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Published on
Friday, July 30, 2021
 By Victoria Torley So, you say your property has an ugly fence around it? Well, you can pay a lot of money and get a pretty fence, or you can do what I do. Put a vine on the darn thing. This is actually easier said than done. First, the usual fencing around here is barbed wire, and if you are working in your yard, you really want to be able to see what’s under that vine, so you don’t end up with scratches like mine and torn clothing (like mine). You can take down that barbed wire, but then you will have cattle eating your hibiscus. You can, however, sometimes get used plastic coated cable from ICE (the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity) – we have done that several times – and use it to replace the barbed wire. If necessary, you can buy cable by the spool and use that as fencing. Once it’s installed, it’s safe and ready for a vine. Of course, fences aren’t the only places for vines. Vines can be trellised to climb a wall or to provide a shady walkway from ‘here’ to ‘there.’ So, which vines are native to Costa Rica? If you want a native flowering vine that you can drive past and admire, Costa Rica is going to disappoint you. Sad to say, few of our vines are colorful although the passion flower is an exception. The Passiflora is a fruiting vine with lovely flowers. Our wild passion flowers usually bloom in red, purple, or white, but the shape and color of the 550 varieties of the Passiflora are varied. We planted our native red passion flower on a trellis next to the pool and were rewarded with beautiful blooms. We were also rewarded with butterflies, but then we had a plague of caterpillars. If we get another passion flower, we will plant it away from the house – and we may spray it. The Ipomoea alba, or moon flower, is a lovely vine for fencing. It is sometimes called the “night morning glory” as its flowers open after sunset when it fills the air with fragrance. Since the vine has been known to grow a hundred feet long, one plant can, over time, cover a lot of ugly fencing. An interesting fact about the moon flower is its use in Mesoamerica. The plant collects and concentrates sulfur from the soil. Natives used this sulfur in combination with the latex from the Castilla elastica (rubber tree) to make bouncing rubber balls used in their games. Our last native vine (here anyway) is the Aristolochia grandiflora or Dutchman's pipe. This is an interesting-looking vine with a strange-looking flower. A word of caution: do not plant this vine near the house. The plant relies on insects for pollination, especially those attracted to carrion. As a result, the plant’s ‘perfume’ smells like rotting meat. Not something you want at your next barbecue. Plant for the Week
 The bad news – trouble with my camera and the old computer. Still, here’s a lovely passionflower, just for you. ----------------------- Editor's note: More information on this article or about gardening, Ms. Victoria Torley, gardener columnist, can be reached at victoriatorley1@gmail.com  Professional's
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