Scarlet runner bean flower. Hops.
than their sweet little annual cousins: sweet peas. Sweet peas add an enchant- ing and soft flower to a more ethereal garden. Other edible vines picking up steam
in Canada are the growing varieties of cold-hardy grapes available and – believe it or not – kiwi vines. Smooth-skinned kiwi vines are avail-
able at a handful of nurseries – they will not grow to the size of fruit you’re used to, nor have the fuzzy skin, but will be more like the size of a large grape and just as sweet. The decorative Arctic Beauty kiwi
vine is available in some garden centres. Its unique foliage that appears to be
haphazardly dipped in pink and silver paint creates a stimulating visual. It requires a male and female plant to be planted about 10 feet apart and requires quite a load of space overall. It may take approximately three years to grow fruit, however.
www.localgardener.net Hops And then, with perhaps some of the
best harvesting potential, there are hops, both useful if you want to start a home brewing business, or just to find an attractive way to provide priva- cy over a fence in your yard, as with Virginia creepers or ivy. A fast-growing perennial, the female
hops vine is the one that produces those cones that add the hops to your favou- rite lager. The vines can easily reach 25 feet. The male plant produces flowers but they’re unproductive
and should be
removed. It’s best if your lady plant produces only non-fertilized seed. If you take good care of the two of
them, your hops will have no trou- ble propagating: they will send out rhizomes from which the new plants will sprout, creating more and more opportunities for your next pint of suds. .
Arctic Beauty kiwi. Summer 2014 • 17
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