The old Lapageria climbers in the greenhouse are beginning to really show off. They have loved the warm temperatures over the Summer, and with plenty of moisture from frequent watering several plants have produced large bunches of flowers as in the image here. They have been cultivated at Tregrehan inside and on east facing walls outside where they never dry out, for well over 100 years. These old plants can get a bit tatty and moth eaten though and when this occurs they are brutally cut to the base. This tip was passed on to me by someone who had observed this pruning method accidently carried out on some Lapageria plants under glass at Chatsworth. The resulting vigorous clean regrowth was outstanding and I can definitely vouch for the results having used this method and seen the subsequent large flowering bunches..

Over the next couple of months they will be one of the chief highlights of the walled garden here. A few more varieties have been added to the collection over the last twenty years and as well as red, white and pink varieties there are now picotee and spotted flowered selections growing. Patience is the key and it can take many years for a plant to really feel at home and start to produce the stiff, (but slug prone), strong shoots from below ground level. They love plenty of feed and a deep layer of mulch around the base is also key to successful cultivation.