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Originally Posted by Caladium
The sweet pea vine and the carolina jessamine are great suggestions. I'll have to look them up and do a comparison against the clematis. I like the look of all three, so I guess the best idea is to choose the one that has the longest bloom time, or maybe the one least likely to attract deer. Anyone have opinions on that?
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I never try to steer people towards or away from what they should get because everyone has a different gardening need, climate and soil condition. Some are more environmentally conscious and others just want color. Sometimes a combination of plants may work as gentlearts suggested. I'll try to give you some pluses and minuses to look at to help you make a decision on what will work for you in your garden.
First a disclaimer!! Deer resistance can be very local so don't take any recommendation on how deer proof any plant is as an absolute. I gardened for decades in an area rampant with deer and learned that lesson the hard way. Some plants almost come with a guarantee to be eaten like Impatiens, Hosta and Daylilies but others are hit and miss like blanket flower, balloon flower and coleous. There are only a very small amount of plants that deer universally avoid and usually they are poisonous such as Daffodils, or spiny and tough like several hollies. I can't tell you how often I've seen something on a "deer won't touch this" list and either have had that plant mowed down in my yard or in the garden of someone I know. Most garden authorities now will have lists with 4 categories: "rarely eaten" "sometimes damaged" "sometimes severely damaged" and "frequently severely damaged" or some variation on those. If you stick with the first 2 categories when researching the chances are good for that plant to survive your deer.
Clematis as a group falls under the "sometimes damaged" as does the Carolina Jessamine. For whatever reason my clematis went untouched by the deer much as they decimated so much else. It may have partially been that is was surrounded by other plants on the rarely touched list. Bloom times vary between varieties but generally there are one time bloomers (a single bloom period lasting for several weeks) and there are repeat bloomers (bloom for a month or so in spring and repeat in early fall).
The Armand Clematis is a beautiful and unusual evergreen clematis that is also a southern plant and does not do well when in severe cold (it begins to loose leaves in teen temperatures and generally will die if it gets below zero degrees). It is considered to be less likely to be eaten by deer than other clematis. Its pluses are tons of flowers and a fantastic smell when they bloom (just a few weeks in early spring). To grow well it needs part to full sun, less sun will cause it to look sparse.
Carolina Jessamine is also considered native in the south up to southern VA, so it would be considered a borderline plant for NoVa, and may have trouble if you get a colder than normal winter. It is a beautiful for late winter-early spring months bloomer(about 2-3 months of bloom depending on the weather) but it is just green for most of the rest of the year. The last 2 winters running ours have bloomed on and off from December on. It's biggest negative is how toxic it can be, and the severe skin reactions some people get when handling it to keep it in check (gloves and long sleeves are a must).
Sweet Pea vine is the common name for both a perennial and an annual vine, depending on who you talk to. You'll need a latin name to tell them apart when shopping catalogs. The annual sweet pea vine is known for its smell and is called Lathyrus odoratus for that reason. It blooms continuously for several months in late spring and early summer if you remove spent flowers and it doesn't get too hot. It is not a good bloomer when it gets above 90 degrees. It prefers to be in full to partial sun, that means less flowers in your conditions. The perennial Sweet Pea Vine is called Lathyrus latifolius. It likes part sun. It tolerates heat very well and has a longer bloom period (sometimes right to the first frosts) but the biggest negative is it can be very invasive.
The Climbing Hydrangea is great for areas with part sun to mostly shade and blooms for about 7-8 weeks in late spring and early summer. It will need to be watered carefully when you establish it but once it has been in place it is considered somewhat drought tolerant. It does not tolerate high heat and humid conditions of the deeper south but should be good in NoVa.
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I like the idea of planting two that flower at different times. So I planted a Carolina Jessamine yesterday and when the clematis arrive at Lowes I'll plant one of those, too. If they have any overlapping blooms, yellow and white will be pretty together. Sprayed with the Bobex, so hopefully the deer will leave it alone.
