Some Top Summer Flowering Climbing Plants

Climbers occupy very little space at ground level making them invaluable plants for the small garden. In addition they can be used as living screens to divide up areas or hide unsightly objects. Choose the right kinds and warm, sunny walls as well as sunless vertical structures can be clothed with summer flowering climbing plants. This article describes a selection of climbing roses, clematis and honeysuckles which fit the bill.

Climbing Roses Bring Flower Power to Summer

Roses epitomize summer with their gorgeous, often scented, flowers. There are plenty of ramblers to choose from including the following:

• ‘American Pillar’ is a rambler whose leathery, glossy, mid-green foliage is a perfect foil for the masses of single, carmine-red, white-eyed flowers.
• Where space permits the majestic rambler Rosa filipes ‘Kiftsgate’ reaches 10 metres in height. It looks fantastic scrambling through a large tree with its large clusters of flowers, white tinged with pink and very fragrant.

For the small to average sized garden the less rampant repeat flowering climbing types are usually a better bet:

• Rosa ‘Dublin Bay’ shows remarkable resistance to black spot which is always a desirable characteristic for a rose especially one growing in a wet climate. It has dark green, glossy leaves and clusters of double, bright crimson, slightly fragrant flowers from summer to autumn.
• Rosa ‘Golden Showers’ is a stiff, upright climber which freely bears a succession of clear yellow flowers even when grown on a north facing wall.
• Rosa ‘Parkdirektor Riggers’ also has the ability to flower profusely on a sunless wall. Reaching 2.5 metres tall it produces large clusters of cupped semi-double scarlet flowers 6cm across from summer to autumn.

Clematis are Popular Summer Flowering Climbers

Clematis thrive when their roots are shaded from the heat of the sun but their flowering shoots are exposed to the sun.

• Late flowering and large flowered cultivars of clematis include the ever popular Clematis ‘Jackmanii’ which reaches 3 metres tall and carries abundant single, velvety dark purple flowers 8-10cm across turning violet with age in mid to late summer.
• For a clematis with smaller flowers, Clematis ‘Abundance’ bears open bell-shaped wine-red flowers from mid-summer to late autumn.
• Over the same period Clematis ‘Bill Mackenzie a vigorous has beautiful, small, lantern-like, nodding, single yellow flowers with red anthers. The large fluffy seed heads which follow are a real treat.

Honeysuckles Bring Colour and Fragrance

Climbing honeysuckles (Lonicera species) are twining plants which in shady places send up long stems towards the light. They may be grown against a wall or fence or into a large shrub or tree.

• The widely grown late Dutch honeysuckle (Lonicera periclymenum ‘Serotina’ has vigorous twining shoots which are purple when young. Its fragrant purple, summer flowers fade to yellow.
• Lonicera x Americanum is a vigorous free-flowering scrambler with clusters of very fragrant pink tubed creamy-yellow flowers followed by red berries.
• Summer flowering Lonicera x brownii (Scarlet trumpet honeysuckle) is somewhat less fragrant bearing orange to red flowers 3.5cm long. The cultivar ‘Dropmore Scarlet’ has bright scarlet flowers over a long period.

So Bring Colour and Fragrance to Bare Walls and Fences

All the above climbing plants are grown specially for their summer flowers. They can be grown as individuals, or in association with climbing plants grown noted for their attractive foliage such as the golden hop (Humulus lupulus ‘Aureus’ ) and the purple vine (Vitis vinifera ‘Purpurea’).