Spurred Butterfly Pea (Centrosema)

Hi,
Does anyone have success with this vine as a perennial? I know it is supposed to be one, but every year mine dies back & never returns. I have even tried keeping it in a pot & moving it to a sheltered spot with my tropical hibicus (and the hibiscus do fine so it really IS sheltered!) but no success.
Also, I never get any seeds even though the carpenter bees love them.
I think I am safe to say the plant is happy because it blooms profusely. I have grown it in full sun and also part shade, and I have tried keeping it dry & also in moist soils. I just don't know what else to try to get this to overwinter & return in the Spring.
Any advice would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Donna

Donna-
I'm in the same jam, with this vine!

Mine was planted several years ago. They are still alive, haven't shown themselves above the ground since the first season! I've dug down and there is a live tuber, but it won't wake up.

...maybe it is just like my lavender moonvine(i. macrorhiza). It just sat there making a huge tuber for a few years, then went nuts.

I am anxious to see what everyone else says...

thanks for posting this thread.
-T

Oh, I never even THOUGHT to dig down and look for a tuber! Your so smart! LOL I will have to check the one I had in a pot last year & see if there is anything in there. Thanks for the heads-up. Did yours ever produce seed?
d

Nope...I saw cabbage butterflies on it, and bees on it...
have no clue why I didn't get a single seed from it ...still trying to just figure out how to make it come back up! lol...
-T

Donna I have mine in a pot and over wintered it in the GH. It is pitiful looking but still has a few green leaves. I found it growing on one of our Islands and dug it up this past summer.

Mine was dug up in the wild along our dirt road to our house.. It does great in a pot..The main plant doesn't return, but it reseeds in the pot every year. I get lot's of seeds on mine.

Larkie

Hmm, then maybe it is just a matter of letting the roots mature then? Today I am going to do what you did Taylor & remove the one I had in a pot and check the roots. Maybe I have been jumping the gun & giving up too soon.

Donna-
I had two in the ground. I left one in the ground and it is still alive. The one I dug up and potted died from transplant.

maybe you should just dig down and check on it, but not dig it up? I'd hate for you to have happen what happened to my other one...
-T

Thanks Taylor, I will not mess with it then. It really is not a hardship to just leave the pot there and wait.