Climbing into our hearts!
By Satish Narula

NOTHING can beat a climber when it comes to softening the harsh architectural lines, giving a cooling effect to a first or second floor room exposed to the sun or hiding an ugly corner. A climber can also be used for the purpose of privacy, to replace a hedge and provide a green background to a herbaceous border. Their beautiful foliage and flowers are the factors that makes climbers plants of choice.

The use and selection of a climber is done depending on the purpose for which it is used, its foliage, flowers ,fragrance and its location. The location is an important aspect as it determines the growing habit, time of flowering and requirements for sun or shade. Some heavy climbers like clerodendron, rangoon creeper or jhumka bel, duck bel, golden shower, patrea volubilis need the support of a pillar, pergola, a tree, angle iron, trellis or a wall.

It is not always that climbers need heavy structures. Some of them could be trained on thin wires fastened to nails driven in the wall. Seasonal climbers like Antigonon/leptopus (sorry, no common name) that bears rose or tiny white or pink flowers during summer and rainy season, asparagus (the one with very thin delicate foliage) that bears tiny red flowers are suitable for this kind of temporary arrangements.

Some like monstera (self supporting) money plant, nasturtium, a weak stemmed plant (that could also be trained against the hedge for seasonal effect) are the other options available. Ivy, nasturtium, symgonium etc could be grown in pots and trained on artistically designed wire structures. These pots could be shifted to desired places at will.

Self clinging ficus species ivy could also be grown in pots and a drift wood or small log can be used to allow it to stick and climb.

There is an exhaustive list of climbers to choose from. However, the choice is sometimes, restricted to the location and personal preference. For sunny aspects, you can choose climber like golden shower that bears a mass of orange flowers during January to March, Jhoomka bel that bears flowers throughout the year, patrea volubilis, that bears star-shaped blue coloured flowers in April-May and that spectacular passion flower that bears ‘wrist-watch’ flowers supported by a shining foliage with three deep cuts. For partial shade patrea, honeysuckle and tricolour ivy are ideal. For fragrance ,flowers such as jasmine, honeysuckle and Jhoomka bel are appropriate, while vernonia (curtain climber), golden shower are best suited for screening purposes.

Mostly gardeners do not treat a climber like they do other plants. These are planted in small round holes left in otherwise concrete floors. As a result, the growth is leggy and the leaves have a sick appearance. They fall off after yellowing especially during harsh summers when the heat is reflected from the pucca floor. The root development in the upper zone is negligible. Whatever little roots grow under the floor during the period of growth get killed during summers.

Do not let the curcurbitaceous vines (kaddu family) climb up a fruit tree or else do not complain if they ‘protest’ by refusing to bear fruit for the next year or even the year after that.

This feature was published on October 10, 1999