Climbers for pergola

aoborwick

We have recently moved to a house which has a fairly large pergola. We are thinking of planting a wisteria and another climber to complement it. Something that flowers at a different time. Would love to hear what people would suggest? (We are fairly clueless beginners!)

PatsyFagan

I have Akebia Quinata  (Chocolate Vine) growing over an arch in my garden ... it is in flower now .. dark maroon small blooms that look like tiny bunches of grapes .. and smells as you would expect. It canb be a thug though, will strangle anything it can get it's twining growing shoots round, so it needs keeping under control. And very hardy 

BlueBirder

Clematis are great, and later flowering varieties will bloom after your wisteria. There is plenty of choice in terms of colour, flower shape etc and some are scented. A climbing rose is another option, or honeysuckle.

However which climber you choose will depend on your soil type, how much sun the area gets, and where in the UK you live (some climbers need frost protection and I wouldn't bother growing them here in Scotland for example, too much bother!).

You should also consider how low maintenence you want it to be, or whether you'd be happy to prune it once a year. 

If you give a bit more info, there will be lots of people more knowledgeable than me who will be able to point you to specific plants and varieties which suit your space   

Fairygirl

More info @aoborwick - aspect, location etc, and a photo would help with suggestions. 
Certainly clematis are ideal for any site, as there are varieties to suit every aspect, and are hardy in most areas of the UK, apart from some of the evergreen types. If the pergola is big enough, you could have one of the early alpinas or macropetalas, as well as a later, large flowered variety. 

GardenerSuze

@aoborwick I think Wisteria is better on a wall it is very strong growing. Akebia quinata is a good choice. It is strong growing but can be pruned after flowering. The flowers are a wonderful colour and look lovely with pale blue . It could smother anything else, semi evergreen. 
Other will hopefully give advice on C Armandii which is winter flowering, evergreen and scented. It can suffer frost damage here.
Also C Bill Mackenzie which is cut back in spring so at that point the pagoda looks bare. This clematis has amazing flowers and seed heads.