Re: Podranea ricasoliana

Gordon:

RE: Podranea ricasoleana

     This is one of my favorite vines, indeed, one of
my favorite flowering landscape materials.  It did
seem to vanish from the trade many years ago and only
now (within the last 2-3 years) is making a comeback
here in most of central and particularly southern
California.

     I think it's glowing pink flowers, although never
in grand masses, outshine most any other vine.

     This plant, too (along with the Dracaena dracos),
survived the winter of 17-19°F temps here.  It did
show some damage, however; some terminal foliage and
all flowers at the time were frozen completely.  But
as soon as the spring temps rose again, it put out
new, fresh growth.

     From a structural standpoint, this one is not
simple to work with -- it doesn't climb and smoothly
cover as do so many of the Bignoniaceous vines. 
Instead, it does a little bit of clinging with its
grasping tendrils but mostly it kind of shoots this
way and that and usually does it very stiffly.  Either
it needs heavy duty pruning to keep it in place or it
needs a place where it can be allowed to do that.

One man's opinion,
Joe Seals
Santa Maria, CA  (north of Point Conception)

--- Gordon Walker <grwalker@club-internet.fr> wrote:
> I recently discovered a large speciment of this
> "trumpet vine" from S.
> Africa, with pink flowers , in the centre of the
> southern French village
> where I live, covering most of the facade of a local
> bank. I read that
> it is hardy to -5°C(23°F) as far as the wood is
> concerned and rather
> hardier still for the roots. It looks to me as if
> there has been little
> or no damage in the last five years or so although I
> see from local
> weather records that in 1998 there was a frost of
> -8°C(18°F). Has anyone
> had experience with this very pretty climber?
> -- 
> Gordon Walker
> France
> 


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