Sunday, April 26, 2009

Have You Got Time for a Clockvine?

Here is the first bloom on my clockvine. It turns out that it is not what I thought it was. There are two types of clockvines - thunbergia grandiflora and thunbergia battiscombei. I thought this was the grandiflora, but it is a battiscombei. Actually, this is perfect because I would rather the battiscombei. Floridata calls this vine the scrambling clock vine, so that's what I'll call it too. It is a pretty rare plant to find, but well worth planting. What I really like about it is the deep purple bloom with the golden centers - those are the exact colors of my very favorite college sports program, LSU! So now I have my LSU purple and gold flower. This is a wonderful vining plant that comes back after winter if you live in zone 8 or higher. Why are plants this nice so rare?

This next plant is the rampant wild coreopsis - also called calleopsis or tickseed. Notice how the little buds resemble ticks. This rascal reseeds readily in my yard and can almost become a pest. I tolerate it because butterflies like them and they are so easy. They get about 4 feet tall and make a pretty flower. They also tolerate neglect quite well. I like to shear them back a little when they get around 2'-3' tall so they get bushier. Highly recommended if you want something to plant in a "wild" portion of your yard.

4 comments:

Sweet rose sad said...

How big is the flower of the thunbergia? Is it similar to clematis? thanks

Sad rose sweet said...

Aslo, is the caleopsis similar to poppy?

Davy Barr said...

Thunbergia is totally different from clematis. It's probably much easier to grow than clematis too, at least in the South.

Calleopsis is quite different from poppy as well. In the South, poppies grow best as a cool season annual, while calleopsis grow much better in the summer.

Ginger said...

I've never heard of clockvine, but it's beautiful! I'll be on the lookout for it.