Climbers
Climbing plants reach the light without building a thick trunk. They get there by twining their stems, grabbing with tendrils, or gripping with small roots along the stem.
Algerian Ivy
Hedera algeriensis
Ivy climbs walls with tiny roots along its stem that cling to rough surfaces. Algerian ivy has bigger, glossier leaves than common ivy.
Common Ivy
Hedera helix
Ivy has two forms: young climbing stems with lobed leaves, and older, bushy stems with plain oval leaves that flower and fruit.
Betel Leaf (Paan)
पानको बोट
Piper betle
A close relative of black pepper that climbs the same way, with roots along its stem. Its heart-shaped leaves are wrapped around areca nut and spices to make paan.
Brazil Philodendron
Philodendron hederaceum ‘Brazil’
A heart-leaf philodendron with a yellow-green stripe down each leaf, like the colors of Brazil’s flag. In the rainforest it climbs trees with aerial roots.
Broken Heart Plant
लहरे कर्कलो
Monstera adansonii
Its leaves are full of holes. One idea is that the holes let a leaf spread over a wider area to catch flecks of sunlight while using less leaf. It climbs with aerial roots.
Golden Pothos
Epipremnum aureum
Indoors it stays a trailing vine with small leaves, but climbing a tree in the wild, its leaves grow huge and split. It almost never flowers.
Arrowhead Vine
Syngonium podophyllum
Its young leaves are arrow-shaped; as the vine climbs, new leaves split into three to five lobes. It climbs with aerial roots.
Creeping Fig
Ficus pumila
It presses flat against walls with tiny roots. Young stems have small leaves, but older stems branch out with much bigger leaves and small figs.
Flame Vine
स्वस्थानी फूल
Pyrostegia venusta
It climbs with three-part tendrils, and in the cool season it covers walls with masses of orange, tube-shaped flowers.
Common Jasmine
चमेली
Jasminum officinale
A twining jasmine whose white flowers smell strongest in the evening. Its scent is used in fine perfumes.
Honeysuckle
Lonicera sp.
Its name comes from the sweet nectar you can suck from the base of each flower. The long tube flowers smell strongest in the evening, when moths visit.
Bower Vine
Pandorea jasminoides
An Australian vine that climbs by winding its stems around supports. Its trumpet flowers are pale pink with a darker throat.
Sweetheart Hoya
Hoya kerrii
Its thick leaves are shaped like hearts, and a single leaf is often sold in a pot as a Valentine’s gift. In Southeast Asia it twines and roots its way up trees.
Bleeding Heart Vine
बुढानिलकण्ठ फूल
Clerodendrum thomsoniae
Each bright red flower pokes out of a white, heart-shaped calyx, which gives the vine its name.
Flaming Glorybower
रातो बुढानिलकण्ठ फूल
Clerodendrum splendens
A West African cousin of the bleeding heart vine, with clusters of brilliant scarlet flowers that butterflies and sunbirds visit.
Mandevilla
Mandevilla sp.
A twining vine from South America with big pink trumpet flowers. Its seeds have silky tufts that carry them on the wind.
Railway Creeper
प्रातः कुमुद
Ipomoea cairica
Railway creeper has a thin, flexible stem that can’t stand upright alone, so it twines around trees, fences, or trellises to reach the light.
Golden Trumpet
Allamanda cathartica
A Brazilian vine with big golden trumpet flowers. Like its relative the oleander, its milky sap is poisonous.
Purple Allamanda
Allamanda blanchetii
A cousin of the golden trumpet with rosy purple-pink flowers. Its seeds form in spiny pods and have wings that catch the wind.
Lady Banks’ Rose
लहरे सानो गुलाब
Rosa banksiae ‘Lutea’
A climbing rose from China with almost no prickles. In spring it covers walls with clusters of small yellow flowers.
More in How Plants Live
The garden is alive and changes through the year. Some plants flower, fruit, or rest only in certain seasons, so what you see depends on when you visit.
See them for yourself
Every plant here grows on our campus in Bhaktapur. Walk the garden on your visit.
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