Description
Form: A rambling vine or shrub, depending on pruning.
Lifespan: Perennial
Leaf retention: Evergreen but cold-deciduous.
Growth rate: Rapid, vigorous.
Mature Size: Up to 50' long.
Flowers: Trumpet-shaped with five flared pink to white lobes, red veins radiating from inside, slightly fragrant.
Bloom: Spring to fall with a pause during summer in hot regions. Northern climates experience blooming late summer into fall.
Fruit: A long, flat seedpod containing winged seeds. Few seedpods are produced.
Leaves: Glossy green, lance-shaped leaflets.
Stems: This vine produces roots where it touches the soil. It needs to be tied when used as a vine because it has no tendrils, aerial rootlets, or thorns to assist climbing.
Roots: Taproot.
Wildlife: Attracts bees.
Toxic / Danger: No.
Origin: Southeast Africa.

Cultivation and Uses
USDA hardiness zones: 9-11. It loses its leaves somewhere below 30°F and may survive to 20°F. In zone 8 it dies to the ground in winter but may come back from its roots in the spring.
Heat tolerant: Yes.
Drought tolerant: Yes, after one or two years of regular water.
Sun: Full sun. Part shade results in leggy growth and fewer blooms.
Water after becoming established: This plant needs regular water in the first one or two years until it develops an extensive root system. Then it can get by with only monthly water.
Soil: Well drained, tolerant of soil types, pH 6.1-7.8 (slightly acidic to slightly alkaline).
Mulch: Use organic mulch before the first predicted freeze.
First Year Care: Water every one or two days when first planted, then gradually reduce to once a week. Water weekly for the first year or two to establish a strong root system. Protect from freezing. Water only once a month in winter.
Planting: It can be grown in a large container but will perform better in the ground.
Prune: Trim back yearly in winter to induce flowering.
Litter: Low.
Propagation: Cuttings, layering. This plant naturally self-layers.
Uses: Ornamental, screened trellis, shaped into a hedge, xeric garden once established.

Comments
This plant is a member of the Trumpet Creeper family (Bignoniaceae). It has the unusual reputation of becoming a low water plant after one or two years of developing an extensive root system with regular watering.

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