Strongylodon macrobotrys

[meanie]

Back in bloom in the Lily house at Oxfords botanic gardens is the Blue Jade Vine.
This is a plant that I lust after - just need a substantial lottery win!

[meanie]

Two more photos of this stunning plant taken yesterday........

[Gail]

Beautiful!  I keep meaning to go and see how the Cambridge Botanic garden one is doing.

[meanie]

This alone is worth the price (£12.50) of a season ticket for me Gail.

[Maggi Young]

Back in bloom in the Lily house at Oxfords botanic gardens is the Blue Jade Vine.
This is a plant that I lust after - just need a substantial lottery win!

I'm a great believer in the 'Glass half full' theory but I think that even with a BIG lottery win, the Cambridge Botanics will not be for sale..........

[Anthony Darby]

I've seen the same plant at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh. It just doesn't look right, sort of other worldly. An amazing colour. Wonder if it grows here?

[meanie]

Maggi - I've seen the plant for sale here in the UK for £40. It would need a proper orangery sized glasshouse to do it justice though....

David - Anthony - I wouldn't dare to encourage you to try (even if you could get it into NZ), but I did see a Puya growing in a garden of an Auckland suburb in '04 when I was last over.

http://www.strangewonderfulthings.com/101.htm

[Anthony Darby]

Wow. That's awesome and a more realistic proposition, so to speak.

[meanie]

I'll ask my cousin if he can remember where it was.......

[arisaema]

It's easy from seeds if you have room for it, no idea how many years you need to wait for flowering, it was a spider mite magnet here in my far-from-ideal conditions, and finally kicked the bucket in a mid-winter power outage.

Barbadine on Reunion has listed seeds in the fast, just drop him a line and he might be able to help you even if it's not currently listed in the catalogue: www.barbadine.com

[meanie]

It's easy from seeds if you have room for it, no idea how many years you need to wait for flowering, it was a spider mite magnet here in my far-from-ideal conditions, and finally kicked the bucket in a mid-winter power outage.

Barbadine on Reunion has listed seeds in the fast, just drop him a line and he might be able to help you even if it's not currently listed in the catalogue: www.barbadine.com

What a great link Arisaema!
Let me get this straight - you were growing Strongylodon in Norway! How did it cope with the light levels?

[arisaema]

What a great link Arisaema!
Let me get this straight - you were growing Strongylodon in Norway! How did it cope with the light levels?

A 400W HPS lamp helps That said I only had the plant for 2-3 years so it never got that big, I had it on a bamboo trellis in a 8 liter pot, and moved it outside in summer.

[meanie]

What a great link Arisaema!
Let me get this straight - you were growing Strongylodon in Norway! How did it cope with the light levels?

A 400W HPS lamp helps That said I only had the plant for 2-3 years so it never got that big, I had it on a bamboo trellis in a 8 liter pot, and moved it outside in summer.

You got it to bloom?
I must admit that I really do not need another spider mite magnet.....

[Lesley Cox]

My Warkwork friend has it growing, only protected by an overhead pergola and I'm pretty sure it's grown in Tauranga (Bill will know) at Nicholl's place. They have a climber nursery.

[arisaema]

What a great link Arisaema!
Let me get this straight - you were growing Strongylodon in Norway! How did it cope with the light levels?

A 400W HPS lamp helps That said I only had the plant for 2-3 years so it never got that big, I had it on a bamboo trellis in a 8 liter pot, and moved it outside in summer.

You got it to bloom?
I must admit that I really do not need another spider mite magnet.....

No, just foliage, I suspect you'd need to grow it for 8-10 years or more to get flowers from seed. Seeds are cheap and easy to germinate when fresh, so it's worth a shot, if it does turn into a spider mite magnet I doubt you'll have any problems giving it away.