Hardy climbers with a woody stem and beautiful, oval, dark green leaves that are papery but thick, these vines are relatively slow growers. Flowering is seasonal in Chennai – Dec to Feb – but well worth the wait. The flowers are trumpet shaped and are a delicate violet in color with a creamy throat. There is spurt of growth just before the flowering starts and the flowers appear in bunches that tend to bloom in progression. Propagation is by cuttings and the plant is not fussy and can tolerate short gaps without watering. I have had occasional aphid attacks on new emerging leaf nodes – but the plant is not a favorite with caterpillars.
Since they do not grow profusely and do not smother nearby plants, they can be made to climb onto other shrubs that are slow growers too. They flower even when they have only 3-4 hours of direct sunlight a day.
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