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10 Best Creepers & Climbing Plants-Top Vines For Pots

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For most of us, home isn’t just a place; it’s rather a feeling where we feel safe and happy. At home, we all have a favorite spot to relax our body and clear our minds while we are immersed in reading books, listening to our favorite music or sometimes to sip our coffee as we stare at the view in front of us.
Balconies and gardens have always topped these lists. Here we are going to share the perfect way to add flair to these spots with the help of different kind of vines, climbers and creepers that not only gives the looks but also are proven stress relievers.

For those who are new to these terms ‘creepers and climbers’, please don’t panic!
They are a beautiful category of plants that grow using some sort of support as they have weak stems. The tendrils (tiny extensions of the stem) and suckers (stem sprouts) help them to twine around their choice of backing.

Now let’s have a look at some of the options, that you really might consider adorning your balconies and walls with.

1. Devil’s Ivy (Money plant)

Climbing plants

Also called silver vine, golden pothos, hunter’s robe, etc. it is one of the best creeper usually found in the temperate region. The fact that this plant requires little care makes it one of the most common houseplants. It bears leaves with white, yellow, or light green variations making it stand out from the rest.

To cultivate this plant, all you have to do is cut the part of the plant that helps in plant propagation, and regular watering is needed during summer and often qualifies under the watering indoor plant’s category. Apart from removing indoor pollutants, this plant is known to cause a feeling of calmness in people that have touched its living leaves.

Best suited for: Adorning side walls and garden walls

Specialty: Requires little care and hence is suitable for beginners; fast-growing evergreen climber

Benefits: Remove pollutants, Induce calmness

2. Confederate Jasmine

creeper plants

Known by the name Star jasmine, this five-petal flower bearing plant is an excellent evergreen climber with a woody stem. The fragrance it emits is a big plus and is present throughout the year. These plants grow up to a height of 3 meters and are best for decorating your balconies and terrace.

The fact that it strives in the sun as well as in the shade and requires only garden watering with proper draining makes this one of the best evergreen climbing plants in India.

Best suited for: Balcony and terrace

Specialty: It’s pleasant fragrance throughout the year.

Benefits: Pleasant fragrance and its beauty

3. Mandeville (Rocktrumpet)

Climbers plants names

Now, this is a flower that will make your guests envy your garden because it bears one of the spectacular and often fragrant flowers. The flowers come in a variety of shades of white, yellow, pink and red. So you could choose the right species that match your garden wall or the fence. This makes it one of the popular climber plant in India.

These sometimes require trellis when equipping to climb against a wall and require full sun but not too strong. The water requirements of this outdoor species are very low and provide a leafy green cover to the area where it grows.

Best suited for: Adorning large walls (requires trellis)

Specialty: Beautiful funnel-shaped flowers in red, pink, yellow and white colors

Benefits: Requires less watering and strives in full sun

4. Morning Glory- Best Flowering Vine

creeper plant names

Wouldn’t it be perfect to wake up in the morning and enter your balcony with a mug of coffee only to be greeted by some beautiful flowers? That’s exactly what morning glory is. They get their name from the fact that they bloom in the morning. The flowers are trumpet-shaped and come in white, Neil, pink, and violet and have a variety of subspecies.

This blue dawn flower requires full sun, well-drained soil and garden watering regularly. It is the best flowering vine for fences and are planted as seeds in a pot and later transplanted.

Best suited for: Fences (away from the direct wind)

Specialty: Trumpet-shaped flowers that bloom at dawn and heart-shaped velvety leaves

Benefits: One of the best ornamental climbers in India

5. Trumpet Vine:

flowering vines

Campsis or the trumpet vine is an evergreen climbing plant clings using its aerial roots and are deciduous in nature. The flowers bloom in summer and are quite the treat to eyes, with its bright yellow and red shades.
Now, what makes this fast-growing evergreen climber special is that you’re bound to get tiny visitors fluttering its wings at top speed, the hummingbirds.

Best suited for: Gardens and walls

Specialty: Bright red and yellow trumpet-shaped flowers

Benefits: Attracts hummingbirds, requires little watering

6. Clematis

climbers plants in India

You have got a large wall that needs to be covered desperately? Look no further, as this vine not just covers the wall but decorates it. Clematis is a woody creeper that has weak stems in the early stages of its life. But that doesn’t stop this plant from growing through other shrubs and trees.

This plant requires regular garden watering and provides shade if made to grow over structures like arbors and pergolas. But don’t forget to fertilize the plant as it needs extras to maintain its beauty. Sweet autumn clematis is her distant cousin if the fragrance is what you’re looking for.

Best suited for: Long garden walls, Shady structures like pergolas

Specialty: Adaptive nature and its flowers.

Benefits: Attracts butterflies as the leaves are food for caterpillars.

7. Bougainvillea- Best Climbing Plant

Creepers plants name with pictures

You can never ever get tired of looking at this plant. This one is more of a climbing shrub and is famous for the wonderful display of colors like magenta, red, orange, pink, and white. You’ll be surprised to know that these are actually not its flowers but rather a leaf-like structure called bracts. Its actual flowers are quite a bit shy and nestle within.

Best time to water these plants is during its early stages. Once it has grown, you can enjoy its beauty, from a distance. Why? Well, these beauties have stems with thorns for protection. Easily tops the list of best evergreen climbing plants.

Best suited for: The fences of course as it will help keep out rodents with its thorny stems

Specialty: Low maintenance plant with beautiful colorful bracts

Benefits: Ornamental and requires only initial care. The species is tolerant to salt and drought.

Looking for Low Maintenance Evergreen plants? Read here.

8. Wisteria

best vines

If you ever find yourself in California, visit a place called the Sierra Madre, and you’ll find the World’s largest known Wisteria with a span of more than 1 acre. Yes, you heard that right. This plant climb

This species can be propagated by seeds or stem cutting. The latter is more preferred as it helps reach maturity faster so that it blooms giving you the best visual treat ever.

Best suited for: Outdoor Walls

Specialty: Fast growing and requires no special soil

Benefits: Ornamental and improves soil quality as it has nitrogen-fixing properties.

9. Moonflower

fast growing evergreen climbers

If you are still sad about the fact, that you are a night person and always miss out the morning glory, cheer up because we have a plant just for you. The moonflower is a vine that blooms at night (oh yeah!) and bears large trumpet-shaped white flowers for you to enjoy. If that ain’t enough, it also has a wonderful fragrance to make your nights sweeter.

This plant grows easily from the seed, does not require frequent watering and enjoys full sun. Giving more compost or fertilizer can actually harm them.

Best suited for: Your balcony (at night)

Specialty: One of the best night-blooming flowers and its fragrance

Benefits: Requires no special soil or watering and grows easily

10. Flame vine

evergreen climbing plants

Also known as the Pyrostegia, Orange trumpet vine or golden shower climber because of its appearance with clusters of orange colored flowers hanging down will definitely steal your heart. This fast-growing climbing plant blooms mainly during spring and winter and gives it a fiery look.

This one requires regular watering and a good exposure towards the sun to facilitate its growth.
After everything is taken care of, get your cameras ready for the best frame for your photos.

Best suited for: Balconies and fences alike

Specialty: Cluster of Orange flowers in large quantities so that your vine stays ever-blooming.

Benefits: Ornamental and blooms in winter and spring

Here we have summed up some of the best climbers and creepers available that can give that distinctive look to your garden. Some of the plants mentioned above may not be native to the soil in your locality and may require more care as the zones vary from temperate to tropical regions.
It is always sensible to take advice from local botanists about the requirements. To reap the full extent of the plant’s beauty, one must be patient and care for it just like your pet because love is a secret ingredient that works wonders.

Now just because you don’t have enough garden space doesn’t mean you need to miss out. Just make a haven out of your balcony.
To conclude, I do not know if you have noticed that you actually feel calm and happy when you’re around plants and trees. Now, this isn’t random, its called ‘biophilia’ the inner longing and affinity towards the natural world, especially the greens. So my advice to you, surround yourself with the best of the best, care for them and in the end, they will never leave you.

Are you watering your plants the right way?

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In my initial days of gardening, my enthusiasm for watering my plants frequently kept crossing the limits? And I kept wondering why my plants kept decaying while I was so religiously following my daily watering duty!

Do you also often wonder if you are watering your plants right and meeting their requirements? Striking a right balance between needful watering and overwatering is often overwhelming for new gardeners. And not just new, sometimes, even the most experienced ones of the lot do not get it right. Finding the correct watering method for your plants depends on a lot of factors like the climatic zone, the plant species as well as the placement.

You cannot water your indoor and outdoor plants with the same rules, right? Feeling anxious? Do not worry because you have probably landed at the right place to find answers to all your watering related questions. We’ve got you covered with some golden tips on watering the plants in the right way. Read on.

Best tips for watering plants

watering plants

  • Watering plants essentially will depend on the type of plant as well as where the plant is placed. While watering indoor plants may seem easier since there is less exposure to outdoor environmental elements which gives you more control; they too show signs of decay if not watered following the right tips.
  • Watering outdoor plants is an entirely different story! It is much more tricky considering the fact that one does not have as much control as compared to the indoor ones. Additionally, environmental factors play a big part in determining every day watering needs of outdoor plants.
  • Further, for both indoor and outdoor plants, it is important to carefully watch for the signs of dehydration as well as overwatering. Most plants start showing a stunted growth with the leaves becoming translucent and losing their thickness and color or even turning yellow. If you notice any of these, your plants are perhaps calling out for an immediate sip of water.
  • That said, too much of watering is equally dangerous as well. New leaves falling from a young plant or sour smell coming from the base of the plant (which indicates root rot) are signs of overhydration which calls for a reduction in your watering frequency.
  • The quality of water is also an essential factor to consider. You may plan to recycle some of the grey water from your kitchen and install a small recycling unit in your garden. Make sure that your irrigation water quality is suitable for your plants by getting the same tested in a laboratory.

Read on for some useful watering tips for both indoor as well as outdoor plants.

Tips on watering indoor plants

Keep a check on soil moisture:

watering house plants

Checking soil moisture is one of the most critical requirements when it comes to watering indoor plants. Indoor plants need not be watered routinely. The watering time should be based on the needs of the plant. You can check the moisture content by stinking your finger an inch or so within the soil. If the soil is easy to penetrate and feels moist, it is probably not time yet to give them an additional sip of water.

Water on the base:

It is important to remember that the plants absorb water through their roots which further feed and nourish the entire plant system. Spraying water on the foliage or the stem is not just a waste of the precious resource since a good amount of water gets lost with evaporation, it also often attracts a host of pests like fungus which thrive in moist conditions.

It is best advised to hydrate the soil closer to the base of the plant with slow, prolonged water release systems for the roots to absorb the water. This is particularly important when watering plants like the delicate perennials or edibles like vegetables.

Catch the excess water:

garden watering

Ensure that your indoor plants have an underlying dish for the pot to sit on. This will help catch the excess water if any. You must have seen the hole on the underlying surface of the pots. That is obviously for the excess water to flow out and save your green babies from rotting. The dish will keep the water away from spilling on the floor and would keep you and your family safe from slipping on the water!

Tips on watering outdoor plants:

Do not overwater:

water the plants

Giving too much water is often a waste and harmful to the plants. Remember, the weather conditions are not constant and change on a daily basis. Water requirements for plants also change based on the same. Water the plants depending on your regional climatic conditions as well as based on the soil moisture content.

We are not denying that water is essential for the health of plants, having a short dry soil spell intermittently is also important. You ask why?

Because dry solid conditions force the roots to grow and travel in search of more water resources which makes the plant system stronger. Additionally, over watering the plants will attract a host of diseases. Water the plants when the topsoil surface looks a little dried up.

Best time to water plants:

best time to water plants

Early morning is the best time to water the plants since the plants will have moist soil conditions all through the day when the temperatures peak and keep the soil dry during the evening and night hours thereby preventing any disease-causing pests to get attracted to the plant system.

Watering the soil at night brings long hours of moist soil conditions thus drawing various plant diseases. Additionally, mid-day watering is less effective since a good amount of water goes wasted as a result of evaporation.

Divide plants into watering zones:

watering plants at night

Not all plants have similar thirst levels. So divide your garden and the plants based on their irrigation needs. This is not only a convenient but can also save a lot of water by cutting down the irrigation levels in the zones where less water is needed.

Various modern irrigation techniques like drip irrigation system or sprinkler irrigation system are automated as per the watering need of a particular zone.

Water with low pressure and slow release:

watering plants when away

Watering with the hose turned on to high pressure often does more harm than good. Most of the water applied with high pressure will flow away as surface runoff thereby not reaching the required depths for the roots to absorb. Additionally, it also ends up destroying the fertile topsoil layers. Ensure that your hose or other irrigation system is set to low pressure and the water is released slowly thereby allowing it to seep into the deep soil layers.

Irrigate based on seasons:

how to water plants

Do not underestimate the role of seasons while irrigating your plants!
Summers and dry seasons call for more frequent watering whereas rainy season may ask for minimal to almost no watering requirements.

Watering when there is a prediction of rain will end up making your flower beds waterlogged thereby causing more harm than benefit. If you use smart irrigation devises like drip or sprinkler systems, you may install a shut-off device which will auto detect moisture or precipitation and will shut down accordingly.

Let the lawn go dormant:

garden watering

 If you have a prolonged summer season or long months of a dry spell, it is best advised to let the lawn go brown and dormant for the time by reducing the watering frequency. Grasses are very sturdy species and will immediately bounce back to life as soon as the conditions are favorable

Consider smart irrigation systems:

best time to water plants

Adoption of new technologies is perhaps the smartest decision you can take when it comes to gardening. Various new irrigation techniques like drip irrigation system, sprinkler irrigation system, self-watering planters, etc. have been devised to make every day watering an automated as well as a convenient task for the users.

You can easily plan a vacation and go away for days without having to worry about watering your plants by merely setting up the watering timings and the daily routine. And not just that, they are tremendously efficient at conserving water too.

Use Mulch:

watering plants

Mulch? Is it something you have never heard of?
Mulch is a layer of synthetic or organic material which is applied to the top surface of the soil mainly to increase visual aesthetics. Various materials are used as mulch which includes straw, wood chips, and shreds, sawdust, shells, shredded cardboard, etc.

Using mulch is an easy and convenient way to reduce your watering frequency. Mulch, when added to the top surface of the soil, will reduce the losses due to evaporation and will keep the soil moist for longer intervals thereby reducing the overall watering needs. It is a great tip when you want to go away for a couple of days and yet want to see your plants happy when you return.

Takeaway

Even with all the tips mentioned above, it is sometimes important to take some important precautions to water the plants in the right way. As mentioned before, keep a look out for early signs of dehydration as well as overwatering and take prompt actions as soon as you notice them.

Just like life, watering your plants is a tricky situation and requires a good deal of balance. Ensure that you give the required time and attention to check the watering requirements of your plants and they will bounce with life making your outdoor and indoor spaces a visual delight.