I was baffled by it blooming for you in July until I saw that you're in Auckland: serves me right for being northern-hemisphere-centric! Here in southern Spain, it flowers over Christmas, from early December until nearly March.
It can get big, and once it gets going, you can almost watch it grow; in flower, it is truly spectacular. I enjoy 'ours' second-hand: it's actually our neighbour's plant, which comes cascading 3 metres over our east-facing wall and covers it in a great curtain of fiery-orange flowers. I've tried to attach a photo, but I am new at this, so don't know if it works.
I have absolutely no idea what they do to it... It's a small hotel and the Pyrostegia is in a narrow bed next to their breakfast terrace; I guess they water it occasionally but it probably never gets fed. In early May, it was cut back completely, and now, 3 months later it is again covering nearly half the wall, and advancing rapidly!