Vines and Climbers: Aristolochia grandiflora, 1 by ErickMN

ErickMN wrote:
Thank you all for the very kind comments. It's fun when others share the joy of a gardening triumph. Attached is another picture showing the second flower that just started opening this morning. Note the developing bud above.

Donna, there are actually three plants in the pot. All are rooted cuttings of the plant I had last year. I haven't yet found a way to get the large plants like these through the winter (cutting them back and reducing the water didn't work, and neither did keeping them moist). However, I can easily get rooted cuttings through the winter by keeping them in terrarium-like conditions, i.e. an covered 20 gallon aquarium in bright light. I just then pot them up into a large pot in the spring and put them in the garden. They take off from there. Unfortunately, I have never seen a seed pod on mine. It's on my list to learn how to pollinate the flowers.

Erick