The Colour Red

I am currently replacing my side entrance with a london red wooden door with white frame and want to grow a climber around this entrance. I'm looking for an evergreen plant with either red berries or red flowers. Anyone have some good ideas? I would prefer a cottage garden or native british plant.

 

Which direction does your door face and what type of soil do you have?

I think you will struggle to find any truely native British plant that would fit the bill and the only thing I can think of off the top of my head is holly but it's slow growing and can take a lot of years to produce berries. If you can tollerate a deciduous plant then there are plenty of climbing roses will do the trick and you can't get a lot more 'English' than 'Ena Harkness'

 

The only things that spring to my mind at the moment are a bit vicious! They are pyracantha - I'm sure there's on ewith red berries, and flowering quince - I 've seen that trained up a wall, and the flowers are incredibly red, nice and early in the year, with the bonus of fruit - BUT there are those thorns!

 

I have an Abutilon Megapotamicum, which has survived 3 years in N Yorks, so should be reasonably hardy with you. It has a red and yellow flower, and flowers over a very long period - 23 weeks last year. It is not that dramatic - but might fit the bill. Mine was �£1.69 at Morrisons.