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conniesue_gw

find a red flowering vine

conniesue
16 years ago

When my husband was a boy his grandmother had a red flowering vine that attracted hummingbirds. She lived in the mountains in southwest Virginia. I have been trying to figure out what it was. It was back in the 1950's so it couldn't be anything new. I thought at first it was a trumpet vine, but he said it had red flowers. Flowers long enough to put over your fingers, of course this was a five year old's fingers. He said it bloomed all summer and attracted the hummingbirds. He said it smelled wonderful. I thought maybe honeysuckle, but I don't know if any of the older honeysuckle had red flowers. Does anyone have any idea what this could have been?

Comments (7)

  • rosefenn
    16 years ago

    Hi there. I got some seeds last spring for a vine called a "Cardinal Climber" from Burpee. It has frondy green leaves, and the little red flowers (slightly smaller than morning glories) were kind of shaped like nasturtium flowers. The hummingbirds here in Nebraska sure seem to like it.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Burpee

  • chazparas
    16 years ago

    Could it be an old variety of climbing nasturtium? They have a lovely scent and have been around forever! LOL you could also put the flower over a little kids finger.

  • nckvilledudes
    16 years ago

    There are varieties of trumpet vine that are red but I don't think any of them are fragrant. If this is something from a 5 year old's memory, are you certain it was fragrant? I certainly remember putting the red trumpet flowers on my fingers and pretending they were witches' fingernails! LOL

  • conniesue
    Original Author
    16 years ago

    It may have been a trumpet vine, he said they would put them on their fingers and pretend they were claws. But he also said you could smell it from the steps on the house. He said it was a wonderful smell. I will have to research nasturtium and see if that could have been it. I may just plant something else, but if I want to try and find the vine he remembers. Thanks for the suggestions.

  • pranjal
    16 years ago

    Just found this forum (a bit late for this thread), Connie, try the link below, could it be Ipomoea? I have very fond memories of this vine from my childhood in India!

    Pranjal

    Here is a link that might be useful: Vine with red flowers ??

  • ptfarmer
    16 years ago

    Pranjal,
    I think you may be right. The common name for this vine is cypress vine. I grew some last year, and yes, the humming birds loved them.

    Brian

  • pranjal
    16 years ago

    Hi Brian,
    I'm thinking of planting a cypress vine now! I live in the UAE and winter is just starting, temperatures don't go too low (15-20 deg C) here in winter, but summers are horrendous, 45deg C plus with more than 90% humidity! I'm wondering if the vine would be able to tolerate such conditions; what do you think?

    I sure hope the vine would tolerate harsh conditions; I'll also need to check if I get those seeds/ vines here!

    Pranjal

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