Jackson Vine 2018

At our old house, we planted a Jackson Vine on the back porch. It was the only porch we had. A Jackson Vine does not flower and is usually seen on porches of historical homes.

The Jackson Vine has a saying that goes with it. First Year, it's a sleeper. Second Year, it's a creeper. Third Year, it's a leaper!

We have a large front porch on the new house, so I planted three Jackson Vines. How I train my vines, is I attached a small chain just underneath the roof overhang that hangs all the way to the ground. Then I use a zip tie to attach the vine to the chain.

Once the vine creeps up the chain, I have to create something that runs horizontal to the porch roof for the vine to cling on. At the last house, I just used more chain. But at our new house I used curtain rods!

I noticed last Spring (2017) that the vine was really creeping up the chain. I hurried to order curtain rods from Ikea. They took forever to ship! I was watching my vine grow and it was getting faster!

If I had known it would have taken a long time to ship, I would have gone a different route. But the price was worth it! Once the rods came, I quickly hung them. It was easy.

Then I had to zip-tie the vine onto the curtain rod so it knew where to go.

I don't have to zip tie any more. The vine knows to grab onto the curtain rod.

Jackson Vine can be a nuisance to some. It will continue to shoot off "Babies" from the ground. When that happens, I will be glad to share. But if you don't take care of the babies (find them new homes or just pull them up), your Jackson Vine could get out of control fast!

2017 was a big growth year of the Jackson Vine, but 2018 was when it finally covered every curtain rod.

It has been so fun to see the vine grow. In a couple more years it will be really full. Then we will have to start watching for the birds laying nests in there. Hopefully I can keep them out of it. It's not a good spot for eggs! And I will have to keep it trimmed nicely so it doesn't get out of control.