Whether an indoor plant is considered climbing or hanging depends on one thing: you! If you decide that you want your vining plant to drape down from a shelf, you can encourage it to do so. If you provide the vine with a stake, trellis, or a moss pole, it will find its way up as it reaches for the sun. It might take a little coercing, but you can manipulate your vine into many shapes and forms!
Some indoor vines have no desire to climb on their own, so you will need to prompt these lazy varieties by gently weaving them through hoops, lattices, or grids. Houseplants like Chain of Hearts (Ceropegia woodii) and String of Pearls (Senecio rowelyanus) prefer to let gravity do its thing, so if you simply place them in a hanging planter or on the edge of a table or shelf, they will slowly form a beautiful green cascade that eventually touches the floor.
Other vining plants desperately want to cling to any surface they can get their little tendrils on. Houseplants like Golden Pothos (Epipremnum aureum) and Silver Satin Pothos (Scindapsus pictus) will work their way into moss poles and wood planks, or even find ways to attach themselves to smooth surfaces like walls and furniture -- if you let them!
Attach these fast-growing, easy-care indoor plants to your choice of support stakes if you want the vines to become a vertical element in your home. You might have to initially tie the vines to your stake to allow for the tendrils to adhere themselves as they climb. Keep in mind that without support, gravity will force the vine growth downwards, resulting in a waterfall effect. This is fine, as long as you don’t mind smaller foliage and longer internodes (spaces between the leaves).
Most Hoyas are vining houseplants that love to find their way around anything they can touch. Wax plants like the Hoya carnosa species have a way of wrapping their new growth around the thinnest supports, even hangers! Hoya linearis and Hoya retusa are a much more relaxed type of Wax Plant because their short, heavy leaves leave them little choice but to grow downwards.
So, be creative and think outside of the box when decorating with your indoor vining plants!
Whatever you decide, one thing is sure: your efforts to tame these wild beasts will result in an abundance of beauty with a small touch of wildness in your home.