Spend this morning helping a young lady with her garden. Noticed a lilac
tree covered by an unusual climber which was flowering, and I understand it
was from a small plant given to her by the Head Gardener at a stately house
in Devon.
Climbs like Wisteria, by coiling (clockwise) it's way up through the
tree/branches. Stems remain quite thin but it looks to be a bit of a thug
and in need of some control. Leaves only just showing so can't say what they
are like. Flowers about an inch across and dark red/maroon, and I'm told,
after the first flush it keeps on flowering a bit all season.
Any ideas?

--
Bob

www.pooleygreengrowers.org.uk/ about an Allotment site in
Runnymede fighting for it's existence.

In article , "Sue & Bob Hobden" writes:
| Spend this morning helping a young lady with her garden. Noticed a lilac
| tree covered by an unusual climber which was flowering, and I understand it
| was from a small plant given to her by the Head Gardener at a stately house
| in Devon.
| Climbs like Wisteria, by coiling (clockwise) it's way up through the
| tree/branches. Stems remain quite thin but it looks to be a bit of a thug
| and in need of some control. Leaves only just showing so can't say what they
| are like. Flowers about an inch across and dark red/maroon, and I'm told,
| after the first flush it keeps on flowering a bit all season.

If the leaves are strongly divided and 5-lobed, and the flowers are
like two small bowls and scented (some say of chocolate), then it is
probably Akebia quinata, except that it does NOT normally keep on
flowering all season! It does have a few stray flowers later, at
least sometimes, though.

If so, you can get it under control by cutting out all old shoots
(and even new ones, where needed) after flowering, and it will shoot
from its roots. Vigorously. I can't remember if it will flower the
next year if you do that.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article ,
(Nick Maclaren) writes:
|
| | ..., and I'm told,
| | after the first flush it keeps on flowering a bit all season.
|
| ..., except that it does NOT normally keep on
| flowering all season! It does have a few stray flowers later, at
| least sometimes, though.

Sorry. Upon rereading, I had missed the "a bit". Yes, Akebia
quinata fits the description perfectly. It has a relative that
is sometimes grown in the UK, A. ternata, but I have never seen it.

Incidentally, A. quinata layers readily, if you want to propagate
it. Just pin down a shoot in a pot or the earth and wait a year.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Sorry. Upon rereading, I had missed the "a bit". Yes, Akebia
quinata fits the description perfectly. It has a relative that
is sometimes grown in the UK, A. ternata, but I have never seen it.

I have this growing over my seated arbour. ATM it covered in flowers. They
are reputed to smell of chocolate, but I'm not so sure ;-)

Incidentally, A. quinata layers readily, if you want to propagate
it. Just pin down a shoot in a pot or the earth and wait a year.

Thanks for that Nick because I was wondering which was the best way to
propagate.

Natalie

Natalie wrote in message
Sorry. Upon rereading, I had missed the "a bit". Yes, Akebia
quinata fits the description perfectly. It has a relative that
is sometimes grown in the UK, A. ternata, but I have never seen it.

I have this growing over my seated arbour. ATM it covered in flowers.
They
are reputed to smell of chocolate, but I'm not so sure ;-)

Incidentally, A. quinata layers readily, if you want to propagate
it. Just pin down a shoot in a pot or the earth and wait a year.

Thanks for that Nick because I was wondering which was the best way to
propagate.

Thanks to you two for that, looking around a GC I found it myself today.
Certainly an Akebia and I have to assume A.quinata.
I'll have to ask if that's the name the Head Gardener told her when he gave
her the plant.

Natalie, how hard is it to keep under control? Do you prune it like a
wisteria? Hard and often.
--
Bob

www.pooleygreengrowers.org.uk/ about an Allotment site in
Runnymede fighting for it's existence.

In article ,
"Sue & Bob Hobden" writes:
|
| Natalie, how hard is it to keep under control? Do you prune it like a
| wisteria? Hard and often.

Yes. It isn't hard. While it ramps everywhere and layers when
it trails over the ground, it is easy to keep under control with
just an annual pruning. The stems may be 20', but so what? It
will grow happily in any space above about 6' high and 3' wide
(though preferably more).

The individual stems aren't long-lived, so you need to cut out
the very old ones on occasion. But it flowers on old wood, so
you don't do that annually - the annual pruning is merely cutting
it back to size.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"
Natalie, how hard is it to keep under control? Do you prune it like a
wisteria? Hard and often.
--


I've only had it a couple of years and haven't pruned it yet. It is now
covering the arbour well and I'll be inclined to prune off any tendrils that
seem to be too unrulely ;-)

It is absolutely smothered in flowers ATM :-)

Growing up the opposite side is a Wisteria which I haven't needed to prune
yet and alas no flowers this year ;-(

Natalie

Nick Maclaren wrote:

In article ,
(Nick Maclaren) writes:
|
| | ..., and I'm told,
| | after the first flush it keeps on flowering a bit all season.
|
| ..., except that it does NOT normally keep on
| flowering all season! It does have a few stray flowers later, at
| least sometimes, though.

Sorry. Upon rereading, I had missed the "a bit". Yes, Akebia
quinata fits the description perfectly. It has a relative that
is sometimes grown in the UK, A. ternata, but I have never seen it.

Incidentally, A. quinata layers readily, if you want to propagate
it. Just pin down a shoot in a pot or the earth and wait a year.

Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Hi Nick
Yes, I'm sure that your identification (Akebia quinata) is the right
one.
When you say A. ternata, however, I'm sure you mean A. trifoliata. And
there is a hybrid between those two - A. x pentaphylla.
I have all three of them. And even seedlings from (open-pollinated)
crosses between them...
But, if you have never seen some of them, you haven't missed much,
IMHO. They are very much alike (just some difference in the leaves).
I just grew them all in the hope that cross-pollination would produce
more fruits.
But no luck - with me, fruits come only in very warm years.
Regards,
Roger.



--
Walk tall, walk straight, and look the world right into the eye.

You're welcome to visit my gardening page:
http://users.pandora.be/roger.van.loon/gardenp.htm

In article ,
Roger Van Loon writes:
|
| Yes, I'm sure that your identification (Akebia quinata) is the right
| one.
| When you say A. ternata, however, I'm sure you mean A. trifoliata. And
| there is a hybrid between those two - A. x pentaphylla.
| I have all three of them. And even seedlings from (open-pollinated)
| crosses between them...

I probably do!

| But, if you have never seen some of them, you haven't missed much,
| IMHO. They are very much alike (just some difference in the leaves).
| I just grew them all in the hope that cross-pollination would produce
| more fruits.
| But no luck - with me, fruits come only in very warm years.

I have never had any.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

"Roger wrote in message
.. They are very much alike (just some difference in the leaves).
I just grew them all in the hope that cross-pollination would produce
more fruits.
But no luck - with me, fruits come only in very warm years.

Are the fruits edible or something then?

--
Bob

www.pooleygreengrowers.org.uk/ about an Allotment site in
Runnymede fighting for it's existence.

On Tue, 15 Apr 2003 17:06:20 +0100, "Sue & Bob Hobden"
wrote:


"Roger wrote in message
. They are very much alike (just some difference in the leaves).
I just grew them all in the hope that cross-pollination would produce
more fruits.
But no luck - with me, fruits come only in very warm years.

Are the fruits edible or something then?

I've not seen one get but they are purported to be like dark
sausages.

From PFAF:

Fruit - raw[2, 105, 177]. Sweet but insipid[3]. The fruit has a
delicate flavour and a soft, juicy texture[K]. Lemon juice is
sometimes added to the fruit to enhance the flavour[183]. The bitter
skin of the fruit is fried and eaten[183]. The fruit is 5 - 10cm long
and up to 4m wide[200, 266].
Soft young shoots are used in salads or pickled[183].
The leaves are used as a tea substitute[105, 177, 183].

Also:
Plants are probably self-sterile[11, 182], if possible at least 2
plants should be grown, each from a different source.

(Those numbers in brackets refer to the publications which PFAF have
referenced).

They are so easy to propagate vegetatively but because of the
advice above, I recently got from another source an additional A.
quinata. Funny though. I don't know whether it's because it's
pubescent, but the leaves on the new one are not quinate bit trilobe
(is that a word?). Perhaps they inadvertently sent me one of the other
species.

Huss
Grow a little garden

spam block - for real addy, reverse letters of second level domain.

Hussein wrote in message
Are the fruits edible or something then?

I've not seen one get but they are purported to be like dark
sausages.

From PFAF:

Fruit - raw[2, 105, 177]. Sweet but insipid[3]. The fruit has a
delicate flavour and a soft, juicy texture[K]. Lemon juice is
sometimes added to the fruit to enhance the flavour[183]. The bitter
skin of the fruit is fried and eaten[183]. The fruit is 5 - 10cm long
and up to 4m wide[200, 266].
Soft young shoots are used in salads or pickled[183].
The leaves are used as a tea substitute[105, 177, 183].

Also:
Plants are probably self-sterile[11, 182], if possible at least 2
plants should be grown, each from a different source.

(Those numbers in brackets refer to the publications which PFAF have
referenced).

They are so easy to propagate vegetatively but because of the
advice above, I recently got from another source an additional A.
quinata. Funny though. I don't know whether it's because it's
pubescent, but the leaves on the new one are not quinate bit trilobe
(is that a word?). Perhaps they inadvertently sent me one of the other
species.


So have you (or anyone else) tried to eat one of these fruits yet? I always
reserve judgement on fruit from descriptions in books etc, until I speak to
someone who has tasted it.

--
Bob

www.pooleygreengrowers.org.uk/ about an Allotment site in
Runnymede fighting for it's existence.

So have you (or anyone else) tried to eat one of these fruits yet? I
always
reserve judgement on fruit from descriptions in books etc, until I speak
to
someone who has tasted it.


I've not had any fruit from mine yet but I'll keep an eye on it and see if
it produces any this year...then I'll let you know what it is like ; -)

Natalie

On Wed, 16 Apr 2003 17:31:16 +0100, "Sue & Bob Hobden"
wrote:


Hussein wrote in message
Are the fruits edible or something then?

I've not seen one get but they are purported to be like dark
sausages.

From PFAF:

Fruit - raw[2, 105, 177]. Sweet but insipid[3]. The fruit has a
delicate flavour and a soft, juicy texture[K]. Lemon juice is
sometimes added to the fruit to enhance the flavour[183]. The bitter
skin of the fruit is fried and eaten[183]. The fruit is 5 - 10cm long
and up to 4m wide[200, 266].
Soft young shoots are used in salads or pickled[183].
The leaves are used as a tea substitute[105, 177, 183].

Also:
Plants are probably self-sterile[11, 182], if possible at least 2
plants should be grown, each from a different source.

(Those numbers in brackets refer to the publications which PFAF have
referenced).

They are so easy to propagate vegetatively but because of the
advice above, I recently got from another source an additional A.
quinata. Funny though. I don't know whether it's because it's
pubescent, but the leaves on the new one are not quinate bit trilobe
(is that a word?). Perhaps they inadvertently sent me one of the other
species.


So have you (or anyone else) tried to eat one of these fruits yet? I always
reserve judgement on fruit from descriptions in books etc, until I speak to
someone who has tasted it.

No, but I look forward to trying them - if they materialise. I could
in the meantime add a few of the tender shoots to a salad. Aw shucks,
may as well have a nibble straight off the plant and see if they are
worth the vinaigrette.

Anyway the fruits add another period of interest to the plant - which,
to my view, is anyway not shown to advantage growing against a dark
support but really set off by a light coloured one. Can't wait to
unleash it from the brick plinth of the building so it sprawls over
the white painted rendering. The serial bully who lives behind those
walls and hates plants is just going to have to lump it I'm afraid. He
may have a fit if he sees a tendril appear over his window ledge
however. All the other residents are plant lovers fortunately.

Huss
(feeling less tetchy tonight)

Grow a little garden

spam block - for real addy, reverse letters of second level domain.

On Wed, 16 Apr 2003 17:36:29 +0100, "Natalie"
wrote:



So have you (or anyone else) tried to eat one of these fruits yet? I
always
reserve judgement on fruit from descriptions in books etc, until I speak
to
someone who has tasted it.


I've not had any fruit from mine yet but I'll keep an eye on it and see if
it produces any this year...then I'll let you know what it is like ; -)


Remember it is said that you need two plants (by repute they are
not self fertile). You have two? Right on!

Huss
Grow a little garden

spam block - for real addy, reverse letters of second level domain.