Plant recommendation, please

[Ethel]

My back wall is south facing and the windows are roughly 6' above ground level.
I would like to grow a plant (or plants) to help cover this wall, provide plenty of flowers and a good scent. Putting wires to help support is not a problem.

I'm thinking perhaps a rose (more than 1?) -any thoughts welcome. I particularly like yellow flowers but open to suggestions

[shylock73]

Is jthis `THE` Ethel we all know and love? asking a question of us `Sons of the Soil` ......Well, and why not?. The best answer I can think of at the moment is a nice yellow rambling rose. I expect `Hawkwalk` will think of something to add also.

[LoftyLottie]

Maigold is lovely, very healthy and has a beautiful smell Ethel:

http://www.davidaustinroses.com/english/Showro se.asp?Showr=581&Theme=

Mine never fails to produce beautiful blooms year after year and it also is repeat flowering. You can trim it down to the height to require.

[LoftyLottie]

And in my garden

http://i37.tinypic.com/ohqykp.jpg

They really are very easy roses and have a lovely foliage too. Very disease resistant (I don't use sprays). They also seem quite tolerant of wet weather (quite useful over the last two years).

[Ethel]

I really like the idea of the rose, but am worried about the scorch from the sun (ha ha, what sun?'. In the summer it gets very very hot on my patio - will it be okay?

That maigold is a beautiful rose - just the sort of thing I was hoping for. :)

[LoftyLottie]

Ethel, my Maigold does well in a south west facing position where it gets full sun. It does fade slightly, but nothing like the my other yellow 'golden showers' rose which has been a disappointment.

If your patio is extremely hot, it might be better to go for a more exotic mediterranean plant, but the Maigold is well worth a try, and it really does have that old fashioned beautiful rose smell, which is sadly lacking in most modern roses.

[SlackAlice]

After you've picked your rose, why not pick some underplanting?
Try some 'Mirabilis jalapa' also known as the '4 o'clock plant', 'beauty of the night' and 'marvel of Peru'
Started from seed they develop into plants about .2ft tall, and form tubers to return as a perennial each year. Highly scented in the late afternoon and evening.
Some links here
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/2149 94/four-oclock

http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A774704

[LoftyLottie]

SlackAlice They look lovely. At present I have tubs of lavender under my Maigold Rose, but I am very tempted now to try your suggestion. I have a lot of spring bulbs in the same area that I don't want to keep digging up each year. Could you leave them in with the Mirabilis, i.e. do the Mirabilis die right back?

[SlackAlice]

Yes, the Mirabilis will die back every winter but the tubers with start producing new shoots in late spring.
Would not affect your spring display. Mine are planted with Hellebores and Cyclamen as the winter/spring display in the same bed. Also, got Daffodils and snowdrops mixed in.

[Ethel]

Excellent suggestions. :)

[Diane1954]

instead of a rose why not try a clematis,there is a small flowered yellow clematis tangutica.Could mix it with an evergreen honeysuckle.