Species, Purple Snail Vine

Cute, fast growing vine with scented flowers that doesn't get any taller than 2m. My problem with this plant is that in the winter here i...Read Moren subtropical Sydney it dies back to the main stem. I'm not sure why? Is it that cold intolerant and tender? Our winters are really feeble.

I have been growing my Snail Vine in my Climate Zone 5a garden for six years now in a medium sized plastic hanging basket. I have n...Read Moreever re-potted it. In the springtime, summertime, and autumn I grow it right next to an east facing house wall on a "shepherd's hook" (with no direct afternoon sunlight). It is a vine that winds around anything (like a climbing edible bean plant does), and I simply wrap the vine around itself, and weave it back into itself, and occasionally trim the vine ends back. I also let the vine hang over and down below the hanging basket as well. I water it almost every day when it is outside, as well as fertilize it at half strength with Miracle-Gro Water Soluble Bloom Booster every few weeks in the springtime, summertime, and autumn. It can fix nitrogen by itself from the air, but it thrives better with the addition of half strength liquid fertilizer. I think any standard houseplant potting soil will work well. I do not use a saucer below the flowerpot when I grow it outside so that it has perfect drainage.
I bring it indoors in October so that it does not receive frost damage. My plant handles temperatures down to about 35 degrees above zero Fahrenheit without any damage in the autumn. I grow it in the wintertime next to a large west facing window in the living room at normal room temperatures. I fertilize it occasionally in the wintertime. It can get Spider Mites in the wintertime (from my other houseplants) that I wash off of the plant. Fertilizing my Snail Vine during the wintertime seems to help keep the Spider Mites from taking over, and sometimes eliminates them from my plant for a long time. It can drop a lot of leaves in the wintertime for some unknown reason, but it grows new ones soon enough. I place it back outside in the springtime when I know the temperatures won't go below 40 degrees above zero Fahrenheit anymore.
My Snail Vine blossoms nearly continually all year for me, it is rarely without at least one flower on it and it usually has more flowers on it than that. At times it has many flowers all over it. The individual flowers last several days once they are fully open and then they drop off by themselves. They form in cluster of a few flowers (on the end of a thin stalk) and are held out and above the leaves. There is a very nice subtle scent to the flowers. The shape of the flower is very unique. Seed pods and seeds rarely show up on this plant for me, even though there are ants on it to pollinate it when it is outside. It is said to be pollinated by ants. I think the hummingbirds pollinate it too. Although hummingbirds don't seem to bother with these flower much, I have personally seen them drink nectar from the flowers. I only have the one individual plant so maybe cross pollination from another plant is needed for more seed production and/or fertile seeds. I have never tried to sprout any of the seeds since the plant that I purchased is a "selection" that can be rooted successfully from cuttings placed in water.
I really enjoy this flowering vine, and I will always want to be growing it. People that I show it to who have never seen it before find the flowers fascinating. It is always one of their favorite flowers that I grow out of all of the many flowers that I am growing. Before the flowers fully open the flower buds looks like a Nautilus shell or snail shell. This vine is often confused with a similar Snail Vine of another species so be careful when obtaining these two species of vines so that you receive the correct one that you want. My Snail Vine species should be obtained as a plant and not by seeds so that you are able to receive the specific "selection" with a scent to the flowers, and flowers that grow often, and flowers that grow all year long. I suspect plants grown from Snail Vine seeds of this species will flower less often and/or may not have a flower scent and/or may only flower during certain times of the year.
In my opinion the Snail Vine is not fussy and can be grown without difficulty. Mine is six years old now. It is a rewarding plant to grow. It does not have spines/thorns. The Snail vine is a forgiving plant when care is not ideal, but it will not tolerate neglect for too long. The only pest that I have ever seen on it is Spider Mites. I have never seen any leaf diseases, viruses, molds, insects or anything else growing or feeding on it or in the soil. Ants are only on it to pollinate it. If you don't want ants on the plant then utilize a water filled "ant moat" between the hanging basket and the hook that the hanging basket is suspended from. These "ant moats" are used with hummingbird feeders to keep ants out of the sugar water feeders.