Garden Designers & Landscape Gardeners
Garden Buildings in South & East England

Clianthus puniceus.
The most unusual flower structure on a climbing plant that we can grow in the UK, its common name is 'Parrots Bill' or 'Lobster Claw' which is a good description of the bizare flower shape. It is a member of the pea family from New Zealand and has the typical pinnate, feathery leaf structure which is very ornamental in itself although not quite evergreen in this country. It is a vigorous bushy growing plant which is not strictly a climber, making woody shrub like stems and needing to be trained. It needs the protection of a wall and support to stop it from forming a sprawling habit so it is best used as a climber, it needs a sunny position to produce a good flowering display which appears in March and may last 6 to 8 weeks, perhaps with sporadic flowers after this. 
Clianthus is hardy down to -6 or 8c for short periods which may cause some burning of the new growth at the tips of the branches only, longer spells of these temperatures may damage all but the thickest woody stems. It is capable of re growing from this sort of damage, however temperatures lower than this will kill the plant. They are not fussy about soil type although richer or well fed conditions will result in much leaf growth and less flower.