"Nick Maclaren" wrote in message
...

In article ,
"mentalguy2004" writes:
|
| I have recently come back from Greece, and was impressed with the
| Bougainvillea (I think it was), but I understand that I can't buy some
and
| leave it outdoors during the winter.

Oh, you can - it will just be dead come spring :-)

| Is there anything similar I can use,
| primarily for covering a pergola, which means it has to survive a UK
South
| Coast winter? I'm looking for an ivy/bougainvillea type plant, with
nice
| flowers (pref red/pink) which can climb. I don't mind if it only
flowers in
| hot weather as long as it is hardy enough to last the winter.

Many plants. I do that with Vitis coignetae and Campsis x tagliabuana
"Mmme Galen". The former has huge leaves, colours well in autumn and
is very vigorous (but essentially no flowers). The latter needs to
climb up a post, as it has a growth habit like ivy and develops short
flowering shoots as it starts to waggle free - it is the trumpet shaped
climber with pinnate leaves that you see in Brittany etc. It grows at
3-6' a year up posts/walls/trees/etc. (linearly) and at 6-12" a year
in flower mode (in a bushy fashion).

But you can also do it with many clematis, honeysuckle and almost any
other climber hardy in the UK. Most are rather 'thin' but you could
also use Clematis armandii, which definitely isn't.

I would recommend Campsis x tagliabuana or Clematis armandii.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.


They look like very nice alternatives, thanks for the helpful advice. A trip
to the local nurseries looks in order