Re: Lapageria or...?/Clytostoma/Petrea
> >
>> BTW, both sites show various photos of wonderful
>> vines, and particularly
>> this last site has a photo of my beloved Petrea
>> volubilis, one of the most
>> magnificent climber on earth, that alas! can be only
>> kept under glass here
>> in Rome, but maybe can grow outdoors with some of
>> you guys around the
>> world.
>
>Alessandra,
>
>You might try growing Petrea if you can give it a warm
>south or west facing wall with overhead protection.
>This vine does very well for me in Berkeley, Ca.
>planted against a south facing wall. It blooms
>reliably every summer, although the flowers don't last
>nearly as long as they do in the more humid tropics,
>and the calyx also falls off rather rapidly, rather
>than hanging on as they do in the tropics, where it
>extends the season of color after the actual petals
>drop. The only drawback to the plant is that the
>flower buds are irristible to aphids, which I guess is
>an indication that the vine is not truly happy here.
>
>It is also interesting to note that this vine is
>native to winter drought scrub forests of Mexico and
>central America, and also tends to be described as
>deciduous when grown in wet/dry climates such as
>Thailand. In my garden, it never goes deciduous, but
>does go a little off color in winter, (the foliage
>yellows). Tabebuia chrysotricha is another
>plant(tree), which comes from similar climatic areas,
>and also does well for me, and has amazing cold
>tolerance for a tropical area tree.
>
>This Petrea volubis vine survived the 1990(California)
>freeze in an open exposed location, while still in a
>one gallon container, (temps down to 23/24F?) without
>even defoliating, and has never shown any signs of
>frost damage in the lesser frosts since then. It may
>be that the plant varies tremendously in cold
>hardiness depending on its provenance, but it might be
>worth trying in your garden with careful siting...
>
>Regards,
>David Feix
I've had a Petrea in a large pot for about 5 years now. It stays
outside all year round and does just fine here in Pasadena. The
leaves sometimes take on an almost purple tinge when it gets really
chilly. A local nursery has 4 large vines of it covering a pergola
that bloom beautifully every year. I don't understand why you can't
grow it outdoors in Rome. On the Hardiness Zone maps I've looked at,
it shows Rome as being on the boundary line between USDA Zones 9 and
10. Many locations here in Southern California are in a similar
category, so it would seem that Petrea should survive about as well
there as it does here.
--
--Lee Poulsen
Pasadena area, California, USDA Zone 9-10
wlp@radar-sci.jpl.nasa.gov
