PlantFiles: Queen's Wreath, Bluebird Vine, Sandpaper Vine
Petrea volubilis

Didn't know this was supposed to be a Zone 10/11 plant. Admired a plant of it at Leu Gardens in Orlando, so I bought a plant at a garden center. Well, Leu Gardens is in Zone 9, as am I, so I might get lucky. It is just the right shade of lavender/purple to go with a Maréchal Niel rose or a Paul's Lemon Pillar.

I can't get this vine to bloom for love of the color green, have had it 2 years, taken over a good portion of the fence, had no problems down to 20 degrees, kept every leaf, never a single flower...very disappointed, the vine by itself is not worth keeping, not attractive, stiff and hard to handle when trying to train on a chain link.

I saw this vine at the Edison/Ford Winter Estates in Ft Myers, FL and purchased a 6" pot there last fall. It's growing beautifully and has bloomed the first year. It's just gorgeous. The one growing at the Estates is on a stone chimney and is really stunning.

A great flowering vine for New Delhi (zone 10 a); flowers more as the plant grows older, and the intensity of the colors also deepen. Begins to flower in early to mid March, and in about 2 weeks flowers quite profusely. A worthwhile addition to the garden--needs a lot of sun to flower well.

blooming madly in Bangalore, India. Tends to grow out of hand. Leaves are very scratchy. When dropped from a height or strewn in a light wind, individual flowers spin and dance wonderfully.

Great plant. Have to watch it though. Before you know what is happening it is all over the place.

I have the alba form of Petrea volubilis for Wedding work. It was originally purchased from Logees and stays year round in the dome which does not go below 40 degrees F. It began minimally flowering after two years and is now, year 3, in a much larger container. All leaves drop in the Fall. At present it gives me hope for wonderful flowers this, 2011, year :)!

I saw this plant quite a bit in Mexico and Guatemala. Feeling nostalgic, I ordered one, and it's been struggling with our high pH water and soil here. I knew it was an acid lover when I got it, so this is not a surprise. I'll try to give it better acidic conditions this year.

The good news is that it's blooming now, not long after it was outside in temperatures in the 20s -- in an unprotected pot. I did move it to the greenhouse before the two big cold spells we had this winter that went down to the mid-teens.

I just received the seeds of this plant from Seeds & More, based in Newfoundland, Canada. The shipping was fast and the seeds arrived safely and with detailed growing instructions provided. The seeds are larger than what I had anticipated so germination will be quite the experience to witness! I'm definitely gonna post again on the progress! Hopefully they come up hassle free!!

Had mine for 3 years, now the trunk is over a 1/2 inch thick(a requirement for blooming) and this week she did!Yipee !
Grown on back porch/mudroom about 6 feet from an overhead 4 tube fixture , light runs 8 hours a day
Container grown (zone 7B) kept on the dry side.
Leaves will turn very brittle and fall off it kept TOO dry - leaves wont wilt as an early indicator, they are rather stiff to start with....but it recovers well from neglect!
'Well behaved' for a vine...only trimmed once in three years, stays within a 3-4 ft range- might be do to pot size( 10 inch).

Bought this at a local plant festival. Was told by the vendor that she had the plant in my zone 9a (her town just being east of me). However, this winter we had one of the coldest in a long time with record lows. THe Petrea did not survive :( I did not cover as I was told it would come back up if cold damaged.

To find the seeds: Wait until the flowers begin turning green and then brown. There will be a little knot under the center of the flower. Remove the petals and crack the little knot out of its shell. There is your seed.

I've grown a number of these from seed. The seed needs to be notched to enable the little embryo to escape. I use (very carefully) the tiny pointed end of a fingernail file.

These dried flowers are so neat when they fly like little helicopter rotors whirling to sow their little seeds!

One of my very favorite plants!

It is easily grown by taking semi-hardwood cuttings. The thicker diameter cuttings root faster.

This plant grows well and hardy! I have attempted to root cuttings, old wood and new wood, as well as airlayering. No luck. I was told to plant the seeds. Now if I knew how to find them on my plant, I would try. Any ideas what they look like or where they might be found on the plant? I have tried finding them within the flowers, no luck.

This plant was offered in the end of the season sale last Fall at a local nursery. The nursery staff referred to the plant as a "wisteria," which it obviously wasn't. I had no idea what it was until it bloomed this year. I used the Plant ID Forum on DG to find out its botanical name with the help of other DG members. The nursery was probably referring to the common name, "Tropical Wisteria," and I misunderstood.

The plant somehow managed to survive this winter with no special protection and tolerated temperatures as low as 28 F on a few nights with no apparent damage. I think, though, that I was just lucky in that I had planted it near the fence in a semi-shady location and my hedges probably offered some protection from winds which made the temperature lower than 28 F with the wind chill factor.

Now that I know what it is, I plan to move it to full sun in my garden and provide a temporary visqueen plastic greenhouse enclosure during the winter months (as I do with some other tender tropicals) and hope that I can someday see the fantastic floral displays shown in the photos here.

Update: January 21,2008. I never got around to moving the P. volubilis. It has continued to thrive in the location where I originally planted it. It still survives a few nights each winter with temperatures below freezing. I think the wind-break and insulation of the Japanese Yew (Podocarpus sp.) hedges that it is planted against provides protection from the freezes. I also typically toss some twinkle lights and a blanket over it on the coldest nights. However, I'm beginning to think it may be more cold hardy than the zones provided above. It has now grown so large that I can't cover all the arching limbs. I've never seen and frost or freeze damage to those limbs and leaves that hang stick out beyond the cover I can provide. I think this plant has great possibilities for more extensive use in Zones 8b/9a. It would certainly make a nice container grown plant in areas even further north. I am on a quest to get one of the white-flowering varieties of this wonderful plant.

Easy to grow/maintain.Great for beginner gardeners.
Spectacular show when in bloom.
Bees and Butterflies are attracted to this vine.
Watering Needs: Keep moist until the plant is established, regular water thereafter.
Be sure to prune this vine after blooming to encourage another show!

This plant keeps its atractive violet calix even after the flowering season.

wonderful, well-behaved vine. spectacular in bloom, although the season is short.