Best Climber

Hi,

I have put up an arch and would like to plant some climbers. I was wondering what type of climber looks tropical but will survive the victorian weather. I kinda like the look of the clematis but does anyone else have some suggestions.

heh heh, I was just going to say that one

Chinese star jassies or Jasmine Polyanthum (pink bud Jassies) will work well enough.
Pyrostegia (orange trumpet vine) or maybe a stephinotis but I am not certain how it will handle your Shepperton cold

Peaceful may have some ideas or more info on that being eastern States based or Maggie might know some others that will look sort of tropical?

Hi Wingies,

Fu has made a couple of nice suggestions. I would suggest keeping both Jasmine Polyanthum and Pyrostegia in pots at the base of your arch, as they can get away from you a bit, and have invasive root systems.

I would also add to the list of suggestions - Chinese Star Jasmine which is very tough and tropical looking and also give off a great scent from it small white flowers.
Pandorea jasminoides is also tropical looking and actually a native with some very nice flowers.
Clematis should be fine in your area, but they are infamous for being very difficult to grow. plant in full sun, keep the roots cool and mulch well.
Good luck.

I was going to mention the Pandoreas (of which there is certainly no shortage of choice in retail nurseries) but they will go pretty off in the colder times of winter I'd think. I know they do here and our winters and early springs are far milder than Shepparton. They'd look pretty good though

Chinese Star Jasmines are the best !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very hardy - not an invasive climber, doesn't get all woody. Stunning flowers...

I'll have to figure this photo thing out and post a pic of mine in flower to give you an idea on what they look like.

http://i272.photobucket.com/albums/jj187/nurselovescoffee/HPIM0907.jpg

Different sort of jasmine but I planted this in late December, it is now at the top of the fence in a mere 3 months
You want something easy and fast growing - go a Jasmine!!

At the same time I planted a 'Happy Wanderer", basically same position, few feet further down the fence, and it is looking healthy but has hardly grown few inches

That one above is the plant that Peaceful was talking about. The Pandorea from Queensland. You get some nasty frosts in SA, How does it handle those?

I had both Pandorea Jasminoides and Pandorea Pandorana (alba) at our old house, and frost didn't bother them at all. Maybe a few browned-off leaves, but no harm done. They both went nuts - the wonga vine (p. pandorana) was my favourite with its cascades of cream flowers in spring.

Stephanotis doesn't like Melbourne - unless maybe you have a very sheltered spot. Chinese Star Jasmine is definitely a goer though.

Bougainvillea seem to do alright - I think getting them established is the hardest part, but I see lots of them flourishing in gardens around here.

Passionfruit looks tropical. I could never get the things to fruit, but the flowers are pretty. And clematis varieties are good, although a lot are deciduous, so they look a bit crap in winter.

You could try some of the plants listed on the national botanic gardens website: http://www.anbg.gov.au/climbers/temp.sun.html
http://www.anbg.gov.au/climbers/climbers.cool.html http://www.anbg.gov.au/climbers/temp.shade.html

Well there ya go the Pandorea would be the best go
Cheers for the feedback kek,

I have grown Jasmines before, Fu, in my old house, and they have never been killed by frosts or anything else.
I had one called a potato jasmine with tiny white flowers, not sure if that is the same as the star Jasmine other posters have mentioned?
We live on the west coast, Eyre penisula, dryer and hotter than Adelaide, not sure how often we get frosts here, minimum temp rarely drops below zero
Also my Jasmines have been in relatively sheltered positions, like growing on a pergola trellis or agaisnt a fence, this one is on a fence with house line about 3 m away so sheltered on 2 sides, would that make a difference?

Bourganvillea are easy to grow alright - the hard thing is stopping them!!
We had one growing around our chicken run, literally never watered it, never fertilised it - akthough chickens did some of that for us , and it had beautiful bright purple flowers for 10 months of the year. Needed regular pruning though and thorns were very sharp

That one is related to potatoes and is also called spud vine / potato creeper/ potato vine.
Can't kill 'em with a rock.

Thanks all,

I will look into all the one's everyone has mentioned. I'll let you know what I decide.

I LOVE star jasmine! they have that at my chiropractor and you can smell it from around the corner as you walk from your car... delish!

bum, I just bought a clematis for a climber. I didn't know they looked crap in winter. how crap will it look? like dead crap?

It depends on which one, Donuts - some are fine, but others lose all their leaves and become what looks like a bunch of dead stems that miraculously sprout again in spring.

I had a gorgeous one at our old house, huge blue-purple flowers, but it was deciduous. I grew it up a gum tree and you just didnt' see it in winter. In summer though, it had plenty of POW!

thanks kek, I might have to google mine and see what I find about it. It's a clematis blue light, the lady said it was a hybrid variety, but wasn't sure what it was hybrid with...

For the sake of record when others maybe searching climbers this link provides some nessessary info when considering climbers in the garden.
http://www.agric.wa.gov.au/content/HORT ... IMBERS.PDF

thanks for that article Fu. mmmm I am now thinking I might plant the clematis somewhere in the back and look for one that's not deciduous for the verandah.... does this sound like a good idea?

What I did with mine was to plant it with a potato creeper. So when the clematis died back, the other was still green and leafy. Maybe you can find another climber that you like and plant them together?

Yours looks gorgeous - the flowers will more than make up for the bare branches in winter.

thanks kek, maybe I'll do that! Or just plant the clematis for now and see what it does in the winter, and if it looks horrible then I could plant something else.

Does a potato creeper grow potatoes