Beaumontia Grandiflora

Two clusters of blooms going. The vine has really grown this year. It goes up from the ground over the windows, and has very long tentacles that needed guidance to the trellis over the window.

What the scent like on those gorgeous blooms?

Those blooms are amazing!

That's gorgeous! I've killed this one enough times now that I'm not allowed to buy it anymore :-(

it kind of reminded me of a mild brug scent. I had to climb a ladder ..haha..

I've killed one myself Ecrane. you know what I discovered? It doesn't like alot of water. Dry by the end of the day. Dry for days sometime and it seems all perky and happy. I keep second guessing myself on it..and will water it good, and it looks stressed. So I basically leave it alone except fertilizing it. I intentionally planted it under the eve of the house so it would stay dry.

I'm not quite sure what I did wrong...I don't think I overwatered though, if anything maybe I watered it too little. Or maybe it just didn't like life in a container. Either way, I've killed it 3 times now, and I have a rule that once I kill something 3 times I'm not allowed to buy any more because I (or my climate) are obviously incapable of giving it what it needs! Unless...I think the first one I killed was a casualty of a patio shelves that fell over in a windstorm, scattering plant parts everywhere, so technically that wasn't my fault. So maybe I can try one more time! Now that I see you're growing it outdoors in 9a maybe I'll plant it in the ground, I had always containerized it because I didn't think it would like my winters.

More interesting data then, I was on the guest page at Toptropicals and a Thai botanist popped on the page and described the difference between the grandiflora and the murtonii which most nurseries don't differentiate between when selling it as a Beaumontia Grandiflora. He said " The Beaumontia must have a cold season preceding the bloom cycle" Of course, cold is relative to who and where the context is being used..but it seems to be true. I think it's safe to say that "cold" is like our winters in 9a. I've seen that the San Francisco Arboretum grows them!

They get their cold in the summers! LOL My winters are a bit colder than San Francisco since I'm on the other side of the bay, so I think I'll have plenty of cold for them. Now you've got me really tempted to buy another one and give it one last chance!

LOL...too funny...

Wayne from Zone9 has his in a pot too...and it looks great...his stays in the green house but it is bone dry at the end of the day, it's giant ...but ..no blooms.. So I definately think cool and water have some sort of impact. Planting near the house also keeps it from freezing ..at least here. I planted this vine 2 years ago. I decided that I would buy the biggest vine I could get a hold of to ensure success. I think this helped.

You know who gets them to bloom in a pot is Gordonhawk I think..from New York.

Course he's also has a roof top of Plumies in NY...LOL

When I enlarged that first picture my initial reaction was to moved toward the screen to smell. Looks heavenly. Is that on the trellis that you attached above the window?

I've been thinking about getting this one for a while now...where did you buy yours?

Do you think it would return from the roots here in 8a? Does yours defoliate, die back partially, or all the way to the roots?

I have some poles on my porch(that gets wrapped in greenhouse plastic, and becomes a greenhouse in winter), and my Thunbergias(grandiflora and coccinea)have proven to be too much for me to handle. They become absolute monsters in a frost free environment. I think they'd look lovely as monsters on a fence, or something, but trying to keep them neatly twining neatly up the poles is impossible. I'd like to remove the thunbergias(which come back from the roots here in other parts of the garden, anyway), and plant something else. A winter bloomer would be nice. These poles are in the "cold" section of the greenhouse(it gets divided into a smaller hot seedroom, and the larger cold span of the rest of it stays around 35-40ish. The poles are also under the eave of the polycarbonate roof, so I could keep them on the drier side...

Do you think this would do well in that situation?

If you think they'd come back from the roots, though maybe I'll try them out in the garden, and pick something else. Farradaya maybe?...I'm looking for something that I'd not otherwise be able to grow out in the garden, unprotected by greenhouse plastic. I thought T. coccinea would be too tender for out in my 8a garden, but it has frozen to the ground(in another spot) for three years, now, and just keeps coming back bigger and better each year.

Any advice on this, would be appreciated.
-Taylor

T great questions. I have wanted this one for a long time but was afraid it gets to cold in my area!!

Those are lovely pics, Rj. It's gorgeous co-mingling with the bougainvillea. I love co-mingling vines, but then it is hard to prune sometimes. I had Dalechampia co-mingling with Bougainvillea, and I really liked the way it looked. Both vines, however, grew to be monsters and needed too much pruning so I took them both out. Now I just have one well-behaved Clytostoma callistegioides vine in their place.

Ecrane, I have that same rule. No more Ylang Ylang tree for me among others.

I have this BG vine in the ground. It started out as a six-inch rooted cutting and has grown about six inches per year. This is Year 3 with it, I think. I'm waiting for it to leap now. I thought about digging it up and moving it, but I have a feeling that it wouldn't like that so it is staying in the ground where it is for now. There really isn't anywhere to move it too anyway. This is unusual for a vine in my area. Vines usually become monsters in no time.

Yes Patty...it is on the trellis I built for it over the window...
The bougainvillea is do for a trim..we had some very gusty winds that have it a bit out of place...and I've hooked it back up to the corner of the house, but not to my satisfaction..and I have to wear sweatshirts and gloves for that job.

I bought the Beaumontia at Tops tropicals...and paid Tops price for it too, but with the intent that it did what it did, prospered...the older the vine gets, thicker it is ...the bigger...the better it performs, the more tolerant it becomes of weather and pests. Interestingly it has never defoliated, not even during last springs super freeze that nailed about everything else. I'll post the quote from the botanist..and perhaps this will help you decide whether you should grow it or not...it did persuade me.

"B. grandiflora is from northern India- it does not blooom in heat,it likes to bloom where it gets chilly and it blooms but once in the year, straight after the onset of cold! " MD Ferrero:

I think planting it close to the house, in a dry zone was a winning combination for this plant. It gets huge...
This picture is one end of the vine - there are about 20 other places it's wanting to do the same, but this is the longest and biggest section of it. It's almost spooky, because I'll go pull a weed, look up ..and the darn thing has turned the other way like a snake!

Here's a bit of climate information I googled from Northern India, which suggests that it is well worth a try to grow this vine in 8a

"Although predominantly subtropical, with cool winters, hot summers and moderate monsoons, overall North India is one of the most climatically diverse regions on Earth. Extreme temperatures have ranged from −45 °C (−49 °F) in Dras, Jammu and Kashmir[3] to 50.6 °C (123 °F) in Alwar, Rajasthan."

It also suggests that what I observed about the vine liking dry conditions might be closer to the the truth.

If it's helpful to anyone - this is my blog on the vine, experiences etc
http://davesgarden.com/community/blogs/t/rjuddharrison/5606/

This message was edited Apr 3, 2008 9:04 PM

This message was edited Apr 4, 2008 1:41 AM

Well, thank you for all your help. It sounds like a match. We(like that says about India) can have our extremes, here in Texas. And, we are definitely dry. We have cool winters, and hot summers.

You know, as a general rule, if I don't water in the winter, and just let things get natural rainfall, I've been able to push the zone by up to two or three zones...get a really wet winter, though, and I lose them...This spring everything that usually dies back, stayed green, and gave a real head start for this years season. And, saved some cash for things I would normally lose...

If it didn't even defoliate for you, I would bet it might only be deciduous for me, or at the very least die to the ground level. It doesn't sound like it even needs a greenhouse pole...

I think I will definitely have to try one this year...it is about the only vine I haven't grown, so need to try it! ;0)

Thank you for the link to the blog. I'll need to spend some time, and pour over it, but at this very moment, I think its a done deal for me...
Ya' talked me into it!!

Just one more question...I know it is next to your house, but which way does it face the sun? east? South?
-T

You betcha,
The vine faces south, as does the entire front garden. Even though I've read full sun, it seem to like it's share of shade. Likes spring full sun, has a bit of shade during the summer because of the summer sun position.
I hear ya, I don't water in the winter either, hardly even the things in the green house. Spring can be a wild card as things sometimes get too soggy, and it sort of started out that way, but then pretty much dried out.
I'm working on the Beaumontia Murtonii- it has grown very large as well, this will be the second year it's been in the ground- it too survived the freeze last year and seems to be growing well, but has slowed down somewhat. Seems to tolerate watering much better. No blooms as of yet. I'll be updating the blog with that one too. I hope it blooms this year.

I've heard about the murtonii lately...maybe ebay? or one of the tropical sites?
What is the difference?
-T

In the blog..explains the difference...and there is one to be sure...

gotcha...thanks,...haven't read it, yet.

Wow Rj your blog is so informative!! I am think this will be on my try list if not this year next year for sure!!

Thanks...I forget it it as soon as I research it ..so have to write it down.

Wow!!!! That is so awesome to see the blooms! I finally bought a plant last year and overwinter I lost it. I am sooooooo upset. I was soooo looking forward to seeing it grow...sniff, sniff.

They can be tricky. Seems like most things, once they get larger they are hardier.