Re: plant for a challenging position

I don't know of any vines that would take container
culture and survive up to 10 days without supplemental
irrigation when you are away on vacation, as well as
being evergreen and handling high winds.  If the pot
were large enough, and had the bottom removed so that
the vine could root into the ground, perhaps
Bougainvilla would work. 

I'd suggest that a succulent plant such as one of the
columnar Euphorbia's or a Cereus peruviana would
better take your conditions than a vine, or even
something mundane such as a Jade Plant, Crassula
ovata.  Any of these would be quite happy if only
waterred occasionally, and certainly wind and heat
would not be problems.  Even the most heat and wind
adapted vines such as Antigonon leptotus, Merremia
aurea or Macfadyenia unguis-cati will not develop
their full drought tolerant potential if limited to a
small container for rooting, and will only be drought
tolerant if allowed to root into the ground.
--- Brian Ottway <ottways@eircom.net> wrote:

> Hi People,
> 
> Greetings from the Algarve in Portugal ( usda zone
> 10)...blue sky again .. and 32'C ( 90'F). Having
> come up with some good ideas over the last week for
> plants for narrow borders, can I ask for your ideas
> /advice for a difficult planting position.
> 
> I want to clothe a wooden post ~ 3m tall (say 10
> feet) which is supporting a transparent plastic roof
> on our patio. The site is in full sun until early
> afternoon. The plant must be in a pot and can only
> be hand watered. Whilst most of the time I can water
> it every day or two, sometimes we are away for 7-10
> days when it will not get a drop...so it has to be
> pretty drought tolerant. The final problem is that
> it is a windy spot - we are close to the top of a
> hill and the layout of the house funnels wind to
> this spot.
> 
> Any ideas?  I would prefer something evergreen, but
> most important to me is a plant that looks healthy
> and happy - not that looks as if it is just hanging
> on and barely surviving.
> 
> Thanks in advance for any ideas.
> Brian O.
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