Gotta say, I am not into annuals at all. Personally would prefer a perennial of some kind. Passion vines were mentioned above, some of these are cold hardy into zone 7 (not sure about 6b). Grapes are also very cold hardy and will return every year..., whether you want them or not. American Wisteria is perennial and not nearly as aggressive as the Asiatic species. Gotta say, the most aggressive vine I every planted was KIWI (Actinidia chinensis). I actually had to rip it out because it was taking over my neighbor's tiny yard and was so luxuriantly HEAVY, I feared it would bring down the fence. There are hardier species of kiwi that would be fine in zone 6. But if you really want something annual, I guess my choice would be sweet potato vines with burgundy foliage.

I think that's the primary appeal of true annuals, or out-of-zone vines. They can't try to take over the world, very little planning is required, and it can be something different from year to year.

Sweet potatoes are usually hardy here, but never evergreen. For that reason, I love them as a landscape accent, disappearing over winter so one can maintain the area to remove baby trees or other unwanted sprouts that were hidden by the seasonal foliage.

purpleinopp said: I think that's the primary appeal of true annuals, or out-of-zone vines. They can't try to take over the world, very little planning is required, and it can be something different from year to year.

And even more important to me, annuals grow very quickly and bloom from spring to frost. I do have a lot of perennials, chosen mostly for hummers and other birds, but they have a very limited bloom time.

This thread just reminded me of an annual vine that I did used to grow that I really liked..., Black-Eyed Susan vines, Thunbergia alata. Getting some seeds for them tomorrow, they grow pretty fast as I recall. Good luck with your planting.

I recently planted Cardinal Climber vine seeds. Already some are up.

I also planted some this year again. Same arch as my cucumbers so cukes on one side and cardinal vine on the other.

pepper23 said: I also planted some this year again. Same arch as my cucumbers so cukes on one side and cardinal vine on the other.

That sounds lovely.

I used to grow both morning glories and Cardinal climber vines years and years ago. But not lately. This year having more flowers back so wanted to try Cardinal Climber again. I love the pretty red flowers.

I have a sugar maple on the side with the cardinal vine so getting cucumbers to grow there would be a bit more of a challenge so I decided to just do it this way so the whole thing gets covered.

Some of my Cardinal climber vines are up and growing while others of the seeds lid not even come up yet.

I want to ditto some comments, those I have grown here:
Cypress vine, extremely seedy
Moonflower vine- gorgeous, fun, smells wonderful
Morning glory- also can be seedy and persistent

Does this perform as an annual where it's not hardy? As in, does it have time to bloom?
Coral Vine (Antigonon leptopus)

I had mentioned Pothos before, and have tried others as summer accents and they have been fun! Monstera adansonii, heart-leaf & 'Brazil' Philo, P. erubescens, arrowehead (Syngonium).

Snip a stem and stick it in the soil. In the fall if I want to keep it, snip it again and put it back in the old pot or a new pot. Some of them I just stick in a bottle of water until it's warm outside again.

Hyascent vine !
Easy to sprout; grow in most soil; tollerate as little as 4 hours of sunlight; average water requirements; very pretty maroon bean pods that dry on vine- save the bean seeds; grows 12' - must have a sturdy trellis.