Canary Creeper Flowers: How To Grow Canary Creeper Vines

Canary creeper plant (Tropaeolum peregrinum) is an annual vine that is native to South America but very popular in American gardens. Despite the slow-growing implications of its common name, it grows at a truly fast pace, quickly reaching 12 feet (3.7 m.) or more. If you are interested in growing canary creeper, you’ll need to learn something about the vine. Read on for some tips on how to grow canary creeper vines.

About Canary Creeper Vines

The canary creeper plant is one pretty vine and a cousin of nasturtium. It has deeply lobed leaves a minty shade of green, and brilliant yellow flowers. The canary creeper flowers grow two big petals above and three smaller ones below. The upper petals look like the wings of tiny yellow birds, giving the plant its common name. The lower petals are spurred. The canary creeper flowers make their appearance in spring and continue to bloom and expand all summer long as long as the plant gets adequate water. Canary creeper vines works equally well shooting up a trellis or covering a slope.

Growing Canary Creeper

Learning how to grow canary creeper vines is easy. You can plant the seeds in almost any well-draining soil. In fact, you’ll do better growing canary creeper in poor, dry soils than rich, fertile areas. If you are in a hurry, you can plant the seeds in containers indoors. Start four to six weeks before the last frost. After all danger of frost is passed, you can plant the seeds directly in the garden beds. When you plant outside, be sure to select a site with part sun, part shade. If possible, choose a spot where the vine is protected from intense midday sun. Canary creeper vine tolerates shade as long as it is in a spot that gets bright light. Perhaps the most difficult part about learning how to grow canary creeper vines is deciding where to plant them. Canary creeper plants are versatile vines that will quickly climb a trellis or arbor, decorate a fence top or flow gracefully from a hanging basket. The vine climbs by using twining petioles, which are touch-sensitive, or thigmotropic. This means that canary creeper vine can even climb a tree without doing any damage to it.