Put some clothes on that thang

Masonry is not a very friendly surface, but it is one that most terrace gardeners will probably have to deal with. 

If it is a light color, it reflects light- major squinting. If dark, it will absorb too much heat- at least in zone10b. A garden should be a cool place.

Best to let some creeping fig loose on your walls. It absorbs the heat and transforms the hardness of the concrete into a soft texture of green.

As the walls become covered with green, the terrace is transformed, from being a collection of pots to truly being a natural looking garden.

The climbing cereus will be an interesting addition to the fig. But ficus repens, or is it pumila, is the most elegant climber I've seen down here.

Of course the Zone10b sun limits the number of vines we can use. Ivy will not grow in the hot sun, even trumpet vine, a clinger that does well in the central part of the state isn't recommended, though i haven't tried it yet. 2 climbers that I know will grow are creeping fig and the climbing cereus. Even these may have trouble in the parts of my walls that get hit directly by more than a few hours of sun. I'll keep you posted.

I just finished a more proper planting of several nice chunks of the climbing cactus and a quart of creeping fig. The pot is approx. 17" and I drilled 10 holes in the bottom to insure drainage. I covered this with 1 1/2" of lava rock and then some fabric that doesn't get clotted over time with dirt. In the pot I put 3 nice pieces of cereus, 2 with nice roots and 1 I simply laid on top of the soil. The cacti were put toward the wall as was the creeping fig as that's their destination. Purslane and a snip of persian shield fill the other side of the pot. Hopefully the purslane explodes in the sun. I love persian shield. Iridescent purples fading from dark to almost white washed with a silvery patina. A yank off of a mature plant can be slapped in the ground, and if you're very nice, it will grow.  To top off this ice cream sundae of a collection, I shoved in a dried branch (about 1/2" width) of plumeria I had trimmed the other day into about 4" of soil. The branch had been left out to dry for a few days, as I read somewhere it should.

That pot has got it going on.

Persian Shield in the garden. A nice specimen for a pot. I have mine in an old iron urn. It looks right nice.