Creating a green screen

view of her needs. Attractive foliage and a desire for fragrance were further factors in the choice.

My friend liked the long, dark green leaves of the Clematis armandii, whose white or pinkish-white spring flowers are fragrant. This vine is, however, sometimes damaged in cold winters and the growing tips of young vines require rigorous pinching back to promote a dense foliage cover on a support. My two vines certainly do not present a solid wall of greenery.

The star jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides, Confederate jasmine) growing in a large pot at a south-facing gazebo wall is a weak climber that needs securing to a support and pinching back for thick, well-branched growth. The shiny evergreen foliage is attractive though, and the white, pinwheel-style summer flowers are deliciously fragrant.

A long-established five-leaf akebia (Akebia quinata) has formed a dense wall of ornamental, dark green foliage along a pathway in my garden, at a far edge that is never watered. Planted as one of those “let’s see” experiments, the vine has turned out to be a minimumcare jewel, requiring only the occasional cutting back to tame its vigour. The spring rose and purple flowers are fragrant and interesting, but fleeting.

This was the one. Akebia would provide the desired thick growth, is adaptable to sun and shade, and can easily be kept trimmed to fit the trellis.

My friend still longed for the type of fragrance offered by star jasmine and pink jasmine (Jasminum polyanthum, Chinese jasmine).

The solution: Have the leafy wall and fragrance too, by growing the Akebia to cover the trellis and having a pink jasmine and a star jasmine in pots placed in front. Both are weak climbers, suitable for growing freeform or as trailers in containers.

I advised my friend to try for small plants, which would settle in most successfully. Right away she found both an Akebia and a star jasmine, each in one-gallon pots. She’ll search for a pink jasmine in the spring.

During our tour of the vines, she admired pots of sedums and sempervivums. I had plenty to share, and dug up some of each for her to take home and pot for her sunny balcony.

HELEN CHESNUT Garden Notes hchesnut@bcsupernet.com Apersonal love for jigsaw and crossword puzzles, which bring moments of usefully absorbing diversion, probably explains at least partially the fun I find in helping friends and others solve gardening puzzles. My latest in-person clue-chasing garden...

Star jasmine, a weak climber that can be grown in bush or trailing form, bears clusters of deliciously fragrant flowers in summer.

Five-leaf Akebia is a vigorous, adaptable vine with ornamental foliage and interesting spring flowers.

Something as simple as a mini-carpet of sedum in a pot can be a point of interest in a container garden.