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than plant a rose or another wisteria - there might be some unpleasantness hiding in the soil - I decided to stick with annual climbers. We usually have morning glories (Ipomoea species) in pots, so I moved one of them to fill in and it did an admirable

. When we built this house there was a lot of wall either side of the front door and I was looking for a suitable climber. There are basically three sorts of plant that are good for covering walls: self clinging climbers (like Hydrangea petiolaris

irises.I digress; my favourite roses at the moment are the Hybrid Musk roses. They were mostly bred by the Rev. Joseph Pemberton in the early 20th Century and make great shrubs and small climbers. They are soft coloured, like cowrie pink 'Penelope', clean

coloured, fast growing climber now happily growing up the sides of Mediterranean villas (he also introduced the hydrangea to France).Interestingly, when they reached Tahiti, it was discovered that Commerson's valet - Bonnefoy - was actually a woman called

in the back of my car overnight; the plant was young and had only a single flower but the scent in the car was almost unbearable. Like being dipped in vanilla. Another corker is winter-flowering honeysuckle, Lonicera fragrantissima. Not a climber but a medium

. This is a very vigorous climber, better known as Russian vine or mile-a-minute. Only the very brave will plant this in a small garden as, although it's undoubtedly attractive and flowers for a long time, it has an unquenchable curiosity. Many years ago I

, endlessly flowery) and Nicotiana sylvestris, which looks slightly spectral and smells delicious in the evenings. The third is the irrepressible Nigella that seeds itself in the gravel under my pergola.The other two are climbers. The first is Ipomoea purpurea