Got this at the Florida roundup. Isnt it beautiful?
potato bush
Hi Lisa! Yes, it's very pretty. I have several Solanum rantonnetii, and they are very prone to whiteflies so watch for them if they are a problem in your area like they are here. Also, mine bloom on new wood so don't be afraid to prune in the fall or winter after flowering has finished. There is also a white variety. Here's a link: http://plantsdatabase.com/go/31441/
Here's a close-up of mine:
Oh Clare, that is fabulous!!!! I hope mine get that pretty.
Thanks, Lisa. Yours has a nice deep color. I think there are a few different shades of purple with this vine. The ones on this property have gotten to be huge trees with thick trunks and are trained as standards, but you can prune them any way you wish, and they look good espaliered as well. I have a Pink Bower Vine growing on a trellis right next to it, and I think they go well together.
Hey guys-
Mum saw your potato bush (the purple) and wants some!
Is it possible to get a cutting off someone for a SASE?
Please let us know! Those are just too pretty!
Great picture Clare. They do compliment each other well. My bush will never get big like yours due to having to hold it over in a pot each winter, but that is okay. It still blooms it's little head off. No blooms yet this year, but it has only been outside for a couple of weeks. Lisa, you are really going to love this plant.
Clare, I love the color on yours. I do hope mine starts blooming like that. Right now, I only have a bloom or two at a time. Is yours in full sun? Crimsontsavo, when mine gets a little bigger, I will be happy to share a cutting. This is such a cool plant!!!
Thank you Rylaff!!
Clare, that is a beautiful bush. Whiteflies huh. I just put in two and may have to re think it. Whiteflies are about the only thing I do not have. It is the one reason I admire hibiscus from afar. I just helped a friend go over her 40 yr old monsters with WD-40.
Crimsontsavo, mine has a pretty bad whitefly and spider mite infestation right now so it wouldn't be wise of me to share them with you at this time;-) The plant is too large and to tall to treat for these insects so I just wait until it looks unsightly, then I cut it back to the main trunk. TopTropicals has it if you are in a hurry: http://www.toptropicals.com/cgi-bin/garden_catalog/cat.cgi?uid=SOLANUM_RANTONNETII
Thanks, Shirley. This blooms on new growth so feel free to prune away. It responds well to pruning.
Lisa, yes, we actually have two on the property, and both are trees in full sun. Both have trunks about three and a half inches wide. They lose their leaves in the wintertime and look bare.
frogsrus, you couldn't be more right about hibiscus. We had a huge double pink hibiscus tree on this property, which was probably a 30-year-old tree. The first summer we were here, it looked like there was cotton hanging from every leaf. It was disgusting. The air was so thick with them that sometimes it looked like it was snowing. We tore that tree out just for that reason, but there are still several more hibiscus trees on the property. I just hose behind every leaf when I water and when I have time, but they are a huge problem here, and they create problems for the farmers here as well. For some reason, whiteflies are especially drawn to the hibiscus and to the Solanum.
Well that does it! Out they go. I only paid $2.50 each for gallon containers so it is no great loss. Try the WD-40 Clare. It is FDA approved around foodstuffs so it isn't the worst thing. Dad has been using it on is monster orange for years in northern CA. After working on my friends hibiscus trees, they are again shiny and healthy looking. Whiteflys are just gross!
frogsrus, I sprayed with canola oil a couple of times and that worked really well on the whiteflies. They have become immune to most pesticides, but the oil covers their little bodies and suffocates them. That is probably why the WD-40 works as well, I would imagine. We have the little whiteflies this year so far, but last year, we had the giant whitefly, which was even more disgusting and about ten times as big. I'm sorry you had to pull out your Solanum bushes. Maybe they won't be bad in your area this year? They do get killed off if the winter is cold enough. I don't think it was cold enough here though.
The hibiscus in the area are full of them. You are right. Those large whiteflies are enough to give you the heebiegeebies. Yuck. I have a small creek that runs behind me and we are buggy enough from that little bit of moisture. (I do like the frogs and dragonflies though.) The hummers have even found something tasty on the tomatoes this year. I swear the brugmansias are the biggest bug gatherers I have encountered since I tried to grow brussel sprouts. Ah well, i you garden, you get bugs, and critters, and fungus and all manner of oddity. But we do it anyway.
LOL, yes, we do it anyway:-)