Porcelain berry
- To: perennials@mallorn.com
- Subject: Porcelain berry
- From: D* G*
- Date: Wed, 05 Jan 2000 13:29:35 -0500
At 09:04 AM 1/5/2000 -0800, you wrote:
>I love vines as well. Besides the obvious: clematis and jasmine, I would
>look at a good vine book. I have new plants and cannot yet comment on
>porcelain berry vine (ampleopsis brevipendulacata 'Elegans' -- and that's a
>total guess on the spelling -- it has a horrendous name)
You want horrendous - I'll give you horrendous. :-) RHS Dictionary
actually says the name of this one is Ampelopsis brevipedunculata
maximowiczii 'Elegans', rather than the one normally quoted and you think
is horrendous. :-)
The species Ampelopsis brevipedunculata is quite hardy in USDA zone 4. Can
be a bit aggressive once those beautiful blue berries start germinating on
their own. The variegated form 'Elegans' is not winter hardy here - it
grows fast enough to be a good annual vine and you can take cuttings of it
that easily overwinter. It does survive in an unheated coldframe (while
dying outside) so I suspect the range is likely zone 5.
Although I normally like variegated plants, I find the variegations on this
one make it look sick rather than variegated. Also, the variegation can be
a bit variable, ranging from sick-lots to none at all.;-)
There are several other Ampelopsis species that make decent vines and that
are hardy here A. humulifolia and A. aconitifolia are two I've grown.
The berries are similar and are a gorgeous blue. They can stain so don't
plant them if you have a white cement walkway. Flowers non-descript.
Doug
Doug Green,
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