Climbing Vines

A: Not all vines are natural climbers. Some, like sweet potato vine, prefer to spread out across the ground or spill from containers. These sprawling types can be trained to grow on trellises with proper support.

10 Indoor Vine Plants That Will Add Drama to Any Room

Perfect for hanging planters or high-up shelves, these vining varieties make a statement.

Ann Hinga Klein covers breaking news for The New York Times and writes about people and the environment for a variety of national publications. In her more than 40 years of reporting, she has never met a topic she could not cover. She is currently focusing on the urgent issues of environment and soil health.

Whether you want to brighten up a tall bookshelf or make a statement with a suspended macrame planter, there’s an indoor vine plant that can make it happen. These elongated varieties come in all shapes, colors, and sizes and add texture and drama to just about any part of your home. Fill a hanging pot with a trailing green, pink, and white arrowhead plant or place an easy-to-grow option like philodendron in a lackluster corner—the options are endless.

The result, however, is often the same: When indoor vine plants’ basic care needs are met, they crawl up and down walls and color in negative space with verdant beauty. Here, two plant experts recommend 10 indoor vine houseplants that will quickly become the stars of your collection.

Arrowhead Plant

Easy-to-care-for Syngonium podophyllum comes in a variety of colors, including pinks, whites, and an array of gorgeous greens. “The breeders have really created some fun stuff,” says Jim Mumford, a horticulturalist, living wall expert, and the founder of San Diego-based Good Earth Plants. Another plus: This clumping vine takes on a saxophone shape as it stretches and grows. Native to Central and South America, it’s an understory jungle dweller that thrives in indirect light.

• Length: 3 to 6 feet
• Light: bright, indirect light
• Water: water when the top 2 inches of soil are dry to the touch
• Basic care needs: plant in well-draining potting soil

Climbing Onion

Not your typical indoor vine plant next door, Bowiea volubilis sends a feathery vine out from a central depression at the top of its bulb, which sits above the soil line. And while it looks a little like an onion, it’s actually a succulent from desert areas in Eastern and Southern Africa.

Also known as climbing sea onion, this fast grower produces tiny, star-shaped blooms in green, yellow, or white. Don’t be concerned if growth dies back in winter, says Lisa Eldred Steinkopf, author of Houseplants: The Complete Guide to Choosing, Growing, and Caring for Indoor Plants: “Some people think that they’ve killed it, but it goes dormant.”

• Length: 2 to 2 1/2 feet
• Light: full, indirect light
• Water: keep soil moist but not soggy
• Basic care needs: plant in sandy, well-draining potting soil

Grape Ivy ‘Ellen Danica’

If you’re looking for a low-maintenance plant, Cissus rhombifolia ‘Ellen Danica’ is a winner. This glossy vine grows vigorously with or without a lot of light, and it likes the same humidity levels most of us prefer.

• Length: 2 to 3 feet
• Light: bright, indirect light, but can tolerate partial shade
• Water: keep soil moist but not drenched during the summer growing season
• Basic care needs: plant in a well-draining, peat-based potting soil

Lipstick Vine

Showy Aeschynanthus radicans produces tubular flowers in a range of luscious colors. Native to the damp forests of Malaysia, it loves warmth, humidity, and regular watering, although giving it a winter rest in cooler, drier conditions will encourage it to set buds and flower the rest of the year. Don’t be afraid to trim this one back, Steinkopf explains; a haircut won’t discourage future blooming.

• Length: 3 feet or longer
• Light: bright, filtered light
• Water: keep soil consistently moist but not soggy
• Basic care needs: plant in very well-draining soil, such as a potting soil with added peat moss

Painted Leaf Begonia

Among Martha’s favorite plants, begonias come in a huge range of colors and textures. Begonia rex-cultorum, also known as the Rex begonia, comes in various combinations of pink, red, green, silver, gray, lavender, and maroon, each with a stunning metallic glow.

• Length: 1 to 2 feet
• Light: bright, indirect light
• Water: allow top 1/3 of the soil to dry before watering; add humidity to your room for best growth
• Basic care needs: plant in a well-draining, peat-based potting soil

Philodendron

You can find philodendrons in so many different leaf colors—including oranges, pinks, reds, burgundies, creams, and whites—mixed with various shades of green. Affordable and easy to care for, they’re a great way to add color and interest to a wall of vines, Mumford says. Look for fun foliage shapes and fuzzy leaves, too. The velvet leaf or philodendron Micans variety has soft leaves that mature to a shimmery copper green.

• Length: 8 inches to 20 feet
• Light: bright to medium, indirect light
• Water: water consistently, allowing top inch or two of soil to dry between waterings
• Basic care needs: plant in rich, well-draining soil

Pothos ‘Cebu Blue’

Also known as Dragon’s Tail pothos, beautiful Epipremnum pinnatum has silvery blue-green leaves. Keep it in a lower-light location to maintain its beautiful color, Steinkopf says. An easy-care indoor vine plant, pothos tends to become one super-long vine, but you can pinch off longer stems to encourage more branching from the base.

• Length: 8 feet
• Light: indirect bright to medium light
• Water: allow the top inch or two of soil to dry before watering
• Basic care needs: plant in well-draining soil

String of Hearts

Also known as rosary vine, Ceropegia woodii makes an adorable addition to a bookshelf, windowsill, or pot in a macrame hanger. Its stringlike vines are adorned with heart-shaped leaves in variegated tones of gray-green and purple. With the right light, this succulent vine, a native of Africa, will produce tiny tubular flowers, Steinkopf says.

• Length: 12 inches
• Light: bright, dappled indirect light
• Water: allow soil to dry, then water deeply
• Basic care needs: plant in very well-draining soil, such as a cactus potting mix

Spiderwort

Native to Mexico, South America, and the Caribbean, easy-to-grow Tradescantia zebrina has beautiful, variegated leaves in silvery green and purple. Pinch back stems to keep it nice and bushy, and provide bright, indirect sunlight to keep colors deep while avoiding direct rays, which can scorch its leaves.

• Length: 6 feet
• Light: full sun to partial shade
• Water: keep soil consistently moist but not soggy
• Basic care needs: plant in well-draining soil

Wax Plant

Popular Hoya vines produce pretty, ball-shaped flower clusters in a huge range of colors. Because they grow both in and atop tree canopies in their native Asia, they’ll tolerate a range of light levels. Adding to their indoor vine plant appeal: If you forget to water them once in a while, it’s OK—their thick, waxy leaves store reserves. Don’t cut off peduncles, or flower stems, after blooms are spent, Steinkopf warns. That’s where new buds will form.

• Length: 2 to 4 feet
• Light: full, indirect light
• Water: keep soil consistently moist but not soggy
• Basic care needs: plant in well-draining soil

Climbing Vines

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QUESTIONS ABOUT VINES

Q: Are all vines climbers, or are some better suited for sprawling on the ground?

A: Not all vines are natural climbers. Some, like sweet potato vine, prefer to spread out across the ground or spill from containers. These sprawling types can be trained to grow on trellises with proper support.

Q: Which vine can grow on the north side of my house, which is bright but gets no direct sun? – Story Evans, Atlanta, Ga.

A: It is worth the extra effort to seek out Japanese climbing hydrangeas (Schizophragma hydrangeoides), superb ornamental vines that deserve to be more popular. These lovely plants clamber unassisted up any surface, be it wood, brick, stucco or stone. They grow at a moderate pace, cloaking a wall with deep-green leaves. In summer, large white blossoms open, similar to lace-cap hydrangeas in appearance. They retain their bracts long after flowering, remaining interesting-looking well into the winter. The cultivar ‘Moonlight’ has silvery variegated foliage; ‘Roseum’ offers pink-tinted bracts.