THE BEST SUMMER CLIMBERS
- CLEMATIS - ROSES - HONEYSUCKLE

This is the time of year when in village halls and community centres across the country, keen gardeners are vying with each other as to whose blooms are the best. And this spirit of good-natured competition doesn't just prevail at flower shows. Proud householders put many hours and plenty of financial investment into making sure that their gardens are a credit to them and contribute to the collective sense of pride in the district.

Plants which allow you to put on your own 'Summer Show' whilst at the same time helping you to maximise the space you have available, or to screen unsightly garden features, surely deserve a closer look. These plants are of course climbers. The selection described here all offer exciting yellow flowers in varying shapes and sizes, right through the summer and into the autumn.

Clematis is a garden favourite and 'Bill Mackenzie' is an absolute star of the family, producing abundant, open bell-shaped flowers, 8cm across. Clematis 'Golden Tiara' is a more compact variety producing slightly smaller flowers, reaching 2 - 3 m in height and spread this is a good choice where space is limited. Clematis rehderiana flowers through the same period, but blooms in this case are tubular and a paler yellow. Clematis tangutica produces yellow, bell-shaped flowers, 4cm long. Each of these is a vigorous climber and requires strong support in the form of some kind of trellis. Clematis need fertile, humus rich, well drained soil to thrive. Sun or partial shade positions are suitable.

Climbing roses can help to bring garden features like pergolas and arbours to life. Great performers to look out for are Rosa 'Casino', which produces fragrant yellow flowers to 9cm across. Rosa 'Golden Showers' has glossy, dark green leaves and produces numerous, fragrant, clear yellow flowers to 10cm across. Both of these climbers reach a height of approximately 3m. For a shorter growing variety, go for Rosa 'Laura Ford', a miniature climber producing lightly scented yellow flowers. Each of these is fully hardy and prefers an open site in full sun. Soil should be humus rich, moist but well drained. Prune any time from late autumn to early spring, removing only dead or damaged wood. Once the plant has reached the desired shape, prune to maintain that.

No coverage of climbers would be complete without a mention of Lonicera. Three great honeysuckles which offer yellow flowers at this time are: Lonicera X americana, Lonicera periclymenum 'Graham Thomas' and Lonicera tragophylla. Each is fully hardy and vigorous. Lonicera peryclemenum particularly benefits from being pruned back to strong young growth annually after flowering. The others need only to be kept in shape and pruned to fit the space available. Most garden soils are suitable and full sun poses no problem.

Everyone has space for more climbers and for any homeowner with an ugly wall, fence or tank to mask, they are a great help. Plant any of these that we've looked at and enjoy a glorious splash of yellow each year around now.

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