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From: St. Paul, MN
Region: Midwest
Topic: Shade Tolerant
Title: Bee-attracting vine for shade from St. Paul MN
Answered by: Barbara Medford
We first went to our Native Plant Database and searched on Minnesota and "vine" under General Appearance. This yielded 48 possibilities, which seemed a lot to search individually, so we tried Recommended Species, which gave us exactly 2 vines recommended for Minnesota:
Celastrus scandens (American bittersweet) which had this information (follow the plant link to read our entire webpage)
"Warning: POISONOUS PARTS: All parts, seeds. Low toxicity if eaten. Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, loss of conciousness. (Poisonous Plants of N.C.)
Attracts: Birds"
Parthenocissus quinquefolia (Virginia creeper),
"Warning: POISONOUS PARTS: Berries. Highly Toxic, May be Fatal if Eaten! Symptoms include nausea, abdominal pain, bloody vomiting and diarrhea, dilated pupils, headache, sweating, weak pulse, drowsiness, twitching of face. Toxic Principle: Oxalic acid and possibly others. (Poisonous Plants of N.C.) Also, the plants tissues contain raphides, which can irritate the skin of some people. It is far less likely to irritate, and less irritating than, Poison Ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), though, which it somewhat resembles and with which it is often confused.
Attracts: Birds"
So, that's ought for two. We'll go back and see what we can find out in the other 46 vines from Minnesota. We narrowed the search down this time by indicating the need for shade in our search. This yielded exactly one vine that fit your specification:
Clematis virginiana (Devil's darning needles) - attracts hummingbirds and bees
We went on another tangent, searching the Internet on "bee plants for Minnesota."
Supporting Pollinators: Bee-Friendly Plants - Minnesota
Why Be Wild Bee Friendly? Minnesota Department of Conservation
None of these websites mentioned vines. If you are more interested in vines than bees, you can probably find a number of vines that would work in your chosen area. If you are more interested in bees than in vines for shade, then all of these articles have good information on regular herbaceous blooming plants that attract bees. They are not necessarily plants native to Minnesota, so they are out of our realm of expertise.
Also, consider reading the book Bringing Nature Home by Douglas W. Tallamy. See Bibliography below.
Native evergreen for shade
August 28, 2008 - Hi,
I am looking for a plant that is evergreen (or semi evergreen), native to central Texas, and shade tolerant. This is for a Wildscape area in San Marcos. Do you have any suggestions?
Thanks!
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Need help with stabilizing a partial shaded slope in Prince George's County, MD.
September 08, 2009 - I have a partial shade sloped area about 40 ft. x 100ft; that is at the top of a natural drainage. Slope is maybe 10%. There is a thin layer of topsoil on top of a heavier clay layer (it was pasture...
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Ground cover for shady area in Maryland
April 27, 2010 - What ground cover grows well on a shady slope with close to surface tree roots?
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Native plants for partial shade in Pennsylvania
April 04, 2008 - Much of my growing area in Northern exposure, shade-partial shade once trees get leaves. I'm looking for native plants to use for screens and for ground-covers, grasses and edible plants.
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Native ground covers for rocky, shady slope in Arlington, TX
January 25, 2009 - I need a good native ground cover for a completely shaded and rocky 30 degree slope with red sandy soil and southern exposure. Will anything grow in these conditions?
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