[Umbrian]

Yesterday whilst trying to source some late additional plants for someone I help with their garden I succumbed to an impulse buy for myself. It is, I think ,an Ipomoea coccinea ( the label got lost in transportation) and I was drawn by the beautiful colour of the flowers. I discussed it with the seemingly knowledgeable person serving me and she assured me it was hardy saying the top would die down in the winter but the plant would re-appear in the spring. I was a little bit dubious but thought I could give it protection to help it through and so gave in to my desire to have it. On returning home I looked it up in my RHS Encyclopedia of plants and was dismayed to read that it is in fact an annual! Since living in Italy impulse buying has been something I have managed to curb and now I am regretting my lapse especially as the said plant was quite expensive
Any comments? - if it is indeed an annual can I perpetuate it by seed? do other members succumb to impulse buys and live to regret them?

[David Dickinson]

If it is the said plant (I couldn't see a photo) it is very easy to grow from seed which is produced abundantly over the summer. I grow it on my balcony in Rome and it is an annual for me.

I don't know if the seed will survive frost - I collect it and store it in a cool place. Easy to collect as it is large. It will fall to the ground fairly quickly after the flower has died back so check regularly to see if there is ripe seed ready for collecting.

Enjoy your plant :-)

[Alisdair]

Strictly speaking this is now known as Ipomoea hederifolia, though I think almost everyone thinks of it under the old name of I. coccinea.
Its old name suits it much better, as its small flowers are such a brilliant blood red, and its small rather dark leaves really are not at all ivy-like, being much more sharply and deeply toothed than even the most striking ivy cultivar. What's more, Geoffrey Herklots, who knew so much about flowering tropical climbers - and wrote an excellent book under that title - reckoned that this plant was anyway different from the one named as hederifolia by Linnaeus.
It is a lovely plant, which we grow every year from seed (trellised on a wall - otherwise here in UK it wouldn't be warm enough to flower well). We deadhead scrupulously to keep it flowering for longer, but that means we have to buy fresh seed each year....

[Jill S]

Ok, so it's an annual, but sounds as if it should produce enough seed to keep it going year on year, AND you now have a plant you purchased because it's beautiful and you wanted it. As someone who struggles to resist most plants I long ago stopped worrying about giving in to temptation, much more enjoyable. Tell yourself that you made a GOOD buy!

[Umbrian]

Many thanks David, Alisdair and JillS for the feedback on my post - I already feel much happier with my impulse purchase now and look forward to being love with it for many years to come, one way or another
An afterthought - strange how our taste in plants and especially flower colours can change - at one time I really did not like red flowers but now find I am drawn to them - this Ipomoea and a year or two ago Russelia equisetiformus that I overwinter indoors very successfully and which is now in full bloom

[Jill S]

Aahh, Russelia, fell for that one hook, line, and all I did was just walk down a pathway, and there it was, wonderful !
I know what you mean about taste changing, or rather being extended. Monet's palette changed as he got older and I have read that this was due to failing eyesight, but, I'm not so sure. I think it's more that somehow you learn to take the time to soak in the colour, as well as actually having the time to do so.