The Pink And Purple Flowering Vine You'll Want To Plant To Attract Hummingbirds

For fast growth and outstanding garden impact, you can't beat a vigorous climbing vine that you can quickly grow up a trellis or over an unsightly fence. Of course, you'll also want one that has exceptional blooms and can add other benefits to your garden, apart from creating a little privacy. One plant that fills all these needs is the hyacinth bean vine (Lablab purpureus). This tropical creeper has the most superb pink and purple flowers that will certainly attract hummingbirds to your yard. You'll find that this fast-growing purple bean vine looks stunning on a garden trellis. But, there's more to this plant than immediately meets the eye.

The blooms appear as spiked inflorescences with petals in different shades of pink, purple, and white. They look very much like sweet pea flowers. The leaves are equally attractive with their dark green uppers and purple undersides. What comes next will really grab your attention. The fragrant blooms are followed by strikingly iridescent purple seed pods. Once again, these are shaped like normal pea pods and do have two to four seeds inside, but be aware that these are toxic if consumed raw in large quantities, as they contain cyanide. In saying that, in certain countries like India, Japan, the Caribbean, and West Africa, the dried beans are boiled which removes their toxicity. The good news is that hummingbirds will find the flowers quite irresistible if they spot the vine growing in your yard. Plus, you can keep hummingbirds coming back if you pair it with another bright flowering vine, such as mandevilla.

The first thing you want to do is install a really sturdy trellis that will be able to support the weight of this vigorous climber. Bear in mind that this is a tropical vine, so it likes plenty of heat and humidity. Hyacinth bean vine grows as an annual, so it does need to be replanted every year. The seeds are best sown in spring after all danger of frost has passed. You can start these indoors around 4 to 6 weeks before the last frost date. It's a good idea to soak the seeds overnight in water to help with germination.

Hyacinth bean vine prefers to grow in full sun and likes moist, well-drained soil, with ample amounts of organic matter. If you're tempted to add fertilizer, you should avoid applying copious amounts of nitrogen because this will result in fewer flowers. However, you should keep your plant well-watered until it becomes established. Another benefit of this useful vine is that, like other leguminous plants in the Fabaceae family, it has the ability to fix nitrogen to the soil. In tropical regions, such as Hawaii, it's commonly used as a cover crop and to improve soil structure. Finally, you might be interested in another beautiful blooming vine hummingbirds can't resist, known as crossvine.