THIS month we see many climbers coming into their own, producing a massed display of colour.
Mandevillas, sometimes also called dipladenias, love the warmer weather and dipladenia splendens produces red or pink flowers, depending on the variety.
It only grows to about 2-3m high so is not one to take over the garden.
Mandevilla 'Alice du Pont' produces masses of pink flowers and prefers a frost-free position.
Mandevilla laxa is slightly hardier and produces clusters of highly fragrant white flowers from summer into autumn.
It is a must for sheltered areas.
Try to position one where you sit outside so you can enjoy this summer delight.
The snail creeper (Phaseolus caracella) is another highly scented summer flowering climber.
Its fragrant cream and purple flowers fade to rich yellow and in cold areas it will die back completely over winter.
Black-eyed Susan (Thunbergia alata) is another glory of the summer.
Its bright orange flowers with deep brown-black centres are borne on rapidly twining stems twining their way over trellis in sunny areas.
Hoya or wax plant is a summer flowering climber that can easily be grown in a pot and moved into a sheltered porch for the cooler winter months for some protection from the cold.
Hoya blooms are clusters of waxy star-shaped flowers in white or shades of pink and are often lightly scented.
Tropical triumph
OTHER sub-tropical plants that we grow further south than they might otherwise like to, come to the fore at present.
Hibiscus, bougainvillea, brunsfelsia and duranta all adore the heat and bloom strongly.
Most of these will thrive in southern Victorian gardens if they can find the correct microclimate.
This is usually a frost-free position or in a pot that can be moved to a warmer sheltered location during the colder months of winter.
Duranta or pigeon berry has purple or white flowers and sometimes a bicolor as in the variety geisha girl.
Grow them in a sunny position, feed and water well in the warmer weather, but keep just moist in the colder months.
