Nick Bailey says put your annual climbers in pairs
They’ll provide you with exciting colour and texture combinations!
Annual climbing plants have some really useful attributes. They can go from seed to 2m (6ft 8in) monsters in less than 90 days and will often flower until late autumn. But most significantly, a lot of them can still be sown now on a windowsill or glasshouse, ready for planting out in late May. I can’t help but grow a selection of these plants because, unlike a lot of other ‘annuals’, they’re big, wild-looking and full of bloom, putting squat bedding plants into the shade.
They can look superb grown over obelisks, arches, fences or up a wall, but my favourite way to grow them is in pairs. Some pairs will flower together providing exciting colour and texture combinations. Others work brilliantly as successional plants – as one fades the other kicks into life and begins blooming.
A good example of this is the pairing of ipomoea (morning glory) and sweet peas. Planted in the same space or on the same frame, they’ve behaved differently for me depending on the year. Some seasons run like clockwork. The sweet pea carries the early part of the season in June and July, with the ipomoea seeing out the remainder of the year, blooming from July to October.
Sometimes the oddities of our seasons have put paid to this, with some interesting results. Last year, the ipomoea and sweet peas came into flower at the same time – a charming combination. The year before the ipomoea flowered first, with sweet peas eventually catching up. However it works out, it’s a hardworking pairing that can be relied on. Here are some other pairings I think work really well together.
Ipomoea lobata and ipomoea ‘Grandpa Otts’
Despite being of the same genus, these
plants couldn’t look more different. The
I. lobata, often known as Spanish flag, displays a series of blooms on the end of lanky stems. The lowest blooms are white and transition through yellow and orange to red flowers right at the tip. In contrast, ‘Grandpa Otts’ has single convolvulus-looking flowers in deep blue with distinct stripes. Together, they cover most colours of the rainbow. Sown now, they’ll be in flower for mid to late summer.
Thunbergia alata ‘African Sunset’ and Cobaea scandens
This subtle pairing sit roughly opposite on the colour wheel, meaning their
flowers create simultaneous contrast. Essentially, they make each other look really good! Both need a sunny
spot to work well and if you’ve a warm, south-facing wall, you might just be able to overwinter the cobaea. Although it’s usually grown as an annual, it’s actually a perennial plant. Get it through winter and it’ll bloom at least a month earlier than plants sown at the start of the season. Sown now, they’ll both bloom in late summer and early autumn.
Ipomoea alba and Tropaeolum peregrinum
This pair covers the day and night shift in the garden. The yellow ‘trop’ blooms away during the day with its birds-in-flight-blooms while the ipomoea opens early evening and emanates a delicate scent at night. Sow them now for a subtle combo in late summer.