Thunbergia Species, Scarlet Thunbergia

Outside the tropics, like in my area, this vine usually flowers on early winter and therefore flowering is poor. Cool winter blasts distu...Read Morerb blooming a lot or even destroy it. Areas with very mild frostless winters may be more privileged. Otherwise, a heated greenhouse is needed for rich flowering. The same occurs with Thunbergia mysorensis, a species which is easily confused with.

This is gorgeous tropical climbing vine, which is extremely rare in cultivation.

It is evergreen in tropical climates, an...Read Mored deciduous in marginaly hardy climates.

With age(Mine took three years to bloom once planted in the ground within the greenhouse...) and a temperate climate, this climber will produce dozens of pendulous racemes of gorgeous orange to scarlet flowers.

The intensity of the color seems to depend upon the temperature in which it is blooming. I believe the orange coloring is more likely in warmer temperatures(which mine are in), and some fading from full sun, while the more intense redish coloring when blooming in cooler conditions. (When the greenhouse plastic was removed in early Spring, and the blooms were subjected to cooler temperatures, the color darkened).

Thunbergia coccinea is best displayed on structures where the racemes can hang down: such as a pergola, or gazebo, or other such tall structure.

They require full sun and frost free conditions. They begin to bloom in Late Fall, and continue to Spring. The blooms cease with increased hot temperatures of summer.

Thunbergia coccinea does not seem to be fussy with soil requirements, and seems happy in average soil.

Propagation is most predictable with stiff green cuttings, on stems with active growth, while seed is more difficult. I have not been successful with the seeds to date.