Hello! Yesterday while working in the yard I noticed a vine hanging from a old lilac bush (tree). It's at the back of the yard near the intersection of four yards, and in the many years I've lived here, this is the first time I've seen it. Usually it's grapevine that I'm pulling off this lilac.

Any thoughts on what it is?

It looks like Virginia Creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia)

http://ontariowildflowers.com/...
http://cwf-fcf.org/en/resource...
http://www.wildflowersofontari...

Another one found in Canada is Thicket Creeper (Parthenocissus inserta)
https://gobotany.nativeplanttr...

edited to add more links.

Thank you! Is Virginia Creeper as invasive as grapevine or honeysuckle? I'm sure the leaves in the fall will be pretty, but I'd rather it didn't attach itself to the neighbouring blue spruce.

I'd say it's invasive. A nice native in the right locations I think.

We have it traveling along the ground and growing up oaks and maples in our yard and it does have a tendency to be a problem vine. Years ago we had it covering a part of the yard at our rental property. Our tenants let it cover a chain link fence for privacy which was fine but we told them not to let it get to the house ... well, my husband had to go fix something with the irrigation system one time and he found they'd let that vine grow across the fence, completely covering the gate on that side of the house (so much so that the gate was impossible to open and the vines had attached to and climbed up the side of the house where it was scrambling along the roof! He had to spend a few hours yanking it down and thankfully it didn't cause any damage but from then on, we had to make sure the tenants kept it away from the side of the house.

I'm not all that familiar with Colorado Blue Spruce (Picea pungens) but I know they get to be very large trees. I don't know whether Parthenocissus would harm them but I don't think I'd want those vines covering that beautiful tree.

That sounds like a lot of cleanup work! I'm happy to say I found the source. Clearly I don't spend enough time in this corner of the yard. The Virginia Creeper is originating in the yard behind ours, in the back corner in a triangular space behind a storage shed.

So far it looks like it's just on the lilac, but I'll keep an eye on it -- unlike the wisteria which has just latched on to the same spruce on its opposite side. At least I know now how to limit its growth if I need to.

I discovered this forum when looking to see how to identify the vine. However, I can see there is so much to learn from it and so many photos to drool over.

Thanks again!

Oh my, wisteria is one of those beauties, but I'd be afraid to have one myself. My parents made the mistake of putting them next to the house and they started pulling the attic vents up from the soffit!

Yes, each year my husband has to remove the wisteria from the downspout on the right side of the back of the house and the arctic kiwi from the downspout on the left side. It keeps him busy!

Kasie23, I forgot to say hi and :welcome:

You will love it here ... a great bunch of friendly and helpful gardeners! I've been around here a long while and I'm still learning stuff from some wonderful people!

Hamwild, Chinese Wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) is the one that can be extremely invasive. The native American Wisteria (Wisteria frutescens) is one everyone should grow instead because it doesn't have the invasive tendencies as the W. sinensis.

At our old house, we had a lot of sun and I grew the native American Wisteria (Wisteria frutescens 'Amethyst Falls') I wish we had enough sun at our current home but unfortunately our property is heavily shaded with very little sun.

plantladylin said:Kasie23, I forgot to say hi and :welcome:

You will love it here ... a great bunch of friendly and helpful gardeners! I've been around here a long while and I'm still learning stuff from some wonderful people!

Hamwild, Chinese Wisteria (Wisteria sinensis) is the one that can be extremely invasive. The native American Wisteria (Wisteria frutescens) is one everyone should grow instead because it doesn't have the invasive tendencies as the W. sinensis.

At our old house, we had a lot of sun and I grew the native American Wisteria (Wisteria frutescens 'Amethyst Falls') I wish we had enough sun at our current home but unfortunately our property is heavily shaded with very little sun.

Oooh, I bet my parents had the wrong one.

Thank you for your welcome and also the link to the wisterias. The American variety (correct word?) is more like the one we had in our house in New Jersey when I was a kid. The flowers always reminded me of grapes. And it definitely didn't take over the part of the yard where it grew.

One of the seed pods from our current wisteria must have landed in the middle garden, because we now have several youngish ones grouped together for another planting. It's this second planting that's latched onto the spruce, a connection that we will have to break soon.