Description: Clusters of white, star-shaped flowers that bloom in late summer.
Growth Habit: Climbing vine.
Sun/Shade: Full sun to partial shade.
Water Needs: Moderate; prefers moist soil.
Soil Preferences: Well-drained, rich soil.
Benefits: Attracts pollinators and adds vertical interest. Great for trellises and fences.
 
From Prairie Moon Nursery:
Virgin's Bower is a perennial vine that can extend up many feet.  Its stems easily twine around trellises, fences, and nearby vegetation. Virgin's Bower prefers partial sun, moist to mesic conditions, and loamy soil.  One can often find Virgin's Bower in thickets, woodlands, meadows, floodplains, and riverbanks. 
 
White flowers abundantly spread along the length of the vine, typically in panicles, or small clusters. There is much variation in the flowers; a single plant can either produce all staminate flowers (male), all pistillate flowers (female), or all perfect flowers (both male and female reproductive parts).  Regardless of gender, the flowers are less than 1" across with four sepals that are white or cream colored. These flowers bloom mid-late summer and last about a month.  These flowers are visited by Halictid bees, wasps, and various native flies.  Virgin's Bower is toxic to mammals, although the foliage is often used as nesting habitat for many songbirds.
 
Virgin's Bower can be confused with Sweet Autumn Clematis (Clematis terniflora or Clematis paniculata),an aggressive Asian vine with sweet-smelling flowers that has escaped from cultivation. The fragrance and the leaves set the two vines apart: Virgin's Bower leaves are jagged on the edges whereas Sweet Autumn Clematis has rounded leaves.  The native Clematis has also been nicknamed "Prairie Smoke on a Rope" for its similar looking seedhead to the famous prairie plant Geum triflorum (Prairie Smoke.)  It also may be referred to as Devil's Darning Needles.