Morning Glory

Sun or partial sun. Morning glory is a perennial vine, with cheerful purple flowers that make up for its habit of grabbing and climbing over adjacent plants. (Names like “purple bindweed” hint at its behavior in flowerbeds.) That said, it adds soft mass and a touch of magic to any alley fence, native edge, or woodland garden.

Many morning glory cultivars are available by seed, but this is the species you’re likeliest to see popping up on its own. If you plan to use it as a screening plant for a fence, combine it with an evergreen vine-like cross-vine or coral honeysuckle — because morning glory itself will drop leaves and freeze back in winter.