Edible Fruit-Bearing Vines & Climbers

Grapevines require full-sun sites.

Grapevines require full-sun sites.

Vines and climbers that bear edible fruit add another item to the long list of useful purposes served by these plants. The multitaskers of the plant world, they provide shade and privacy screens, mask ugly walls and add a vertical dimension to garden designs. Some vines climb quickly over whatever structure is available, such as trellis, fencing, arbors and posts, but others require additional help. Fix taut wire between supports, and tie vines in loosely with string if they struggle to climb.

Ornamental Foliage

Vines bearing edible fruit can also provide attractive foliage to enhance landscaping. Hardy kiwi (Actinidia arguta) bears lustrous dark green foliage on vines that grow 25 to 30 feet long and 7 to 20 feet wide. This vigorous climber grows in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 3 through 8 and its smooth-skinned, grape-sized fruit ripens in early fall. Chocolate vine (Akebia quinata) leaves grow in clusters of five, dark green above and blue-green below. The best production of its sausage-shaped, violet pods occurs when two vines are grown together. Only the white pulp is edible and the plant is named for its chocolate-purple flowers. Growing 20 to 40 feet tall and 6 to 9 feet wide, chocolate vine is hardy in USDA zones 4 through 8 and is considered invasive in some states. Take care not to plant where it can invade or seed natural areas.

Showy Flowers

Passion fruit vines bear large, showy flowers followed by egg-shaped fruit. Named for the color of its fruit, purple passionfruit (Passiflora edulis) bears 3-inch, fragrant, purple and white flowers. Growing 10 to 15 feet long and 3 to 5 feet wide, purple passionfruit flowers for most of the year in warm climates and is hardy in USDA zones 10 through 12. Wild passion flower (Passiflora incarnata) bears 2 1/2-inch, fringed flowers with white petals and pinkish-purple central filaments in summer. Its yellowish fruit, called maypops, ripen in fall. Growing in USDA zones 5 through 9, wild passion flower reaches 6 to 8 feet tall and 3 to 6 feet wide.

Edible Leaves

Edible foliage as well as fruit is a welcome feature of grapevines. "Flame Seedless" grape (Vitis vinifera "Flame Seedless") produces crisp, round red berries in USDA zones 7 through 9. Hardy in USDA zones 5 through 8, "Himrod" grape (Vitis labrusca "Himrod") bears seedless, sweet golden yellow fruit. Both vines grow 20 to 25 feet in a year and tolerate hard pruning in winter when established. Their rugged textured and dark green foliage shade in summer when trained over arbors.

Berry Canes

Classed as vines, raspberries and boysenberries grow semi-erect and produce fruit on two-year-old canes. "Canby Red" raspberry (Rubus idaeus "Canby Red") bears bright red, sweet summer fruit and "Thornless" boysenberry (Rubus ursinus x ideaus "Thornless") produces large, reddish, tart midsummer fruit. Both plants' canes are thornless and grow rapidly to 5 to 6 feet long. In winter, prune fruited canes to the ground, using cutting tools disinfected with household disinfect, and tie 1-year-old canes to supports. "Canby Red" grows in USDA zones 4 through 8 and "Thornless" is hardy in zones 5 through 9.

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