A lot of people overlook planting vines in the landscape. They provide height to an otherwise flat area, create a private area, hide a cover for unsightly views like around garbage cans, and create shade by growing over an arbor. They also provide pollen for bees and fruit for birds and other wildlife.
Vines need something to grow on for support. Plants with tendrils will need something to twine on like a fence or wire. The ones with suckers will need to grow on something solid like brick or rough wood. Vines can also flow down areas.
Annual vines are interesting grown in pots and the vines are trained on a chicken wire or string trellis.
Perennial vines that are easy to grow in South Dakota include clematis. This plant has many, many varieties with all sorts of different colored blooms. They like their heads in the sun and feet in the shade. This means mulching the root area to keep moisture levels even.
Climbing honeysuckle has white, orange, and red blooms depending on the variety. Like clematis, they wind around a fence growing to 6 to 8 feet tall.
Trumpet Vine is good for more of a shady area. Growing at 8 feet tall with orange flowers. A good plant for hummingbirds.
Porcelain Vine has beautiful multicolored berries in blue, cream, and purple. This perennial vine grows up to 6 feet.
American bittersweet vine is prized for its showy-colored fruits. The fruit is bright orange with a yellow top. Plants are either male or female, so make sure you get both plants.
Virginia Creeper is a highly vigorous vine with a fall leaf color of red and purple. Be careful with this vine for it does grow rampant, so heavy pruning is required. It makes a great creeping plant in an area where other plants do not grow. The vine has suckers making it a great plant to climb on a concrete or brick wall.
Boston ivy is a popular vine used as a ground cover. The autumn foliage color is yellow, orange to red depending on the variety.
Common hop vine is a twining vine dying back each year but coming back each year climbing to 15 feet. It produces paper-like fruits in late summer for fall interest. The hops are used for making beer.
A good native vine is a wild cucumber growing up to 20 feet tall. It is a fast-growing vine producing large white flowers followed by spiky cucumber-like fruit. Being a native, it will self-seed so cut off the seed pods.