Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Vine flowers in the garden, 1 by ErickMN

ErickMN wrote:
Thank you Shirely. I stumbled across the bitter melon plant at a local garden center and found it intriquing. I really know nothing about it. My Maypop is in a pot. I found it very easy to overwinter in the basement just keeping barely alive. I'm going to to plant one in the ground this summer to see if I can overwinter it with heavy mulching, but I have my doubts. We are WAY far north of its native range. Thank you again for the kind comments!

Thanks Paul. I expect the bitter melon to be much more behaved here!

Thank you Donna. These are really some of the first vines blooms of the season for me. Most of the other Passionflowers and Aristolochias are really taking off now, so I expect lots of blooms soon. I don't know if bitter melon is also called balsam pear. I know bitter melon is utilized in Asian cuisine, but I have never seen or tried one (to my knowledge).

Although not technically a vine (it's more of a scrambler), here is Aristolochia clematatis. The flowers are small, but kinda cool, and definfitely Aristolochia-like. These made it through the past winter with light mulching.

Erick