My Dutchman's Pipe blooms

My Dutchman Pipe finally had a bloom

My other vine also had a bloom

they both look nice,Thanks for sharing.
:}
RH

so pretty!

That is lovely,I have had mine for 2 years, lots of healthy vining leaves but still no flowers. Do you give it anything special, I put mine on the Patio because I was told it needed sun to bloom.

Isn't it just about the most unusual flower under the sun?! My gigantea brasiliensis (sp?) just bloomed for the first time, too, and they really *do* smell like lemons! Out of 3, only one was perfect because the other 2 were half eaten by bugs, but I'm happy anyway. I had to laugh when the 2 gardeners were just standing there staring at it, scratching their heads with puzzled looks on their faces. I guess they'd never seen one before. ;-D

Doris, I don't feed them anything special.
Liila, I've had several people look at these blooms like they were something from Mars. LOL
Thanks CC and Rh

Those look great Ada!

Thanks, Susie. At least I haven't killed them yet. LOL

I have the first one, it grows like crazy here in South Florida, and it blooms alot, it doen't like wet feet so after it stays real wet it loses all it's leaves then it comes back again, I had never seen a seed pod on it until the other day, it covers an old play fort and I put a trellis on the sides of it, I was up under it and looked up thru the broken boards and there was a seedpod full of seeds, it was the only one. The only thing I can fiqure is maybe when the bees were swarming my brugs right next to it they must have came over and pollinated my Dutchman's pipes, for a while I thought it had to have another plant to set seed. So you may have to help it out in the pollination department to get it to set seed. I have never tried to propagate it by cuttings.
Everyone stares at my blooms also, my husband and my son say it looks like a bulls privates, so that takes part of my fun out of growing it but I haven't taken it down because of it, it keeps on growing, the butterflys love it, they have been here lately to lay there eggs and it hasn't got very many leaves on it so they are moving in on my brugs.

Connie

Connie, I've never seen a seed pod on mine, I guess I need to get into pollinating the blooms.

Dutchman's pipes are all pollinated by flies or small insects. The insect crawls inside the flower, is trapped by the hairs till morning(but there is nectar for him to eat), then when the pollen is ready, the hairs turn so the fly can crawl out. On his way out, he collects a dab of pollen on his head. He then goes to another flower, crawls down inside, depositing his pollen on the way in, is trapped till morning when the pollen from that flower is ready........and on it goes. You only need two separate blooms, not two different plants.
To hand pollinate: Make a small slit in the back "pipe" part of an open flower so you can see the anthers and stigma(pollen should be fluffy, if flower is newly opened, you may have to wait one day). Collect the pollen from this flower on a Q-tip. Proceed to second flower(which should be juat barely opened) and deposit pollen on stigma. You may have to tear up a few flowers to practice so you can figure out where the parts are.

Susie, I'll have to have more than one flower to do this. LOL Mine so far only blooms one bloom but the smaller one had two. I'd have to go look at their names to tell you what they were. LOL

wonderful Ada. I wish mine would do something

Donna, if it's as hot at your house as it is here, I don't blame them for not blooming. LOL

will this grow in a large pot? Had one in the ground and it grew well on the fence, but didn't come back in the spring.

I have mine planted in a big pot so I can take it inside for the winter.

Those are soooo cool looking! I bought some seeds off ebay to try.
:) Donna

I was told to put mine in the sun, well it's been in the sun over a month still no signs of a bloom, but very healthy