ok, all you experts......I know it can take full blazing sun, hot temps etc. So what else do I need to know ? ( besides it will eat my house if I don't keep a lease on it.) ;-)
whoo hoo, My Rangoon Creeper got here today
My experience with this plant is that I have one, in the ground, and 6 years old, that still hasn't bloomed.
Well, I'm going to beat it into submission ! if I have to !! LOL...my philosophy is "It will bloom" kinda like the Little Train that Could..........I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...........
Martha, I have tried everything with this plant, to get it to bloom. It's only been in the ground, here in Florida, for two years. I have a friend who has one that is 20+ years old and it is LOADED with blooms every year - simply stunning!
Kay,
Do you leave yours in the ground year round? I was concerned about it not coming back if we had more winter's like the last two.
mj
Yes, Martha.
Well, ok then, I should be able to get away with it here too....ummmmmmmmmmmmm
Martha, here's just one report in the plantfiles:
Indigoez On Jun 28, 2004, Indigoez from Floresville, TX (Zone 9a) wrote:
I've had one of these for three years outside in zone 8b and while it loses all of its leaves in the winter is always returns and is quite beautiful, although it does have a tendancy to creep over everything in sight, which I guess is where it got the name creeper
Kay,
Well, I guess it would probably be ok. I think I am just a bit "spooked" by the last couple of winter's, and I am out in the country....so when Daytona Beach say's 32( which is the nearest "city" they record, it is more often like "22" here!!!! I'm really wanting this to thrive, as I need something to shade my norhtwestern facing front porch in the summer. An the RC has such a reputation of taking HOT SUN....and it is most definitely that !
You can always toss a canvas or tarp over it or cover it with pine straw OR build a wooden 2x4 frame around it and cover the frame in plastic.
Well, I am south of you and although it took mine about 3 yrs after planting to bloom it has bloomed every year since (3 yrs) the past 2 years it has even seeded. I just came in from harvesting most of the seeds and counted 306 seeds. Keep in mind that 1 seed is about 1/2 in across and 1 in long.
Hi Gang,
Mine was planted the year before last and did not do anything exciting the first year. Then we had the WINTER. The poor baby lost almost all it's leaves and had to have a drastic haircut to get rid of the dead matter. But this summer it took off. The blooming was spectacular and so fragrant it nearly knocked one over. Pretty soon it will have to be pruned for it has a desire to take over the neighborhood. My house it gone and we get into the door with machetes. DH and I have matching ones.
It resides in full sun from about 11am on. It gets water from my irrigation system and then really doused every time it rains, for there is a gutter that empties about 6" away from it's roots. I rarely fertilize for the irrigation comes from the lake so things are being fed fish emulsion regularly.
So, Keep the Faith, kids and good luck,
Hap
Hap,
That is just down right gorgeous !
And I see that yellow allamanda over on the side.....;-)
My baby is growing like a weed, but still in a pot. In ground home to be determined by I'm thinking across the top of our screened in front porch that faces the evil west. Will help keep it cooler in the summer, and we'll have the fragrance. Having a front porch where I live is like most people having a back porch as the neighbors are a "few" acres away.LOL....So maybe it will bloom next year. I'm thinking I need to get some fish emulsion too. Agloflash is one that's been recommended.
That probably would be good. It does not have the twiny thingies, (like ivy) so it won't go into the screen. However, it needs something to climb on. I am using trellis that I got at HD. It has to be poked into the holes when starting, but then it gets the idea.
Hap
Hap,
I think I'm going to build an arbor of sorts to create an "overhang" kinda effect along the front of the porch. That way it will shade the porch.
He he, You better make it with 2 x 6's.
Hugs
LOL...I hear ya ! But I need a "brute" for that side of the house, it get's pretty darn hot there, and no tree's close enough to help.
I had one about three years ago, not knowing anything about it. It grew beautifully, but it did not survive the Kansas weather. This year I have one in the opposite barrell it has climbed the cane poles to the top. No blooms yet. I will have to cut it back and bring it in. I wish I could let it stay out there. I really love it. Oh, this one was about ten inches tall and a cutting with a couple root hairs. Now it is about 12 ft long with leaders.
Hap, yours is making me drool. MJ, I am so excited for you!
Debra,
I'm hoping it does what I'm wanting it to. Our front porch faces southwest, and even with the sunblocking screen it get's wicked hot out there. No tree's up close to block it, and I can't really plant anything big as the drain field runs too close (makes for nice grass tho), anyway, I want to build a long Arbor across the top front gable. This is one of the few vines that I think will take that really intense heat we get there in summer. If it doesn't work there I've got a south wall it can have all to it's self, LOL. I hope mine get's as nice as Hap's !