Climbed to get small flowers (5)
I believe the answer is:
roses
'flowers' is the definition.
(rose is a type of flower)
'climbed to get small' is the wordplay.
'climbed' becomes 'rose' (raise and climb can both mean to go up or increase).
'to get' means one lot of letters go next to another.
'small' becomes 's' (abbreviation - e.g. clothes size).
'rose'+'s'='ROSES'
(Other definitions for roses that I've seen before include "Thorny shrubs with bright flowers" , "northern counties, symbolically" , "''. . . . . are red, violets are blue''" , "favours > certain wines" , "Beautiful flowers, seen annually in Tralee" .)