This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

Re: Polygonum baldschuanicum (or P. auberti?)

At 02:00 PM 10/20/98 -0700, William A. Grant wrote:
>>>>
A year ago I bought Polygonum baldschuanicum. It has grown to a height of 14 ft over a coastal oak here in Aptos on the Monterey Bay. The long stems are now descending down the outside of three and will soon reach the ground. It has not bloomed. The foliage is quite handsome. I looked it up in RHS and it is also called 'Mile a Minute Vine' - Although it is from Iran it is certainly doing well in this Med climate. Has anyone else grown this? What is its ultimate growth? Bill Grant
<<<<

Hi Bill -

P. baldschuanicum in my reference is listed as being from Bokhara, which
seems to be some sort of 'fabled' city in what is currently known as
Uzbekistan (just the other side of Turkmenistan from Iran, but then I bet
you already knew this, eh?!). Apparently there is sometime confusion
between P. baldschuanicum and P. auberti (which is from W. China and Tibet).
I know we have P. auberti in this area, which grows happily in dry waste
ground, covering very large areas and flowering prolifically right now
(white flowered spikes and then white fruit all over the vine in full sun).
In overall character, P. baldschuanicum is supposedly larger in leaf and
flower the P. auberti, and also has the distinction of having rose or pink
flowers. I wonder if yours would prefer some more heat in order to bloom
properly (you being over there on the coast, we being a bit more inland)?
I'd be happy to test this out if you give me a cutting someday! ;-)
Seems that both grow easily in dry, barren soils and in full sun.
Baldschuan is a geographical reference, though I've been unable to figure
out where exactly this would be. Auberti refers to Georges Aubert, a
missionary in Tibet.
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index