Climbers – an essential height for any green space

When you have such a small space the idea of a climber maybe the last idea on your mind.

I grew very few climbers in my narrow yarden until lockdown that is. Something that had never really crossed my mind.

I bought a jasmine for a pound from an allotment open day some years ago and planted this in my yarden. It has grown so well and the flowers smell divine.

With the jasmines success I decided to add a couple more climbers.

When people think of climbers they think of clematis, honeysuckles, roses, yet there are so many climbers out there and there will definitely be one (or six) for you.

If you’ve read any of my posts before you’ll know I love the jungle and exotic feel, but other things are really important to me too.

A garden with scent adds a totally different dimension and there are many climbers out there that can help with this, of course the jasmine I grow is one of those.

Having researched I decided I wanted to grow a holboellia, they have leaves that remind me of the umbrella plant. Waxy, nice sized and every green, and there are a multitude to chose from.

Holboellia leaves, apologies for the crazy picture, but it’s the best I have of the leaves. Cheers!

I decided to visit Crûg Plant Farm in North Wales as they grow many of these and they have the experience to offer also.

After a lengthy chat I chose Holboellia brachyandra, which I believe is not so readily available. It has the lush green waxy leaves as mentioned and highly scented creamy flowers, strangely it grows the male and female flowers in the same bunch.

Holboellia brachyanadra flowers.

Of course the way these plants were performing it just got me hooked and I got to finding more.

I stumbled across this next plant, in a local garden centre – Bud. Strangely unusual green perennial climber. It has five lobed leaves that look very similar to marijuana (or so people always remark).

This is Gynostemma pentaphyllum, or poor mans ginseng. It’s an extremely fast grower, dying back in the winter and returning just as fast in the spring.

What I particularly like is that it clings and climbs but when it drops it gives that jungle feel.

It is grown primarily for its leaves and its renown herbal properties. It must flower, yet I never notice them until I see the tiny black seed pods.

However I will say I add a WARNING note with growing this. I wouldn’t grow it if I had a garden with soil. A good friend of mine, originally from Japan, said ‘it’s a weed, takesover everywhere’ and if I had soil I have no doubt. It has found its way into other pots, other planters and I am regularly cutting it back and removing it.

I added yet another climber, again with lovely foliage as well as a nicely scented flower. It’s also a cousin of the Holboellia.

This is Akebia quinata ‘Cream Form’, a fast grower with tiny scented cream coloured flowers.

I now grow three forms of this, the plain Akebia quinata or Chocolate Vine, Akebia longeracemosa and the one mentioned above. They are fast growing and I would say they need to be kept in check.

I didn’t mention but both Holboellia and Akebia are able to produced large blue sausage like fruit if they have another local plant to cross pollinate. I doubt this will happen with my plants, yet it’s important to share. These fruits are a delicacy in some counties.

Another friend asked me if I wanted to add anything to an order, like any good friend would, so I carefully looked through the list.

The next plant was a real gamble, I didn’t know if it would grow well or even survive in my yarden. I’m happy to say it was a gamble well worth making.

This is Bomarea edulis syn. hirtella, you may see it’s resemblance to the much loved alstroemeria, quite rightly so, it is their climbing cousin.

This climber dies right back in winter, and out of no where climbs to great heights and sends out fireworks of these colourful flowers, which last a fair time and keep coming.

When they stop flowering even their seed pods look great! what do you think?

As you can see I have become slightly obsessed, I’m aiming to have interest from climbers throughout the year.

With that in mind I also purchased this beautiful little flowering climber. It is Tropaeolum tricolour. A very useful climber as it grows when most others are dormant and dies down when others are about to take over the show.

In fact the Tropaeolum family have impressed me so much that I’ve added more to the collection.

So far I have only mentioned evergreen or perennial climbers, but we mustn’t forget the numerous annual climbers out there.

This year I deceived to try and grow a few from seed, many grew however life got in the way and I lost many. However this unusual delicate climber was strong enough to pull through.

This is Cardispermum halicacabum, it’s name in itself gives me joy, it has tiny little white flowers with fern like foliage but the main reason I think you’d grow this is the almost balloon shaped seed pods.

I think I’ve gone on long enough, I have quite a few of the climbers however there are more so I’ve listed them:

• Actinidia arguta ‘Issai’ (Mini kiwi)
• Apios americana
• Clematis alpina
• Dioscorea batatas
• Fuchsia ‘Lady Boothby’
• Jasminium beesianum (Pink jasmine)
• Lonicera halliana (Honeysuckle)
• Muehlenbeckia complexa
• Periploca praeca (Silk vine)
• Tropaeolum ciliatum
• Tropaeolum speciosum
• Tropaeolum tuberosum ‘Ken Aslet’
• Vitis labrusca ‘Isabella’
• Vitis vinifera ‘Muscat of Alexandria’

Many of these are still new to me and I wouldn’t like to comment on them as yet.

As you can see, climbers give height, they give cover, added interest and more.

Will you be adding more climbers to your green space?

Flower catch up

Apologies for the lapse in our catch ups. Some technical issues.

I’m going to keep it brief by just showing some pictures of flowers that I’ve grown, mainly in my parents garden.

Dahlia Bishop of Leicester. A great one for flying insects, especially bees.

Zinnia which I grew from seed.

Mirabilis Jalapa also grown from seed this year. I love the variation you can get, this marble effect yellow and pink then the next is pink. I also have a white one! They are heavenly scented in the evening.

This is the Salvia that flowers grew from a rather strange bud.

This is Dahlia Sandra continuing time flower and standing out of the crowd!

This picture shows how tall this Impatiens tinctoria has grown. You can only see a small part of it. The white flowers are large and scented.

I hope you’re all still enjoying your green space, will update you soon!

Scorcher storm

Another really hot day, and many plants are suffering. I’m finding it hard to keep up with watering. Even after the precautions I made.

I’m happy to see this Cautleya gracilis lutea start flowering. It is much more delicate to its more robust counterpart.

Impatiens never used to have a space in my heart never mind my garden, here are two that I have purchased this year and are doing brilliantly.

Impatiens auricauma x bicaudata.

Impatiens balfourii.

I’m hoping that this sown Solanum quitoense will grow bigger and better. The leaves are stunning and so alien.

These are Canna brasiliensis seeds lay on top of a Musa Basjoo leaf.

The bees love the open flowers of this Dahlia ‘Bishop of Leicester’.

This is a Hedychium, I believe it to be H.densiflorum ‘Stephen’. I look forward to it seeing it in all its glory.

When I bought this Abuliton ‘Varigated Salmon’ my mum really dislikes it. Until that is when the flowers came. Now this is a prize plant in my parents garden.

A spot of bright colour provided by this Zinnia.

Another plant I have grown to love are Begonias. This is B. Josephii

Here I have B.evansiana.

Amongst the begonias is this stunning bulb, known as the pineapple lily, the Eucomis bicolour.

As I finish writing this the lightening spreads through the sky, the breeze returns and now the rain comes.

Flurry of flowers

It was great to see that the Mesembryanthemums I grew for my parents have finally started to flower. This is the first one, hoping that we’ll get lots of different coloured flowers.

This plant has not had much luck, the slugs seem to love it more than hostas! Finally there’s a bigger leaf that had a finally got some growth. Keep your fingers crossed.

It is Dendroseris litoralis also known as the Cabbage Tree.

One of my friends gave me a cucumber plant and now there are baby cucumbers!! Yay!

My parents are also really happy with the planters I did for them earlier in the year.

I’m really surprised at the growth on these Impatiens tinctoria this year! It has a beautiful scent.

Enjoy your green space!

Sweet!

This morning I caught up with Gardener’s World.

Had to tweet that it was great to that Geoff Hamilton’s legacy lives on. He is my all time favourite gardener!

I also learnt that I need to cut off the tendrils from my sweet peas, I already knew that it’s good practice to cut the flowers regularly, encouraging more flowers. But who knew that tendrils were a thing??

I potted on this oxalis, as well as another clover looking plant.

Pottered about and finally put my solar lights up. They look good!

Popping up all over

I’ve had a busy day, mainly working at my parents and fixing their garage.

I did have time to have to do a few bits in their garden.

I was ecstatic to see this little frog which jumped out of the hardy geraniums.

Back at home, I’m happy to see that the sansevieria cuttings have started to show sprouting.

I’m happy to see the Alocasia amazonica is growing well.

I love the strange stems that come from the plant and extends the flowers away from each other. These are Impatiens balfourii.

Another stunning impatiens, the flowers are much more colourful. Impatiens auricoma x bicaudata.

I’m surprised to see this plant has sent new plants up, earlier in the season I wasn’t sure that it would even survive! This is Xanthosoma violaceum.

Do you still remember the joy of seeing a seed pop from the soil?

You may be able to see the sole seeding raising its head – Cyphomandra sibundoyensis.

These little ones are Aeoniums.

I hadn’t realised that the cutting I bought from Abbey Brooke Cacti had taken, never mind growing or taken. You can see the new leaf and the roots are already popping out of the bottom. I can’t wait to show you this stunning plant once it’s grown – Pelargonium tetragonum.

Enjoy your green space!!

All seasons in one day*

So I’ve managed to do a few bits outside today in the sun, rain and wind*.

I’ve finally put the stand together and placed some hostas on it. There needs to be some rearrangement but it’s a good start.

A lovely Dahlia flower. I had to buy these for my parents when I saw them! These are Dahlia Sandra. My mum’s name.

These are Amaranthus.

I love how big these ornamental gingers are growing! I am not sure of the variety of these Hedychium, I believe it could be ‘Stephen’.

These are the planters I prepared for my parents earlier this year.

I’ve spotted a few things of interest, hoping to catch you up on these soon.

Flowers

I have had chance to have a nosey round the yarden.

It was nice to see the purple Tradescantia in flower.

Sadly some plants have dried out a little and I’ve had to give them a soak. Thankfully they already look like they are about to recuperate.

I have this pot in my yarden and I can only thing that they are solanum from my friend David. Sure he’ll be able to confirm.

Happy to see this lovely flower on the Butterwort.

Also noticed the impatiens in flower. This is Impatiens balfourii.

Also added these shelves to make space for compost and other garden sundries.

Hope to get more done.

Plants and flowers

Today I had chance to spend a fair bit of time in our tiny tropical yarden.

Yay. I had more seeds arrive. These are from Mike (Mikes Rare Plants) down in Devon. He always has some really interesting seeds, many of my more unusual plants come from growing from Mike.

Here is a lovely impatiens that I have bought this year from Carl at Turn it Tropicals. Impatiens auricoma x bicaudata.

This stunning plant and flower is Arisaema ciliatum var. liubaense.

This tiny yet beautiful flower belongs to Titantia pringlei.

Here are some home grown radishes. Sadly not as many as I’d have hoped for.

I love these tiny lily pad plants that simply float on the surface of the water. These are frog bit (hydrocharis morsus-ranae) and they multiply easily. Sadly they never flower for me.

I have grown Alyssum ever since I found out it was scented. I dot it about the garden with blue trailing lobelia.

I love how tropical the yarden looks.

I potted on some succulents today.

Here are two agaves. They were from an agave mix seed packet. I’m hoping my friend David may be able to recognise them, though I have a feeling they may be still too young to identify.

Here is my Aloe ‘Cleopatra’ (again from Turn it Tropical) repotted and finished with a black gravel.

I hadn’t noticed the flower on this Billbergia nutans, it’s colourful yet delicate all in one!

Another picture of the stunning little blue sweet pea – Lathyrus azeurus.

I have moved other bits about and trying to tidy and make space so we can actually sit and enjoy our green space.

I’ll update you with more tomorrow.

Mix bag of weather

Had a busy day planting and pottering in my parents garden.

The weather has been sunny, with storms, thunder, torrential rain. Sun, rain, thunder, sun and rain!

My mum filmed me whilst planting more lovely plants.

I’m pleased to see the Begonia grandis return this year, it’s bulked up too! I bought this from Village Plants last year.

I went to collect David from Warrington however before I went to visit a friend who was able to give me some manure from his little friend.

More gardening tomorrow but not sure sure at this stage if it will be inside or outside.