14 of the best climbing plants for every gardener, from bougainvillea to snow peas

Best for: Covering walls and pergolas, or as a flowering groundcover

Perennial star jasmine is a heavily fragrant climbing plant that bears delicate white flowers. Jasmine plants can be weedy; keep them under control with ruthless pruning. As the flowers fade, trim over the plant to remove the spent flowers.

Sun/Shade: Full sun
When to plant: Spring
How fast it grows: 30 – 90cm per year

Best for: Along fences or in pots

Bougainvillea is a hardy, sun-loving, fast-growing, scrambling climber that will provide a pretty pop of colour against a back fence or garden shed. Available in multiple varieties, from the bright red Scarlet O’Hara to the sweet purple Magnifica Trailli, check your local nursery for the best one for your space.

Sun/Shade: Full sun
When to plant: Spring
How fast it grows: Up to 2m per year

Best for: Growing on trellis or frames

Mandevillas produce a series of long-lasting, pink and red flowers, thrive in large pots, and bear masses of trumpet blooms most of the year. Known for their easy-care nature and drought hardiness (they hate wet feet), madevillas are an ideal climber for posts and containers.

Sun/Shade: Full sun/part sun
When to plant: Spring
How fast it grows: Up to 2.5m per year

Best for: Growing on trellis, fence or walls

Also known as Purple Coral Pea, Hardenbergia is a heavily flowering Australian native climber that will bring a burst of colour, along with birds, bees and other insects to your garden, year-round. It will quickly (even faster than Jasmine) climb over fences and sheds, or can be trained to trail along a trellis. It’s a very low-maintenance climbing plant, with the most common variety being the Hardenbergia violacea ‘Happy Wanderer’.

Sun/Shade: Full sun/part sun
When to plant: Late winter
How fast it grows: Up to 2.5m per year

Best for: Climbing along trellises or fences

Another Australian native climbing plant, Pandorea, produces an abundance of pretty trumpet-shaped flowers from spring through to autumn. A cottage garden favourite, this fast climber will quickly cover a screen or trellis to add privacy and colour to a garden. There is a range of different varietals that produce slightly different shades of flowers, but its rapid growth makes it particularly popular.

Sun/Shade: Full sun/part sun
When to plant: Spring
How fast it grows: Up to 5m

Best for: Growing over pergolas or along verandahs

Wisteria is a classic climber that produces thick trunks adorned with fragrant purple flowers in spring that hang down when draped across a patio roof or passageway. Being deciduous, wisteria provides summer shade and winter sun.

Sun/Shade: Full sun
When to plant: Spring
How fast it grows: Up to 3m per year

Best for: Growing over walls and other structures

Before you go purchase your honeysuckle, be sure to do your research. A few of these varieties are considered invasive, due to their tough, resilient and adaptable nature. However, varieties including Lonicera Graham Thomas are excellent for gardens, non-invasive, moderately vigorous, with cream, fragrant flowers that’ll continue to bloom from midsummer into autumn.

Sun/Shade: Full sun/ partial shade
When to plant: Late winter to early spring
How fast it grows: Up to two feet per year

Best for: Growing over a shaded wall

For that shaded spot in your garden, perhaps to cover an unsightly fence or wall, a climbing hydrangea is one of the best plants you can add to your space. High-performing yet undemanding, these deciduous shrubs will adapt to most conditions (as long as they’re given plenty of water). Their blooms make for great cut flowers, which range in shades of white, blue and pink.

Sun/Shade: Part shade/ full shade
When to plant: Spring and autumn
How fast it grows: Up to two feet per year

Best for: Growing over archways, pergolas and fences

Add a hint of romance to your garden with a climbing rose. Ideal for training over an archway, these plants typically produce small flowers, but plenty of them. Available in colours ranging from yellow to pink, there are many varieties of climbing roses for every garden. They bloom in spring and continue flowering throughout the warmer months.

Sun/Shade: Full sun
When to plant: Late winter to early spring
How fast it grows: Two to three years to reach full height

Best for: Filling a shaded spot in your garden

For a stunning vine that delivers a burst of colour, you can’t go wrong with clematis. Offering vertical interest and vibrant beauty, these fast-growing plants are best planted in a shaded spot – under a tree or along a fence – as they stretch their vines towards the sun and blossom in the light.

Sun/Shade: Partial shade / full sun
When to plant: Spring
How fast it grows: Two to three years to reach full height

Best for: Growing on trellises, pergolas and in pots, and for producing delicious fruit

Passionfruit vines are an ideal climber that also serves a double purpose as an edible plant in your garden. There are many varieties to choose from, including Yellow Giant, Panama Gold, Panama Red and Nellie Kelly. Passionfruit vines do best in warm areas and produce glossy green leaves and the most incredible shaggy-looking purple and white flowers.

Sun/Shade: Full sun
When to plant: Spring
How fast it grows: 3 – 4m per year

Best for: Growing on trellises in the cooler months

Looking for a climbing plant that will deliver delicious veggies you can pop into a salad or stir-fry? Yes, please. Snow peas are not only super nutritious and tasty, but also incredibly versatile and easy to grow in the garden. Best for a cool-season garden, they can be grown up trellises in pots or garden beds.

Sun/Shade: Full sun
When to plant: Autumn
How fast it grows: Up to 2 metres

Best for: Growing on trellises in the warmer months

Once your peas are done for the season, sow your cucumber seeds. Cucumbers are among the most rewarding edibles to grow, providing vertical interest in the vegetable patch while adding a nutritious crunch in summer salads and sandwiches. Plant your cucumbers in a warm, sunny spot with a structure to climb.

Sun/Shade: Full sun
When to plant: Spring to summer
How fast it grows: Up to 1.5 metres

Best for: Growing on trellises and archways

Beans are among the hardest workers in the garden. Plant them beneath a trellis, archway or other type of structure for them to climb, and you will be rewarded with months of beans, all to use in the kitchen. Regular harvesting of beans will encourage the production of more, so be sure to keep picking from this delicious edible climber.

Sun/Shade: Full sun
When to plant: Spring to summer
How fast it grows: Up to 3 metres