Best climber plant for uk

[dba7108]

I live in Birmingham and want to put a pergola type structure with a climber plant. The area is in full sun for the majority of the day until about 4pm. What is the best flowering climber plant. I like bougainvillea but heard these do not flower or grow well in the UK. Alternatives please.

[Chicken Chaser]

Trachelospermum. Get the white flowering rather than the yellow one. They're fairly hardy and will grow well

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

Chicken Chaser said:

Trachelospermum. Get the white flowering rather than the yellow one. They're fairly hardy and will grow well

Trachelospermum (Star Jasmine) is good, and has the advantage of being evergreen, but not all that fast and will take a good few years to cover a pergola.

Another option, also evergreen and flowers profusely with attractive white flowers in spring, is Clematis armandii. Much faster growing but easily controlled.

Both of these will need some assistance in the form of wires for them to twine up, unless the structure of the pergola has narrow supports.

[Huzzah]

Which side of Birmingham?

Might be worth a trip out to earlswood https://www.earlswoodglc.co.uk/

I've always had good advice, prices and selection from them.

[Simpo Two]

Wisteria is lovely, but will need training and pruning for best results.

[OutInTheShed]

Bindweed.

[stu67]

I'd go for a Jasmin. Quick growers and wonderful fragrance

[The Gauge]

Will the climber be planted in the ground, or in a pot?

Lots of choice of clematis, just choose you preferred flower colour and shape. If you cant find one you like at your garden centre then buy online from a clematis specialist. I was going to suggest Taylors of Doncaster but I see Sarah Ravens business has bought them out.

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

Simpo Two said:

Wisteria is lovely, but will need training and pruning for best results.

And often takes quite a few years before it flowers. Also, it is very vigorous when it gets into its stride and needs to be kept under firm control.

I’d suggest the OP might want to plant something different at each post of the pergola, selecting at least one that’s evergreen and staggering the flowering periods so that there’s always something of interest. The other advantage of this approach is that you can hedge your bets - you might not be successful with all of them, but you can dig up the failures and replace them with further specimens of the successes. That’s my approach to gardening: if it fails, out it goes; if it succeeds (and you like it), grow more of it!

For the evergreen choice, I’d go for either my suggestion Clematis armandii or the other suggestion Trachelospermum jasminoides, either of which are good choices. Then pick a nice showy deciduous Clematis like “Dr Ruppel” with stunning patterned pink flowers. Perhaps a honeysuckle for scent.

Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Monday 14th April 15:43

[Bluesgirl]

I had a fantastic climbing rose at my last house - Paul's Scarlet Climber - it was fast growing and had an abundance of stunning flowers over a long period.

[RGG]

Clematis Montana

Doesn't need pruning

Ready to flower now - Pink or White

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

Bluesgirl said:

climbing rose

RGG said:

Clematis Montana

^^ Two more very good ideas.

[The Three D Mucketeer]

Passion Flower

[Sheets Tabuer]

I'd go with a grape vine personally, it won't be a dense mat like some of the others and there's nothing worse than bugs dropping on you when you're enjoying some food, I also find clematis can rain down sticky stuff on you.

Amethyst Falls is a compact and slower growing wisteria relatively speaking.

[Mr Pointy]

I'd definately pick a couple of scented climbers - honeysuckle as suggested & a couple of others:

https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/articles/the-garden/...
https://www.gardenersworld.com/plants/10-scented-c...

[netherfield]

I think Wisteria needs a background to show it's best.
We had some over our Pergola but it looked lost with just the sky behind it.

[Chicken Chaser]

The Three D Mucketeer said:

Passion Flower

Passiflora will definitely do a job on it, it's kind of semi evergreen although does die back in hard winters. The problem is keeping it under control. We have one that has climbed up a tree, colonised a shed and is completely rampant when it gets going. We had fruits on it during the 2020 such was the weather. Last year, half of the flowers didn't move from bud.