[Fleur Pavlidis]

Thanks for your suggestions. The pot could be deep and maybe 30 x 40 cm.
I've never seen a Bomarea. The two suggested look lovely and The Pacific Bulb Society web site shows lots of others - all much more exciting than even the prettiest ivy - but perhaps I should be looking for something less difficult for my busy daughter.
Any other ideas?

[JTh]

Would Pandorea jasminoides be an idea here? It is said to be great in large pots, and it is easily propagated from seeds. I collected some seeds in Mallorca in October 2011, they germinated and grew very quickly last spring. The plants I brought to Greece last autumn were all alive this spring. It is evergreen, with nice, shiny leaves and beautiful flowers.

[Trevor Australis]

I had another idea too, tho' I am not certain enough to recommend it but I would definitely look into the possibilities offered by Thunbergia and Canaria both hardy and colourful climbers. The Canaria (apparently) forms tubers which suggest it would be pretty tough once established. Fleur, if you are going to do the plant 'hunting' (and purchasing?) on behalf of your daughter why not try to get something more special than ordinary? What about Solanum crispum??

[John J]

My Podranea clambers over a Hibiscus rosa-sinensis before heading off to climb up an arch.
Stephanotis will also twine around any support it can find, as will the Senecio confusus seen here trespassing on the Stephanotis' territory. Both have the added bonus of scented flowers, the Stephanotis strongly and the Senecio more delicate.

[Isabel]

This whole conversation is very interesting both in it's guerilla gardening and balcony climber aspects.

Katerina, is the wall you are trying to cover out of reach? Does it have cracks and holes in it? Do you plan on throwing seeds at it and hoping some of them catch in crevices and germinate? If this is the case, might I suggest mixing the seeds into mud to help them along? If you are doing this why not try plants that one sees growing happily out of walls, cliff faces rocks etc? If you can reach the wall you could press the mud and seed mix into crevices. What plants manage to establish will self seed into what I envision as a vertical Greek meadow.

I think I have gotten ahead of myself here...!

And now I have a question, do self-adhering climbers not undermind the structural integrity of walls?

[David Bracey]

Isabel, regarding your last question I think you will get as many do,s as do nots.  Does it not depend on the plant, the wall material, weather etc.  In my experience ivy will damage stonework after many many years.

[JTh]

John, you are referring to Podranea below, but I believe the two upper photos are Pandorea jasminoides. I still have several plants here in Norway, which I started from seeds a year ago, they are waiting to travel to Greece. I planted some in Greece last autumn, and they looked fine when we were there in May. The leaves are very nice and shiny, and there are no suckers which may ruin the wall.

[John J]

Well spotted, Jorun. You are quite right they are of my Pandorea and not my Podranea (that is climbing up the trunk of a palm that succumbed to the dreaded beetle). A slight case of fingers and brain not being in sync, sorry.

[JTh]

When I collected the seeds in Mallorca, I thought the name was Podranea as well, I actually believe I saw this name being used in the botanical garden we visitited and wrote it down like that, but I later understood that it was a mistake. I wonder if there will be any flowers this year, I'll soon see.

[Alisdair]

The flowers of Pandorea jasminoides are quite variable; some plants have pure white, some have pink, and some like yours John have white with a red throat. We have the cultivar 'Red Eyes' which is quite common (we bought ours in Greece), and which has flowers looking very like yours.
It is excellent cover for a wall, very vigorous, and with us now thrives without summer irrigation (and with severe competition from an aggressive Aristolochia gigantea, though it probably gets some from the weekly irrigation of a lime tree fairly close by.

[John J]

My Podranea is not in flower at the moment but here is a photo from when it was.

[rhickman]

Going back to KatG request for trailing suggestions, we have a similar need for recommendations, but for a chalk wall 1.5m high which can only be planted at the top and its full of chalk rubble. Plus no water in time.
We have recently planted rosemary into a 150mm plug of reasonable soil 200m deep as an experiment and they seem to be surviving.
Its 50m long so would lavendar be suitable to give perfume and a textural change?

[KatG]

Sorry, have only just seen this. I think the Rosemary (I'm assuming it is the trailing variety) will look great. Your wall sounds like an ideal site for Caparis spinosa - though it is notoriously difficult to establish. I bought some small plants earlier this year and have planted them at the top of a wall. They seem happy, and flowered this summer. Another idea, though I hardly dare mention it, is Carpobrotus edulis. It has a reputation for becoming rampant, though I have not found this to be the case. I have planted a pale yellow variety which I discovered in Crete, and it seems to grow more slowly than the common pink version. I think it looks stunning trailing down a high wall and certainly grows where nothing else will.

[JTh]

Funny, I was just editing the photo below from your garden when I got the message with your posting, Katerina. The Carpobrutus edulis certainly looked good there, I hope you will be able to tame it.

I planted some of the pink ones many years ago to cover some naked ground, they definitely did the job. Now I am getting plenty of exercise pulling them out again, but they are very good at improving the soil, and they are wonderful for the compost heap; the weight is perfect for clamping down the dry stuff, and they are adding moisture. I also have a yellow one, which is much better behaved, it does not seem to spread much at all, much less that your specimen, in fact.

I am envious of your big Echium candicans just behind the Carpobrutus.

[KatG]

Jorun, it seems pretty well-behaved since the branches don't seem to root (because it is on gravel?) but cuttings take easily enough.  The Echium was looking pretty dessicated all summer, with no watering at all, but it's looking much happier after all the rain we've had lately.