For too long, native plants were overlooked in favor of showy species brought in from Europe and Asia.
I can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see more and more of these fabulous indigenous plants finding their way (back) into North American gardens.
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You don’t have to give up having an impressive show if you pick native plants as some are every bit as showy as imports. You also have the benefit of plants that are better for the environment and resident beneficial insects.
They also tend to be adapted to the climate in your regions so they need less fussing over.
For instance, American wisteria is just as dramatic as its Japanese counterpart, but it is less prone to disease issues and won’t become invasive.
You aren’t limited to the familiar (but marvelous) Virginia creeper or trumpet vines, either.
We’re going to talk about 21 of the best native vines for your landscape. Here’s the lineup:
21 Native Vines for Your Landscape
15. Virginia Creeper
16. Wild Cucumber
17. Wild Grape
18. Wild Potato
19. Wild Yam
20. Wisteria
21. Yellow Jessamine
Vines use different methods to climb and attach themselves to support structures.
Some form stem or leaf tendrils, which are narrow growths that serve the purpose of reaching out until they find something to coil around.
Other plants twine, which means they have stems or leaves that wind around a support. Vines like bougainvillea (Bougainvillea spp.), can’t actually climb on their own.
We need to help these types by tying them onto a structure. Otherwise, they will crawl along the ground.
Species such as Virginia creeper use sticky pads to attach themselves to structures, potentially causing damage, and plants like ivy (Hedera helix) use clinging roots that emerge from the stem.
The attachment method matters because it can help you decide which type will work in your space.
If you’re looking for a plant that can climb up the side of your garage unassisted, you’re going to need a very different species than if you want a delicate vine to twine over an archway.
You can also generally assume that any vine with clinging roots is going to be a lot more robust and thus potentially damaging than an herbaceous twining type.
When considering which native vines to grow in your garden, you’d be wise to pick a species that grows in your region.
A vine that is native to California could potentially be invasive in your North Carolina garden.
1. Allegheny Vine
The northeastern United States is home to the delicate biennial Allegheny vine (Adlumia fungosa).
With its slender, twining stems that grow up to ten feet long and fern-like leaves, it’s a petite addition for an area that needs something quite restrained.
The plant will develop clusters of pale pink blossoms in its second year before dying back. Don’t worry, it will politely reseed itself without becoming invasive.
This vine prefers disturbed areas in the wild and will tolerate depleted, compacted soil in the garden. It needs full sun to partial sun to perform its best in Zones 4 to 8.
2. Ampelaster
Hailing from the southeastern United States, ampelaster, or climbing aster (Ampelaster carolinianus) is similar to asters, with daisy-like flower heads composed of ray and disc florets.
The difference is that this species can climb over 10 feet on twining stems.
The blossoms are a pink so pale they almost look white, to deep rosy-purple, with yellow centers.
This plant loves moisture but needs good drainage, although it will tolerate brief periods of flooding.
Grow it as a perennial in USDA Hardiness Zones 7 to 10 or as an annual in cooler areas, where it can reach up to five feet in one growing season. It flowers well in full to partial sun.
3. Carolina Coralbead
Carolina coralbead (Cocculus carolinus), is so named for the bright red drupes that form in spring and last through summer.
The flowers on this climber aren’t the most impressive out there, with a medium green to cream color. But the bead-like berries make up for it.
Inside the fleshy coating is a seed enclosed in a hard shell that resembles a snail shell, lending this plant its other name: snailseed.
Growing from Kansas to Florida and North Carolina to Texas, it’s sometimes considered a weed, but can also be grown for its large, triangular leaves that cover vines that can grow up to 20 feet long in Zones 5 to 9.
4. Carolina Milkvine
Matelea carolinensis, commonly known as milkvine, has a milky white sap when cut.
This twining vine is native to the southeastern United States, where it is known for its reddish-purple blossoms in the summer and large, heart-shaped leaves.
It grows in Zones 6 to 8 in full sun to partial shade, where it can reach up to 12 feet long before dying back in the fall.
5. Clematis
Clematis species are native all across North America.
Woodbine or love vine (Clematis virginiana) can be found in eastern North America, while western blue virginsbower (C. occidentalis) appears in northern US and southern Canada, both in Zones 3 to 8.
Western clematis (C. ligusticifolia) makes its home along the west coast in Zones 3 to 8, and rock clematis (C. columbiana) lives in the Rocky Mountains in Zones 4 to 8.
Scarlet leather-flower (C. texensis) hails from the southern US, primarily around Texas, and grows in Zones 5 to 9. It stands out with its red flowers, the only clematis species with red blooms.
White-leaf leather flower (C. glaucophylla) is also from the south and vasevine (C. viorna) sticks to Zones 4 to 9 in the southeast.
Bluebill (C. pitcheri) grows across the midwest from Texas to Canada in Zones 4 to 9, and blue jasmine (C. crispa) covers the same area in Zones 5 to 9.
These plants and their hybrids have blossoms in shades of purple, pink, red, or white on vines that grow up to 20 feet long. Some are highly fragrant, others not so much.
None of these native species are as showy or as readily available as the many hybrids with double blossoms in striking colors that you’ll find at most nurseries and home supply stores.
But that doesn’t mean they aren’t every bit as beautiful with their smaller, more subdued flowers.
These species are quietly refined compared to their raucous cousins. They’re content to twine their leaf petioles around anything that will support them.
Grow them in full sun to partial shade, depending on the species.
Our guide to growing clematis has all the information.
6. Climbing Hempvine
You might not realize that climbing hempvine, also known as climbing hempweed (Mikania scandens), is related to sunflowers by looking at its clusters of small, pinkish-white tubular flowers.
This twining, herbaceous plant is a pollinator favorite from early fall until the first frost across the eastern US in Zones 8 to 11.
The 10-foot-long vines covered in arrow-shaped leaves are perfect for scrambling over an archway or up a trellis in a patch of a butterfly garden that receives full sun.
7. Crossvine
Crossvine (Bignonia capreolata) grows indigenously across the US east of the Rockies in Zones 6 to 9, where it attaches to trees, fences, trellises, and walls using both tendrils and twining stems.
The bright green semi-evergreen leaves turn purple in the winter, but it’s the flowers that stand out.
They’re vibrant yellow, orange, and burgundy with a mocha-like fragrance that attracts hummingbirds from far and wide.
There are cultivars out there with a stronger fragrance than others, and those with larger or more boldly-colored flowers.
As the plant ages, it might drop its lower leaves. Heavy pruning or dividing and replanting can refresh it and encourage bushier growth.
This species is often confused with trumpet creeper, to which its closely related. It’s far less intrusive than trumpet creeper, though, with darker flowers.
It will flower best in full sun but will grow just fine in partial sun.
Learn more about crossvine here.
8. Dutchman’s Pipe
Whether you call it Dutchman’s pipe, pipevine, wild ginger, or broadleaf birthwort, Aristolochia macrophylla is a pretty interesting plant.
It has huge, heart-shaped leaves that can be up to a foot long. The inconspicuous greenish-yellow flowers resemble both a smoking pipe and a human fetus, which is where the genus name comes from.
The botanical name translates from Greek to mean “optimal childbirth.”
Native to eastern North America, it’s a butterfly and hummingbird favorite, while its toxicity keeps deer and other herbivores away.
Speaking of, you and your pets shouldn’t eat it, either, this species is seriously poisonous.
This twining vine can grow up to 30 feet tall in Zones 8 to 10 in full sun.
Don’t confuse this North American native with Brazilian Dutchman’s pipe (A. gigantea).
The latter plant is native to South America and has much larger flowers. It has naturalized in parts of the southeastern US, where it smothers native species.
9. Groundnut
What a bland name for such a beautiful vine.
Groundnut, aka cinnamon vine (Apios americana), is a legume with 20-foot-long twining, herbaceous vines that drip in pink, purple, or reddish-brown racemes.
As with other legumes, it’s a nitrogen fixer, giving back to the soil.
It also pays you back with its delicious, potato-like tubers. Indigenous to eastern North America, it can be grown anywhere in Zones 4 to 9.
While groundnuts prefer full sun, they will tolerate partial shade.
10. Honeysuckle
Honeysuckle has earned a bad reputation for its invasive potential, but the native species are far more mild-mannered.
Coral honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens), indigenous to eastern North America, has fragrant coral flowers.
Its close relatives orange honeysuckle (L. ciliosa) and pink honeysuckle (L. hispidula) hang out west of the Rockies and are named according to their flower color.
All of them grow up to 20 feet long with a twining climbing habit in Zones 4 to 9.
While they will grow in partial shade, the best flowering happens in full sun, with some protection in the afternoon in hot regions.
‘Major Wheeler’ is perhaps the most popular L. sempervirens cultivar. It has glorious red, salmon, pink, and orange blossoms, and heaps of them.
You can find plants available in #2 or #3 containers at Nature Hills Nursery.
You can learn more about honeysuckles here.
11. Hop Vine
You don’t have to love beer to adore the hops vine (Humulus lupulus).
Though the aerial parts die back to the ground in the fall, the vine grows up to 20 feet long in an astounding amount of time.
They can literally grow an inch an hour under ideal conditions.
One summer, I put the fast-growth claim to the test and watched my vines, marking them along the fence as you would a growing toddler. Yep, they grew that quickly.
Before we go any further, know that hops are technically bines.
Bines have a twining growth habit but they use small hairs to grip the structure rather than tendrils. But for the purposes of growing them in the garden, it doesn’t matter at all.
The female vines grow the cone-like structures that are used to brew beer and the males grow long green catkins. The leaves somewhat resemble grape leaves.
Most of the hops you’ll find for sale are from European stock, but there are three varieties indigenous to North America.
These are H. lupulus var. neomexicanus, var. lupuloides, and var. pubescens. These grow across the southwest, up through the midwest, and across the Atlantic seaboard.
However, European types have escaped cultivation and have hybridized with native varieties, so getting your hands on a truly native plant might be a challenge.
These plants grow in Zones 5 to 8 and need full sun.
Now, I’m not one to play favorites (I totally am), but if you’re looking for a suggestion, I’d recommend ‘Cascade.’
This cultivar features in many IPAs that I adore, but it was bred by the USDA and Oregon State University to be top-notch for making beer, on a highly productive vine that doesn’t grow too large at 15 feet, and has a nice balanced flavor in the cones.
I grow it as an ornamental and you’d better believe I inhale deeply when I brush past the vine. You can purchase live plants in quart-sized containers at Nature Hills Nursery.
12. Passionflower
Gorgeous purple maypops (Passiflora incarnata) are well known and loved in Zones 6 to 10, not only for their incredible flowers, but for the marvelous edible passionfruits that they produce.
But that’s not the only native passionflower in North America.
Yellow passionflower (P. lutea), with its pale yellow blossoms, grows in the same range across the eastern part of the continent from Canada to Mexico in Zones 7 to 11.
Fetid passionflower (P. foetida) grows in the southwest in Zones 9 to 11 and has smaller, mostly white flowers. The stinky part comes not from the blossoms but from the foliage, which has a strong odor when disturbed.
Corkystem passionflower (P. suberosa) grows in the south, with fleshy green flowers and deep blue fruits. Birdwing (P. tenuiloba) lives in the southwest in Zones 8 to 11 and is named for its wing-like foliage. The flowers are small and green.
All do best in partial sun and grow up to 15 feet long, attach using twining tendrils, and produce edible fruits, with varying levels of palatability.
For an option that is both beautiful and that produces flavorful fruits, ‘Possum Purple’ is an excellent choice. You can find it available at Nature Hills Nursery in #5 containers.
Learn more about growing passionflower.
13. Peavine
Peavines aka sweet peas (Lathyrus spp.) are positively charming, and there’s a species that grows indigenously to basically every part of North America.
Nevada peavine (Lathyrus lanszwertii) covers the west, while flowered peavine (L. pauciflorus) takes up the Pacific Northwest.
Pacific peavine (L. vestitus) grows along the entire Pacific coast and beach pea (L. japonicus) makes the eastern seaboard its home (along with parts of Asia).
Veiny pea (L. venosus) fills in the midwest. They grow from Zones 3 to 9 and all are herbaceous twining plants that will die back in the winter in colder areas.
Depending on the species, the sweet little blossoms are white, pink, purple, or some combination of the three.
They can grow well in partial sun to full sun but beware that the peas they develop aren’t edible. The vines self-seed readily and can grow up to 10 feet long.
Want to learn more? Check out our sweet pea growing guide.
14. Trumpet Creeper
Trumpet creeper or trumpet vine (Campsis radicans) is also known as hummingbird vine for a good reason.
The acrobatic little birds can’t get enough of the bright yellow and salmon-colored flowers that do indeed resemble trumpets.
While it is native to eastern North America, trumpet creeper has naturalized across the continent to the point where some areas are trying desperately to get rid of it.
Like the decidedly not native English ivy (Hedera helix), it uses its thick woody stems with aerial rootlets to attach itself firmly to structures, ripping wood trim and climbing into roofs.
If you can control it, it’s a welcome addition to a pollinator garden, especially in drought-prone areas in the sunbelt.
The stems can grow up to 35 feet long in full to partial sun, and there are multiple cultivars on the market with pink, yellow, red, or orange blossoms.
If the vine is native to your region, you can find plants available in #3 containers from Nature Hills Nursery.
15. Virginia Creeper
Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) is popular across the US for its adaptability, bright fall foliage, and dusty blue berries, though it’s indigenous to eastern North America.
This herbaceous, rapidly-growing plant can reach up to 100 feet in length, but usually stays about half that in the garden.
It has sticky pads that help it attach to walls, meaning you can let it climb up your home’s exterior without needing to train, or trellis it.
Plus, it doesn’t have the damaging aerial roots that make plants like English ivy such a nuisance.
The plant contains raphides, which can cause contact dermatitis. Don’t confuse this vine with the similar-looking poison oak (Toxicodendron radicans).
Its close relative, false Virginia creeper (P. inserta) looks nearly identical and can be grown in similar conditions.
The difference is that this one attaches by twining its stems, so it needs something to climb. Both do well in partial shade to fun sun, with brighter fall coloring in full sun.
Our guide to growing Virginia creeper has more information.
16. Wild Cucumber
All across North America, you can find the deeply palmate leaves on 30-foot-long vines attached to anything wild cucumber (Echinocystis lobata) can get its curling tendrils on.
Also known as balsam apple, this plant crawls up trees, fences, and shrubs in partial shade to full sun in Zones 3 to 11.
In the spring, fragrant clusters of white and yellow star-shaped flowers cover the plant, followed by the easily-identifiable fruits.
These look a lot like a cross between a cucumber and a hedgehog. Luckily, the spines are soft, so you don’t need to worry about impaling yourself.
While it’s a lovely ornamental, it can be a bit aggressive. It will cover your other plants if you don’t keep it in check.
17. Wild Potato
Wild potato vine (Ipomoea pandurata) is a close relative of the sweet potato and is cultivated for both its edible tuberous roots and for the big, bold flowers that develop along the 30-foot-long twining stems.
The flowers are bright white with purple or pink throats and open during the day before closing again at night.
They can be found growing wild throughout eastern North America in Zones 6 to 8 near woodlands and streams. Their sweet potato-like tubers are delicious roasted or boiled.
Grow in full to partial sun.
18. Wild Grape
There are dozens of wild grape (Vitis spp.) species in North America, covering every state from Zones 3 to 9.
When Norse explorers landed in eastern North America, they dubbed it “vinland.”
While they haven’t been cultivated to death like your familiar pinot noir and chardonnay varieties, these vines are finding a new foothold in American gardens and even in the wine industry.
All are edible, and all grow on woody vines with twining tendrils. Look for one indigenous to your area and let it grow wild over a fence or arbor.
In the west, you’ll find California wild grapes (Vitis californica) and Arizona grapes (V. arizonica).
In the east are fox grapes (V. labrusca), which is where concord grapes come from, riverbank grape (V. riparia), summer grape (V. aestivalis), and July grape (V. rupestris).
Riverbank grapes are commonly used as rootstock for grafted European varieties thanks to their disease resistance.
Southern areas have muscadine grapes (V. rotundifolia) and Texas grapes (V. mustangensis).
The vines can range from 20 to 50 feet long, depending on the species, and should be grown in full sun.
Want more information? Learn about growing grapevines here.
19. Wild Yam
Wild yams (Dioscorea villosa) feature elegant twining vines draped in large, glossy, heart-shaped leaves and small but attractive clusters of yellow-white-green flowers followed by green seed capsules.
Hidden underground lie fleshy tubers that are the subject of intense scrutiny from a medical perspective for use in fighting cancer, easing arthritis and the symptoms of menopause, and in battling liver disease.
While the jury is still out on how this plant can improve our health, it’s a certainty that it can improve our garden aesthetics.
This herbaceous woodland vine is native to eastern North America and grows up to 15 feet long in Zones 5 to 9.
While it tolerates anything from partial shade to full sun, it will only flower in full sun.
You’ll also find D. alata growing wild in North America, where it has naturalized. This one is edible but not native.
20. Wisteria
American wisteria (Wisteria frutescens) and Kentucky wisteria (W. macrostachya) both inhabit eastern North America and use their twining woody stems to attach themselves to other plants and structures.
Both can grow nearly 50 feet in length and have gorgeous panicles of purple flowers.
These plants are related to peas and redbuds and while they’re just as beautiful as their Asian wisteria cousins, they’re far less aggressive.
Grow them in full sun in Zones 5 to 9.
‘Amethyst Falls’ is a particularly pretty W. frutescens cultivar with lovely lavender purple flowers.
It starts blossoming at a young age and has a naturally compact growth habit, only growing to about 25 feet long at most.
Find yours in a #2, #3, or quart container at Nature Hills Nursery.
Want to learn more about these vines? Check out our wisteria growing guide.
21. Yellow Jessamine
Yellow jessamine aka Carolina jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens), not to be confused with jasmine (Jasminum spp.), likes the warm areas of the southeastern US in Zones 7 to 9.
This evergreen twining vine is beautiful when not in bloom, but once the yellow or yellow-orange, extremely fragrant flowers come out in the spring, it’s irresistible.
So irresistible, that some people mistakenly suck the nectar from the flower, thinking it’s honeysuckle. Don’t do that, this plant is toxic, and the sap can irritate your skin.
These vines grow over 20 feet long if you provide a full sun location. In shadier spots it’ll tend to remain shorter and not bloom as profusely.
You can find Carolina jessamine available in one-, two-, and three-gallon containers from Fast Growing Trees.
Get more yellow jessamine info here.
Add Native Vines to Your Space
In my opinion, vining plants should be a part of every garden, adding height and texture. Extra points if they’re indigenous to your region.
Are you currently growing native vines? Is there an option on this list that sounds like just what you’re looking for? Let us know in the comments section below.
And if you’re interested in learning more about some other vining plants, check out these guides next:
The flower pictured under Carolina Jessamine is Brugmansia or Angel’s Trumpet. A pretty if poisonous shrub, but definitely not Carolina Jessamine!
Looking for an evergreen, blooming, non toxic vine for a wrought iron for privacy screen on a patio close to a side walk. This extensive research has helped immensely. I want this wrought to be the hummingbird, butterfly sanctuary & set a trend at this condo complex. Thank you.
Glad we could help! It sounds like you’re on the right track, but if you want to let me know your USDA Growing Zone or region, I might be able to give you some additonal ideas. In the east, trumpet honeysuckle (Lonicera sempervirens) might be a good option that fits all your needs.