1. Vine
Not only will you be able to enjoy its grapes, but its thick foliage will also allow you to enjoya pleasant and cool shaded area. Hardy, it adapts to all types of soil and withstands any episodes of drought. Easy to grow, it can be combined with other climbing plants. The vine is easy to train and will allow you to quickly get foliage benefactor in spring and summer.
The other side of the coin is that you will have to harvest the grape well if you don’t want it to fall on your furniture and damage it.
2. Kiwifruit
This vine tree flourishes wonderfully on a pergola. Its thick foliage will allow you to enjoy a cooler space in summer. But if you want to enjoy the fruits of this tree, be careful to choose a self-fertile variety or to add at least one male plant in the middle of female plants. In addition to appreciating kiwis in autumn, you can enjoy its beautiful white flowers in spring.
3. Virginia creeper
If you want a plant cover without fruit, it is possible to bet on Virginia creeper. She pushes so easily and so quickly that it will cover your pergola in record time, but be careful, it can end up being invasive.
It is a robust and undemanding plant which, in the fall, will bring a beautiful decorative touch to your exterior with its foliage which takes on a magnificent burgundy red color before falling.
4. Hops
This climbing plant, deciduous and of easy culture is undemanding. Installed in partial shade or in full sun, it can quickly reach 7 meters in height. Hops grow fast enough to cover your pergola without losing your patience.
It flowers from June to September in the form of cones that evoke small pine cones. It is these cones that are used for the production of beer. Hops give off a pleasant aroma.
5. Wisteria
For a green roof with a beautiful flowering in clusters, you can opt for glycine. Between its generous flowering and its irresistible perfume with the smell of honey, this climbing plant will have the most beautiful effect on your pergola.
However, it will be necessary to trim it on a regular basis to maintain the desired shape and prevent it from invading the space. It is a vigorous plant which, left in the wild, could damage your pergola.
6. Honeysuckle
This climbing plant is very easy to grow since she knows how to adapt to many situations. It can thus be installed in the sun or in the shade, in the ground or in a pot. Honeysuckle is a vigorous plant that grows quickly.
Depending on the variety, its foliage can be semi-evergreen or evergreen and its flowers can be of different colors. In any case, they are very fragrant and bloom continuously from June to October.
7. Jasmine
Known for its pleasant fragrance, jasmine is a climbing plant, some varieties of which have the advantage of maintain their foliage throughout the year. However, before deciding to dress your pergola with it, you must be sure to tolerate its scent, because it can be heady in the long term.
Jasmine resists temperatures down to -15°C and will do well in a rather sunny location.
8. Climbing rose
Vigorous, the climbing rose will also find its place on a pergola to which it will bring a touch of elegance and retro charm. Depending on your preferences for size, color and shape of roses, you can go for one variety or another.
You will be spoiled for choice ! But be sure to consider the exposure in your choice, because some varieties need to be installed in a sunny location, while others support partial shade.
9. Climbing hydrangea
Vigorous, the climbing hydrangea is a good solution to dress a pergola exposed to the sun, in partial shade or even in soft shade. But do not forget that, as a rule, flowering plants prefer sunny positions.
Because this plant is hardy, you will be able to install it regardless of the region in which you live. To do this, be sure to provide it with deep, cool soil. Under this condition, from May to July, it will be covered with a generous misty bloom, on the other hand, in winter, your pergola will be bare since its foliage is deciduous.
10. Clematis
Clematis is certainly a very beautiful climbing plant that you can grow in a pot or in the ground and trellis on your pergola, but it turns out to be a little more demanding than the others. However, if it benefits from the care it needs, it will reward you with beautiful flowering in different colors and shapes depending on the variety.
Be sure to do your research when choosing the variety, as some are more vigorous and will climb faster to cover your pergola, but the flowering will be less, others carry evergreen foliage, etc.
11. Ivy
Ivy is a common climbing plant. Depending on its variety, its foliage can be a beautiful shiny green or variegated with cream or green and yellow. It is a plant that will easily cover your pergola and protect you throughout the year thanks to its evergreen foliage. However, it will be necessary to prune it regularly to prevent it from becoming invasive.
12. Morning Glory
This climbing plant, which can reach 5 meters in height, is easily cultivated to allow you to have a covered pergola on sunny days. To do this, simply sow the seeds in the ground or in a pot at the foot of your pergola.
If the latter is in a sunny location, it will be adorned with a cascade of colorful flowers from May to October. Here again, you will have the choice between different varieties.
13. Wattakaka
Still little known, this climbing plant is characterized by ample foliage and decorative, fragrant flowering. This herbaceous vine can reach 5 meters high and is able to cling to its support on its own.
In spring, it covers itself with numerous bouquets of starry flowers. Even if this plant is not very demanding, it needs to be installed in a sunny but not hot location, sheltered from the winds and in drained soil.
It is quite hardy and withstands temperatures down to -15°C.
14. Akebia quinata
This vigorous climbing plant is full of charm and gives off a pleasant and delicious vanilla scent. It is covered with very decorative webbed leaves that turn purple in winter. Depending on its variety, its foliage can be deciduous or semi-evergreen. In the spring, it is covered with a flowering in unusual clusters. It thrives in sun or partial shade, in rich, well-drained soil.
15. Climbing knotweed
This climbing plant grows quickly and provides a vigorous cover and dense thanks to its abundant foliage that brightens up a vaporous white bloom during the summer.
The advantages of this plant are that ordinary soil is suitable for it and that it is able to withstand periods of drought, except in the year after planting. It will then be necessary to water it.
Although it prefers sunny locations, it fears exposures that are too hot and can tolerate partial shade.
16. Blue Polka Dot
This perennial can only be grown as an annual in regions with marked winters, because it does not support episodes of frost. However, insofar as it can reach up to 3 meters high, this very ornamental plant will adorn your pergola with its flowers reminiscent of blue, white or pink butterflies. To do this, it needs a sunny or partial shade location.
17. Clerodendron
For this shrub which can reach 3 meters high, climbing on your pergola will not be a problem if you live in an area where temperatures do not drop not below -15°C in winter.
Whether you plant it in the ground or in a pot, this very decorative shrub will cover your pergola with generous flowering from July to October, whether in a sunny location or in partial shade.
Once properly installed, it is a shrub that is easy to maintain.
18. Bougainvillea
This climbing plant is known for its magnificent flowering. It is not very hardy and will have to be grown in pots in certain regions of France to be sheltered in winter. In the ground, it needs rather light soil. In addition to its flowering, its evergreen foliage will allow you to make your pergola pleasant whatever the season.
19. Passionflower
Another climbing plant, rather intended for southern gardens, is passionflower. It is covered, from the month of June and until the first cold spells, with flowers with an unusual appearance and sumptuous colours. Whether you grow it in the ground or in a container, it needsa floor well drained and sunny exposure. Under these conditions, it will climb along your pergola and cling to it.
20. Black-Eyed Susan
This annual plant can reach up to 3 meters high. It is covered with a generous yellow or orange bloom with a black spot in the center, which gives it its name. It will allow you to quickly create a plant cover on your pergola.