From the Waterwise plant sale in May 2018.
Expectations:
I loved this vine when I had it in my old garden. It is planted in the kitchen courtyard garden.
Need to let this dry out a bit between waterings. Wants moderate to dry soil after establishing.
There is a beautiful example from The Impatient Gardener blog, where she is growing this in Wisconsin, north of Milwaukee:
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| example growing in Wisconsin |
And the Kintzley's Ghost that Greg planted to grow over his arbor has been really nice, far outstripping mine after only a year in his garden.
Experiences:
The first 3 years here were a struggle. No flowers, it grew poorly, leaf cutter bees (living in the bark on the latillas of the fence) made inroads, and buds either fell off or dried up.
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| June 24, 2021 |
In September 2020 I finally added tons of compost at the roots and well to either side -- the vine had been sitting in kind of a hollowed out space of rocks, which is probably why it needed so much water at first.
Finally it started out with healthy looking leaves in 2021 and for the first time it flowered beautifully but briefly in spring 2021. It then set the silvery bracts in late spring.
By mid summer 2021 it was starting to fill out.
It had nice coppery fall color one time (in 2019). I don't remember it having fall color in my CT garden. It caught the November sun in the afternoons and was a subtle bright spot near the kitchen door.
By 2023 it finally had some presence in the courtyard garden and was filling out against the fence. It flowered well in spring. I started tying it up to the fence to help it stay more upright -- it wants to fall forward and be bushy.
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| 2023 |