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| This vine grows all the way up my neighbor's 40' cypress in western washington state. there are 5-6 leaflets. the 4-petaled red flowers seem to hold yellow berry-like things, and then those turn green (upper left), then blue berries. what is this?? it's delicate and beautiful, & has little to no care. is it a trumpet vine, virginia creeper, akebia, or what? more pics of the berry clusters! wow! ♥ i will be embarrassed if this is some common plant, but i've never seen anything like it.
[IMG]http://i50.tinypic.com/b6rbwn.jpg[/IMG]
[IMG]http://i50.tinypic.com/14o3rrm.jpg[/IMG]
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Here is a link that might be useful: petals curl back & turn purple, berries turn blue
Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by treeguy123 AL 7a (My Page) on Tue, Aug 14, 12 at 19:48
| Tropaeolum speciosum |
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| Dear nankeen, Thank You! That IS it, i'm sure of it! Flame Flower, okay. Interesting wiki says it grows well in Scotland & Chile, i wouldn't have thought they had similar conditions. Thanks again. You really saved me from searching endlessly online. (:-) ~spazplant |
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| thank you treeguy123 i feel i must post another image of it. the berry clusters hanging from long, smooth stems so elegant- for a berry is so unusual, and to have no thorns, and smooth rather than prickly-edged leaves...how the petals curl back & turn shiny purple, they too looked like berries at first...i love this plant. i wonder if i took a berry from it i could propagate it... |
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| ...and it received RHS' Award of Garden Merit. i will have to speak with my neighbor and post any developments. it is a truly extraordinary creature... |
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| It is a beautiful thing when grown through an evergreen such as yew. Regarding Scotland and Chile both have areas with the requisite rainfall, acid soil and cool summers/temperate winters. Look at the flowers again and you will see the similarity with common Nasturtiums. It has perennial roots but the top growth will die down in the winter. You could ask for a division or try seed. I wish I could grow it but I don't have the right conditions. Sounds as if you do so go for it. |
Here is a link that might be useful: Tropaeolum speciosum
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| flora_uk, i've obtained a new shoot from my neighbor, but it came apart when he dug it up. i've posted a new thread in the propagation subforum asking for advice on proceeding. i would so appreciate any ideas or suggestions you have. i have never done this kind of work. Thank You Very Much, |
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| Britain differs in not drying out for two months in the middle of the growing season - a critical difference. A typical Seattle summer is a 100 year drought in England. Summer temperatures also tend to be lower over there, currently here in western WA we are having afternoons in the 80s F. and Portland, OR is thought to have a possibilty of breaking into the 100s. |
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| bboy - this plant doesn't do that well in much of England, although I have seen it in Yorkshire, as it prefers a soil on the acid side. But it is very much at home in Scotland, especially the West Coast. If the neighbour's plant is thriving I think there's a good chance it will grow for the OP. The link is to St Andrew's (ie in Scotland) Botanic Gardens website. |
Here is a link that might be useful: T speciosum
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| more info: the vine was first noticed 10 years ago, 5 years after purchasing the house. it does not come up every year. it's had little to no care. last fall the city hacked everything back after a summer of neglect. all clippings were tossed into the cypress (mulch & frost protection maybe). the soil pictured above is what it's been growing in. it has shade at the bottom and climbs to the sun. it is sheltered from direct sun & wind. i believe it is on the south side of the house. all around the base of the cypress, flat shoots pop up where sun barely dapples through. maybe they send roots back into the soil as they grow along the ground, until they reach the edge of the cypress, then go up to the sun. i exaggerated in saying it's climbed 40', as i was having a double rainbow moment. but it's definitely about 20'. :D thanks so much for the help. ~spazplant |
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| You say it does not come up every year but that seems very unlikely to me. It is a perennial and if it doesn't appear one year it is pretty certainly dead. I think it is much more likely that it has come up every year but not been noticed every year. (Maybe it didn't flower or was very straggly.) |
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| that's what the neighbor reports. but if the city hacked his yard last fall that means he had a lot of overgrowth. those years he didn't see it, it could have been hidden under overgrowth. or maybe it went dormant? we have some wild winter weather here, esp. 2006. looking at old weather archives would explain a lot. |
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| Likes Scotland because it is cool and rainy. The more cool - to a point - and rainy the better. The only part of Britain analagous to this region is the southeast, around London, and as I said even in that area a summer drought that is like what is routine here is considered a 100 year record breaker there. Chilean flameflower is scarce and rather restrained in local gardens. I did once hear of a North Vancouver (BC) site that had it popping up all over. That is a more moist and cool district than Seattle or Portland etc. |
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