Climbing Evergreen - what to get?

[eskymo]

Hi All

I'm putting up a trellis along the back of the garden to give my pond some shade and also to give us some privacy when we're out the back of the garden chilling out. I want to plant an evergreen climber to grow up the trellis and to do this quite quickly but I think I've maybe picked the wrong time of year and maybe it's best to plant something in Autumn to over winter and grow next Spring.

I was thinking of getting a Star Jasmine [Trachelospermum] but not sure where to buy them online to get one delivered.

Is there any other quick growing evergreen I should consider?

I want something with good foliage and scented flowers.

Any suggestions are more than welcome as I don't wnat to limit my options if there is something better to get than a star jasmine.

Cheers

E

[Slug]

I have grown a Chilean Potato Vine (Solanum Crispum) in a my garden to try to give me some privacy in the garden. It is a semi-ever green which I think means that it will remain evergreen if the frosts etc... aren't too bad (in fact, I just checked on the BBC website and it says the leaves will remain in all but the worst winters).

If you're in Scotland though, I'm not sure it would stay evergreen for you or not.

All the leaves remained on mine through the winter, and I can vouch for the fact it's a fast grower - it's covering my trellis in no time at all!!

The variety I have has small purple flowers on it at the moment, and I believe it will then have small berries in the autumn. I'm very happy with my plant and would definitely recommend it - the flowes are very pretty.

Here's the BBC website link for the plant:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/gardening/plant...ages/860.shtml

I also have a passion flower vine, but although this kept it's leaves over the winter for me, it did show signs that it was finding the winter a bit cold and 'threatened' to lose it's leaves

Not sure if it helps or not....

Slug

[eskymo]

Thanks for the tip. I think I'm going to compile a list of 'possibles' and see what my OH thinks as it's his part of the garden [I deal with the veggie half and he deals with the other] and all I know is he wants an evergreen.

It looks really nice, but we get very cold winds in winter so I need to find out more about it's toleance. Thanks for the link.

My passion flower did the same this year and I was about to chuck it out as I thought it had died when it sprung back to life and is now looking very healthy. We had a clematis that totally died back as well and that has just come into flower as well so I've been lucky with those as I didn't think they could take the cold as they're in an exposed spot, but they're doing OK.

[poultrychat]

I used to have a white flowering version of the potato vine along with the purple but in case you didn't know as they are related to the potato that they are both poisonous.

If the area is protected then why not go for a semi evergreen jasmine I have one with small pink flowers and it's lovely although I have never found it in a book

[Slug]

I thought my passion fruit was 'a gonna' but it is looking healthy again. The only problem is that I lost all the flower buds that it had made - still, it's doing a good job of making more

I have a clematis in a small pot (got it as a plug plant) and I thought it hadn't survived the winter, then lo and behold... a small shoot appeared (phew I thought.... as I'd nearly thrown it in the compost bin!). Now that shoot is nowhere to be seen and I've no idea if it's dead or not... and now I'm too scared to throw it out.

Temperamental at times plants are....!!

Slug

[eskymo]

Poisenous isn't good as my dog likes to eat foliage on some of my plants as well as trimming the lawn for us - she like a grazing goat...so I would hate for herto munch pn something that would make her feel ill.

Do you know where to buy jasmine plants? Do B&Q stock them as we've got one nearby.

[SueA]

Have you tried clematis 'Armandii' Eskymo? They're supposed to be evergreen & hardy & fairly rampant, I don't have this but have clematis cirrhosa 'Freckles' which is also supposed to be evergreen but isn't in my garden! My passionflower looked like it had given up the ghost this year as well but it seems to have recovered. You might get jasmine in B&Q, I think you just have to be lucky with what they've had delivered, they sometimes have honeysuckles too which are fairly rampant growers but not always evergreen.

[GloBerry]

Hi Eskymo....www.crocus.co.uk stock Star Jasmine....have just seen pic of it.....beautiful!


Regards, GloBerry

[Slug]

I think there is a variety of evergreen honeysuckle (I was thinking of replacing my honeysuckle with an evergreen on as I'm sick of looking at a bare wall from my kitchen in the winter!).

I just googled evergreen honeysuckle and the Trumpet Honeysuckle/Coral Honeysuckle came up :

http://www.noble.org/imagegallery/Wo...neysuckle.html

Slug

[Mel]

I thought my passion fruit was 'a gonna' but it is looking healthy again. The only problem is that I lost all the flower buds that it had made - still, it's doing a good job of making more

I have a clematis in a small pot (got it as a plug plant) and I thought it hadn't survived the winter, then lo and behold... a small shoot appeared (phew I thought.... as I'd nearly thrown it in the compost bin!). Now that shoot is nowhere to be seen and I've no idea if it's dead or not... and now I'm too scared to throw it out.

Temperamental at times plants are....!!

Slug

Funny you should say that as I've had the same thing. I didn't protect my passion flower at all over the winter and it looked like it was going to die. However, in the last month or two it's make a remarkable recovery and is about to flower any time. It's growing up an obelisk and I was thinking of ditching it and reusing the frame for something else. Glad I didn't - must protect it better this winter though .

I've also got a Clematis (Niobe), which I mistreated last year - put it in a spot it didn't really like. Anyway, I moved it to a new location and cut it right back so there was only a foot long stalk left. It's gone beserk and has just come into flower.

Going back to climbing evergreens, I've got a Clematis (Avalanche), which is evergeen and produces lovely white flowers. It's not a hugely fast grower, but interesting shaped leaves and you could grow something else with it.

[poultrychat]

My passion flower does that each year, it keeps some green through the winter and then getting close to the end of it it then drops it's leaves which is when I prune it and then it starts all over again