressive...something that will creep and spread farther and more quickly, stick with vines instead of creeping perennials. I don't think phlox would be a good choice if it needs to hang down out of the soil to cover something more than 1 foot or so. It might work ok, but would take longer. Maybe one of the nice pink honeysuckles would work well for your situation.
This message was edited Jul 30, 2004 9:47 AM
Thanks,zone 6, creeping Phlox sounds great! There will be no worry about salt since it is in our back up driveway.
I found a better picture of a patch of creeping phlox I have. This picture shows it hanging over the wall a little better.
This is Dropmore Scarlet Honeysuckle. ( Lonicera. brownii) It goes down to zero and minus . Check it out! Here's a pic of mine.
