Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Our Petrea volubilis vine.



Our Petrea volubilis is in full flower at the moment, I thought I'd do a post on it for those not familiar with the vine. It's a native of Central America and it has quite a few common names, Queen's wreath, Purple wreath, Bluebird vine and Sandpaper vine, which is what it's mainly known as here. It doesn't seem to have a lot of pests, possibly due to the abrasive nature of the leaves. A mature specimen can grow up to 12 metres long. The racemes of mauve/purple flowers are a refreshing sight on a sunny spring morning. The top shot is above the pergola, the flowers are quite propeller like. At it's current rate of growth it should almost cover the pergola by next spring.

11 comments:

Correy said...

I love the purple, it will look great once it is totally covering your pegola

Jeanette said...

I also love the colour of the vine it is so pretty and looks good on your pergola . it reminded me of the Wisteria in bloom as that is a mauve vine also'
Take care

Unknown said...

Great pictures... and wonderful vine and pergola!

Thanks for stopping by my blog--I appreciate the comments, and the introduction to your blog. As it's fall here in the northern hemisphere, I'm really looking forward to following your garden's beauty while mine sleeps. :)

meggie said...

I have just found your blog site via your daughter's. I love the photography.
As I am very new to all this I envy your lovely layout & photo display.
I love the Petrea volubilis vine- would it grow well in coastal NSW?

Anonymous said...

I would love to have that in my garden also.
The color is great.

Shell said...

So pretty! I've seen them flowering all over Brissy and wondered what they were. I want to get me one of those!

Kerri said...

I haven't seen this before. It's gorgeous! Love the colour.
I didn't mean to comment on all your posts individually, but they're all so beautiful, I couldn't help myself.
You do a great job!
Thanks for your nice comments on my blog :)

Anonymous said...

Hey'a :o)

I just stumbled across this vine whilst googling. I was wondering does it sucker? Is it invasive in any way? I love plants, but I hate uncontrollable ones...lol. Thanks. Great shot.
Michaela

Anonymous said...

Although considered a tropical vine, there is a large vine in Gosnells, a suburb of Perth, that flowers every few months and is spectacular. It is on a wire mesh fence and looks as though it never gets watered. I have a small plant that never seems to want to grow although it did flower once 4 years ago. I have no idea what I am doing wrong and would love to buy another plant to try in another position. Your photo of the flowers is lovely. Cheers, Bev

Anonymous said...

THIS IS A BEAUTIFUL VINE BLOOMING HERE IN ARCADIA,CA MARCH THRU APRIL. WE HAVE A LOVELY SPECIMEN ABOUT 12 TALL AND WIDE AT THE LA CO. ARBORETUM. I BELIEVE IT NEEDS SOMEWHAT REGULAR WATER, WILL GROW IN FULL SUN. HARD TO FIND PLANT AT NURSERIES THOUGH. ALSO SENSITIVE TO FROST. NOT A FAST GROWER, NOT INVASIVE OR SUCKERING. I HAVEN'T NOTICED ANY PESTS EXCEPT POSSIBLY GRASSHOPPERS.

Dale Harcombe said...

Lovely! I saw this growing in Sydney recently and it is stunning. I had never seen it before. I'm also wondering if it will grow in coastal NSW - a couple of hours south of Sydney.