A Good Year for Virginia Creeper
/The Virginia Creeper seems to be growing lusher in our yard each year….maybe a step above the trend this year. I am letting it grow up the trunks of our sycamore and oak (planning to cut it back if it ever gets up too high in the tree and start interfering with the tree’s own leaves/food production).
The plant clings to vertical surfaces with disks rather than roots so I am letting it grow on the basement wall that borders the chaos garden – for now. The gentle arch and changing color of the leaves as they mature appeals to me.
Supporting native plants in my yard has become increasingly important to me over the past few years – glad that I have native trees already present (oak, maple, sycamore, tulip poplar, black walnut). The Virginia Creeper is the ‘vine’ I am encouraging – it’s easier to love than the native grape that grows so rapidly and gets out of control…or the trumpet vine that needs more sun than I have and also tends to overwhelm everything around it. The Virginia creeper produces tiny seeds that provides winter food for birds and the leaves support several insect species. Virginia Creeper is the host plant for Virginia Creeper Sphinx moths. I’ll be looking for the caterpillars on the plants in my yard!
