Cardinal Climber how long after planting does it bloom?

West Newton, MA

I planted a few Cardinal Climber seeds pretty late, in mid-June. But the two plants that came up seem to be doing fine, each growing up on a wooden trellis behind them. The leaves have mostly covered the trellis (see photo of one below) but I'm wondering: how much leaf growth does there need to be before the flowers decide to appear? I imagine quite a bit more than this? This is the only trellis I have for it, so I guess new stems will have to cover over the same territory with the leaves growing more thickly over the already-existing ones?

Thumbnail by rick7
Clarksville, TN(Zone 7a)

The Cardinal Climber I am familiar with blooms mid-to-later summer and early fall. Is this the one you have? http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/662/

West Newton, MA

Thanks, cville_gardener. Yep, that's the plant I have. And I'm pleased to say that four days after I posted that last note, I finally got my first flower -- on Saturday (picture below). That was followed by another on Sunday and then a third on Monday. They are a delight to see -- very beautiful. But for some reason the flowers only last about a day. With the first two the whole (tubular) corolla fell off, leaving just the center filament -- is that called the style, or pistil? Then the third just seemed to close up after a day. Anyone have any ideas about why that would happen? The area only gets sun after about 12 or 1 pm if that's a factor.

Thumbnail by rick7 Thumbnail by rick7

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