I've had to deal with this species in a garden where a neighbor had allowed it to climb a fence. It required endless attention. It grows ...Read Morewith astonishing speed, and I was continually pulling up 12' runners that were already rooting at every node. It also twines about and strangles any woody plant it can reach. Untangling it was immensely time-consuming.
Its height is limited only by the height of its support. It can climb tall trees.
This vine has naturalized in 16 states and has been reported invasive of natural areas in 6. I know it's taken over hundreds of acres of woodland on the Biltmore estate in NC.
I had an antenna that was probably 20-30 feet high and very ugly. I planted an akebia vine to climb it and it went all the way to the to...Read Morep after about 3 years! It was beautiful! It only bloomed until I obtained an akebia of a different variety, the white one. And then the fruit came! Boy was that fun because it is so unusual! The taste is so sweet although it is somewhat sticky and very seedy. I give this plant a hardy thumbs up if you have a place for it to climb and enjoy something quite unusual. But as I said earlier, if you want fruit,, you need 2 varieties for them to pollinate.
One small slip nearly 20 years ago in our Zone 9a garden has resulted in a vine that periodically shows up here and there over an area ab...Read Moreout 200' x 50'. It spirals around any support, be it a post or another plant. True, it is beautiful, with its delicate leaves, wiry stems, exquisite and deliciously fragrant blossoms reminiscent of freesia, raspberry, and mignonette, and its occasional tasty blue fruit, but it has a tendency to becoming rampant. I have seen it smothering everything from a grape pergola to an air conditioner. One year it twined 40' up a neighbor's redwood tree.
Akebia quinata 'Shirobana' (Dec) (z5) (Fra)
Lovely cascades of fragrant white spring flowers are followed by white fruit on this v...Read Moreigorous (20-30') vine with its dark-green, 5-fingered foliage; a very attractive vigorous climber. Sun-PSh/Med
This vine is an evergreen in my zone (Z8), and has attractive bluish-green foliage for wintertime enjoyment. In early Spring, it puts on...Read More flower buds resembling tiny white ballooons which are slow to open, but well worth the wait. The open blooms reveal a wonderful chocolate scent. The strongly fragrant blooms survive about three days before withering, and then are replaced by new, fresh blooms on the vine. The flowers may be small, but the vine is covered with them.
My vine is a Akebia quinata Shiro Bana meaning that it has five leaves per cluster. It is my understanding that you must have two different kinds of Akebia in order for it to produce the edible purple fruit. I have not had mine long enough to see if it produces fruit, but I am assuming that it will not since I have no other Akebia.
I can highly recommend this vine for it's attractive evergreen leaves, and wonderful chocolate scent.
I've had to deal with this species in a garden where a neighbor had allowed it to climb a fence. It required endless attention. It grows ...Read More
I had an antenna that was probably 20-30 feet high and very ugly. I planted an akebia vine to climb it and it went all the way to the to...Read More
One small slip nearly 20 years ago in our Zone 9a garden has resulted in a vine that periodically shows up here and there over an area ab...Read More
Akebia quinata 'Shirobana' (Dec) (z5) (Fra)
Lovely cascades of fragrant white spring flowers are followed by white fruit on this v...Read More
This vine is an evergreen in my zone (Z8), and has attractive bluish-green foliage for wintertime enjoyment. In early Spring, it puts on...Read More