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Exotic flowering vines and creepers in Tenerife |
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Written by Steve Andrews
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Tenerife parks and gardens are always ablaze with colour and often this is because of the wonderful displays of blooms on the many types of creeper and vine that ramble well over fences, pergolas and walls.
Perhaps best known of these is the Bougainvillea (Bougainvillea spectabilis and b. glabra), which grows fast and comes in a variety of fabulous colours such as purple, red, pink, salmon-pink, orange, yellow and white. The flower is actually small and insignificant but the surrounding bract is what catches the eye. The Bougainvillea is also known as Paper Flower from the consistency of these bracts. Bougainvilleas withstand drought well and accept most soils and are excellent for creating a veritable cloud of colour on Tenerife.
 Morning Glory (Ipomoea acuminata) often grows wild on Tenerife as well
as being planted in gardens and its purple flowers and heart-shaped
leaves are a beautiful sight as it climbs over whatever it can, and
sometimes grows up into trees. The Messina Creeper or Mile a Minute
Vine (Ipomoea cairica) is a very popular species of Morning Glory on
Tenerife, where, as its name suggests, it grows very rapidly and covers
whatever it is on with its attractive pale purple flowers and
five-pointed leaves.
Flame Vine (Pyrostegia venusta) is a very popular creeping plant that grows fast on Tenerife and produces masses of spectacular reddish-orange trumpet-shaped flowers in bunches on its stems, which can grow to as much as 80 ft in length.
The Bengal Clock Vine or Sky Flower has blooms in the colour its alternative name describes and forms wonderful displays of blue over fences, walls and archways in Tenerife. It is an evergreen creeper, and like the other species detailed so far is a very vigorous grower and can quickly cover an area in a most attractive way.
Leadwort (Plumbago auriculata) has attractive five-petalled light blue flowers and a bushy and creeping habit of growth and will rapidly cover an area. This semi-climber gets its name from the lead colour of its roots and but it also has a white-blossomed variety that can be seen in gardens of Tenerife.
 The Port St Johns Creeper or Pink Trumpet Vine (Podranea ricasoliana) is another popular and colourful creeping shrub that will happily ramble over Tenerife’s walls and fences and provide a display of showy lilac-pink flowers. It is evergreen and flowers for most of the year.
The Golden Cup (Solandra maxima) is probably the most spectacular of all the creepers and vines grown in Tenerife, and with its huge yellow flowers and large evergreen leaves makes an incredible display.
The Passion Flower (Passiflora edulis), along with related species, is commonly grown in Tenerife and these climbers will cover a wall, fence or pergola. The fruit is edible and can be eaten fresh or used in drinks or for jam.
The Balloon Vine or Love in a Puff (Cardiospermum halicacabum) has five-pointed leaves and small white flowers that form into inflated papery bladders in which the hard pea-sized seeds are carried. These “balloons” are the most attractive part of this vine, commonly seen on Tenerife growing in gardens and in the wild as a weed.
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Tenerife Island 
