Suggestions for climers please

[Frederick]

I have neighbors wall made of the concrete slabs that are slid down the posts and it is about 8 foot  high and along the South facing length of my garden ......I have been dying  go over it with a roller and some white paint to cover the dirt and  blackish / grey streaks but dont think she would want me to do that...........  so............if  I run some wires in front of it  can sombody please advise me of some warmth  loving plants will grow fast and creep up and cover the thing .........ones that will fend for themselves ......My wife has seen some creeper with trumpet like flowers that seems to grow well in the Vendee .....but we dont have a name for it......... and its not pictured  in any book we have .....Thats the sort of thing we want.......... our local garden centre did not have it on display and we did not know what to ask for ....any idea please  

[Gardian]

Frederick ............

One idea - Wisteria, or 'Glycine' as it seems to be known as over here.  It'll grow like hell, but may not flower for several years.  What you'll certainly get is cover pretty quickly, but they're deciduous (maybe not all varieties - others may know better).  They'll obviously need support, but I fix those 150cm long twirly steel tomato stakes that you can buy at garden centres for about €1.50 each, at 45 degrees to the wall with plumbing pipe fixings.

If it was me, I'd render the slabs with a lime / sand mix before doing anything.  Messy (and just be careful with the stuff), but it'll give you something reasonably pleasant as a base.  You don't have to worry too much about a smooth finish - just whack it on.  The plants (whatever you choose) will cover it. 

[Meg]

[quote user="Frederick"]My wife has seen some creeper with trumpet like flowers that seems to grow well in the Vendee .....but we dont have a name for it......... and its not pictured  in any book we have .....Thats the sort of thing we want.......... our local garden centre did not have it on display and we did not know what to ask for ....any idea please  [/quote]

I think this the Trumpet vine or Campsis. Its very vigorous.

[Russethouse]

I think the same M&M

http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=CARA2

[Frederick]

 This is what my wife saw...........it would certainly do the job covering a scruffy concrete  slab wall ....thanks very much ...  I now know what to look out for and a  job for  next weekend !

[Llwyncelyn]

Clematis montana either in the pink or rose form would cover that in just about one to two seasons.  They are readily available either here from the specialists in Guernsey or from the UK.  Obviously it is a relatively short flowering season but at least you will then have leaves and foliage until the frosts.

rdgs

[Russethouse]

I love Clematis Montana but it does like a cool (and if  possible, moist) root run, so it depends on the conditions you are able to give at the foot of the wall.

[Framboise]

How about Passionflowers?   They absolutely adore being blasted by full sun, they don't mind a bit of water shortage either and stay leafy throughout the year here in Surrey,  so you just plant 'em and let them go!   The flower heads are really exotic, big wispy dishes of purple,  but you can find several different hybrids amongst the species so you are sure to find something you fancy.   Also you get those delightful creamy orange fruits that you can eat - all in all fantastic!     Ask for latin name Passiflora.

[cooperlola]

Bourgonvillia?

[Pierre ZFP]

Grapes!

Then make your own wine in the autumn

[Gardengirl]

Passiflora would be good, as they love heat & sun; mine here in S. England are in leaf for most of the year, and as another poster said, have lovely, exotic flowers and big orange-coloured fruits, although I thought the fruits were inedible - not the passionfruits you can buy.

Clematis also come in an evergreen form. These have large, thick leaves, and lovely, sweet-smelling white flowers. Like most clematis, they prefer their roots to be cool, so lots of compost dug in before planting, and then if you can get some slate or other thinnish stone, put that over the base of the plants after they have been well watered-in.

All plants at the base of a wall should be planted at an angle away from the wall,  just a few inches, so that any rain will water them, instead of directly below the wall, where they will be in the total dry zone.

Don't forget to water them in well for the first few weeks - perferably in the evening when it might be a little cooler.

Lots of luck in your mission!

Jo

PS Maybe your neighbour might not mind you painting the blocks - I would suggest grey or green; much more restful for the eyes than white!

 

[Russethouse]

I would avoid white too as the reflected heat from a while wall might scorch the leaves of any climber......

[Meg]

Kiwi??

[Framboise]

Passionflowers grown here in deepest Surrey can be eaten, although they will never achieve the succulence and sweetness of those from South Europe and beyond.   A word of warning though.....................  passionflowers are very easy to grow, in fact they can run away with themselves because any fruit that hits dirt will sprout, then you will be over-run with them.  Kept in control they are delightful.

[Patf]

Climbing nasturtiums - cappucines I think - are cheap and cheerful and grow fast. Pat.

[Llwyncelyn]

One of the best known Clematis evergreen is called Appleblossom, wonderful but a bit tempermental.

 

[londoneye]

As suggested already if you want to cover something in minimal time, then Kiwi would be good.   However, I need to cut mine back at LEAST 4 times in the summer.   I 'ignored' it for a week last week, and then found it growing across the window .... it can be a little er scary in terms of its growth rate to be honest!

My passion flower died this winter (it's first winter) although it grew fantastically last summer, so I don't think Iwill chance one of those again.   Must have been too cold I guess ...

[suep]

Hi Frederick,

 

One climber you could try is Solanum jasminoides which grows very quickly, is quite woody and doesn`t need a lot of support but will flower for ages. It comes in white and pale blue and when in full flower is quite stunning..

 

              cheers Sue[:)] 

[Hoddy]

Solanum jasminoides

This is one of my all-time favourites. The scent is heavenly too.

Hoddy

[Frederick]

Thank you everybody for your suggestions ...you have all given us so much to choose from....I like the grape vine idea but I think it would have to be a sweet dessert one ......I am not into wine making....I remember the demijohns bubbleing away ...the  wine consentrate in cans that  I used to make up and bottle  when I was a lot younger...and skint  ....and  we actually drank that stuff ...the madness of youth  !

[Ford Anglia]

Two I'd recommend are common honeysuckle: it'll grow just about anywhere, and Winter Jasmine: good cover in the summer and flowers in the winter.

[Russethouse]

Crikey, FA - my honeysuckle has always had mildew or blackspot or both [:(] and a  professional gardener of some repute told me this is  common and winter flowering jasmine do better on a north or east facing wall or fence in my experience- lovely though it is.......

You may have found differently ............

[Effie]

Every year in the UK my garden was full of nasturtiums...a veritable blazeof colour...but although I've planted over a hundred here they're a great disappointment at the moment...maybe they'll pick up later.

They die off at the first frosts...though as they self seed they'll return the following year...Cabbage White butterflies love to lay their eggs on the underside of the leaves...(do we get Cabbage Whites here?)

Have you considered solanium...it seems to grow well here...a member of the potatoe family I believe...it comes in white and mauve...and is evergreen too...or perhaps viginia creepers...though they will lose their leaves after they change into their lovely autumn colours.

The orange trumpet climber...sends suckers up everywhere in my garden...several feet away from the parent plant...and even through tarmac...lovely to look at but not my choice of climber. 

Effie

[Hoddy]

"Every

year in the UK my garden was full of nasturtiums...a veritable blazeof

colour...but although I've planted over a hundred here they're a great

disappointment at the moment...maybe they'll pick up later."

I'll be very interested to know how you get on with these, Effie. For the first couple of years I sewed them in my garden here to fill up some gaps because, like you,  I've found them very prolific in the UK. I'm sorry to say that both years were a failure. I wondered if the variety was different.

Hoddy

[Effie]

Hi Hoddy...well I brought over most of my seeds from the UK...they were a mixture of climbers...and various bush varieties of UK nasturtiums which had self seeded year after year...with no problems. I also bought some new seeds here from Lidle...and a local garden centre. It's not that they haven't come up...but many are very spindly...(they're supossed to do well on poor soil which is what we have here)...and they've also got some sort of leaf curl...which I've never seen before.

I had visions of them cascading down my steep banks...and drive... like a waterfall of colours from a painters palette...but I think I'm in for a big disappointment...unless the weather is affecting them and they suddenly take off...if not...it's back to the drawing board for me.

Effie[:(]