I have a little metal garden arch that I put near my birdbaths so that my feathered friends have a place to pause as they preen after bathing or sit while they wait their turn to bathe on hot days when the birdbath is popular.
This year I decided to train a vine on one side and see what would happen. I didn’t want to do morning glories because they readily self seed and I already pull enough weeds and unwanted plants from my flowerbeds daily.
I chose Black-eyed Susan vine (Thunbergia alata) ‘Lemon Star’.
The vines can grow 5 to 8 feet long on a trellis or pole or tripod of bamboo stakes. The flowers are buttery-yellow with a brown eye.
The little vines twist counter-clockwise, and the plants prefer full sun and moist, well-drained soil. My plant is in part-sun but receives most of it in the afternoon.
So far the only downside of growing ‘Lemon Star’ for me is that my ravenous sunflower-eating goldfinches have started tugging on the flowers of this plant as well.