The MGS Forum
Plants for mediterranean gardens => Climbers => Topic started by: Caroline on July 28, 2014, 03:39:25 AM
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Pyrostegia venusta flowering its heart out on a windy but warm corner. This photo taken on 1 May, and it is still going strong nearly three months later. I planted it two years ago; it did very little last year but has now taken off, I suspect when it got its roots down into the clay. It does get some extra water, as it is in the bed where I grow capsicums in the summer. I have a trickle hose in the bed which can be gravity-fed from a water tank. :)
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;D Now it has started to move STAND WELL BACK and keep out of the way. ;)
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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!
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Lovely photo, thanks Pallas - just the slightly lurid effect I am aiming for! :)
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;D If it's LURID you want try companion planting with the common purple bougainvillea 8)
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Hello Trevor
You mean like so? :)