Does anyone grow Purple Wings Vine?

12 years ago

I have an arbor made of tree stakes that frames a Henry Fonda rose (bright yellow-gold). It had a passion flower vine on it at one time, but my annual hack back to the ground eventually killed it. I tried a bare-root clematis, but the clematis died without any hacking back. I would like something there, but I am afraid of most vines, since I have already grown them.

Has anyone grown Purple Wings (Dalechampia dioscoreifolia)? Should I be trembling upon hearing its name? (Not that anyone would actually try to pronounce that.)

Here's the spot. There's a clematis Madame de Correvon (sp?) and a pink trumpet vine on the arbor behind it to the left. The bed to the left has scarlet Showbiz roses and white lilies. The arbor to the right and the structure are covered with a potato vine. What do you think? Leave it bare? Roll the dice on D.d.? Plant some other vine?

Renee

{{gwi:503228}}

Comments (8)

Min3 South S.F. Bay CA
12 years ago
i can't help with your question, renee, sorry, but you are up and posting at 2:10 in the morning?! shall i send you some sleep meds?

i love your patchwork garden floor and your garden sink. soooooo jealous! min
bahia
12 years ago
Renee, I'd suggest you go for it,as it is so beautiful in full bloom and blooms over such a long season. Young vines are rather frost sensitive, so if you get regular frost it will start to show some damage right at 32*F. Did you know that it's related to poinsettias? I'm surprised it isn't seen more often in California gardens, but the tenderness to cold may be the reason.
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hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
12 years ago
Yup! I have it covering my wrought iron fence that surrounds my trash cans. As long as it gets enough water it does very well and is pretty prolific in both growth habit and flowers. Since I put my blueberries in pots in front of it, and put them on drips, the vine is getting more water, so it's now quite happy andi have to unwind it frequently from the blueberries! Think I posted a photo on this forum last year, but when I get home, I'll repost the photo so you can see. Very happy and pretty low maintenance for a vining plant. Just take care of the sap if pruning ad it can cause skin irritation ( being in the Euphobiaceae family).

Patty S.
hosenemesis
Original Author
12 years ago
You sweetie, min!
I'm tempted to say that I had just returned home from a totally sick night jamming with my math metal band at the Viper Club and it was too early to turn in, but the truth is that Gardenweb seems to be stuck on Eastern Time.

It sounds like it may freeze here, Bahia, but that's okay. A little frost damage every few years will keep it under control and inspire me to trim it back in the spring when I do the brugmansias.

Patty, did you know that if you get sap from poisonous plants into your eyeballs when you are pruning them that your pupils will dilate so that you can barely see?

Renee
hoosierquilt USDA 10A Sunset 23 Vista CA
12 years ago
Yup (I'm an RN). Euphobiaceae family can really do a number on your skin and if you get the sap in your eyes from certain species (for example 'Firesticks'), it can cause temporary blindness. Not good.

Patty S.
Min3 South S.F. Bay CA
12 years ago
aw renee- i liked your first explanation much better. laffed and laffed. :)

at the risk of hijacking this forum, may i ask if you laid that unique patchwork garden floor yourself? it must have been a huge job for whoever did it but SO worth it! how do you keep gophers from undermining it? min
hosenemesis
Original Author
12 years ago
Min, I did it myself. It took a summer of evenings. Mikey would bring his book and sit out there and read for an hour while I laid two or three "cells" in sand. It cost us a few hundred dollars for extra bricks- the rest of it was rubble laying around on the property, broken concrete and bits of tile and flagstone, and left-over cement from other projects that we poured into sour cream and yogurt cups or square wood forms.

I had one gopher under it- he did not live to tell the tale, and I had to re-do that "cell." A few old concrete slabs under there from bygone sheds and rental shacks foils most gophers, I think.

It's an easy and fun thing to do, and the ground does not have to be level, and you can start and stop whenever you like. It requires no skill and very little money. Exactly my kind of project!

Renee
Min3 South S.F. Bay CA
12 years ago
Hmmmm! Now I am getting a different view of all the miscellaneous bricks and concrete pieces that have been hidden around here waiting to be taken to the dump. Now all I need is to decide on the place to begin.
(I'm sure that Mr. Min would be very glad to sit and read while I work.:)
Thanks for the wonderful idea and directions. Min